This book. What wasn't to like? The characters were well developed and engaging, despite being potential murder suspects it's hard not to identify with all of them (ok the drug dealer a little less so for me personally but it didn't make me like him any less). I sped through this book as I just had to know, and to be honest I didn't guess, which I loved. The book is really well written and Karen McManus has you on your edge of your seat the entire time. You do get a Breakfast Club feel from it as a lot of other people alluded, but that is also fine for me as it's one of my favourite movies.

If you like a bit of intrigue and mystery and drama, this is a book for you. Everyone has secrets after all, don't you?

Billed as 'The Breakfast Club' meets 'Pretty Little Liars', this is a terrific, twisty thriller that keeps the reader guessing. Most enjoyable, it should be popular.

I love a good mystery and thriller and maybe I've read too many of them and have become jaded, wanting more and more surprises and twists and turns and "didn't see that coming" moments. I didn't actually realise it was a Young Adult book until I was about 40% of the way through, which is good as it means the language and writing up to then was fairly grown up (i.e., not written as if out of the mouth of a teen, which can put adults off). Once I realised it was Teen Fic, that became more obvious, but not in a bad way - through the feelings and how the teens spoke and some characters' naiveté about relationships. It's not a book that adults won't like reading.
Again, probably my own fault, but I did struggle a little getting to know the 4 main characters for most of the book and, as practically every chapter was written from the perspective of a different one of them, I did confuse a couple of the girls and a couple of the boys. The names were easy enough to remember but I ket having to ask myself is this boy the jock or the cool one? Is this girl the brainy one or the one with the controlling boyfriend. I also had to keep asking myself which secret had been revealed about each of them (is she the one that did this or that). Maybe a teen would grasp this easier than I did though.

I didn't find it unputdownable I'm afraid. In fact, it took me about 4 times longer to read than many other mysteries and thrillers. Part of that would be because of the age it's aimed at therefore (quite rightly) not as gruesome or graphic as some adult mysteries/thrillers can be, I just couldn't get that invested in the characters or knowing (or caring) who the culprit was. I had worked out (another result of too many mysteries) and I was disappointed with the end and the who. I think I would have preferred a surprise twist as to the who.

But a good debut novel. I can recommend it to parents of young teens, who worry about there possibly being sex in Teen Fic or Young Adult books (from too much to too little)! This is safe. There's some kissing and one of the character cheats by sleeping with someone else. There is no further details and they say just "hooked up". Just thought I'd mention that so parents know they don't have to read the book first!

In summation, I didn't dislike it. I liked it enough to read it persevere to the end. I think it would be much more thrilling and on point to a teenager than it was to me though, but not through any fault of the story or the writing and I think a really good debut.

From the start it I'm already hooked in. As the story unwinds and develops to this murder mystery case of "who done it?" I'm constantly changing my mind on who is the murderer. As excellent, captivating story on how 4 lives are affected during a critical part of their lives- high school!. A well thought out book and how it handles current social situations many people now face. Fantastic!

This is book is unique, a breath of fresh air. It kept me turning the pages at a rapid rate from start to finish and the twists within made it tricky to guess the outcome! I'd highly recommend to all.

American high school relationships no my normal subject matter, saying that the characters had some depth and with the mix of twists and turns it kept my attention and desire to keep turning the pages. An interesting take on the concept of high school cyber bullying and consequences. A book i have recommended to my daughter to read

I don't think I'm the target demographic for this novel (middle aged old fart who's never seen The Breakfast Club) but I am a fan of good storytelling - the blurb sounded intriguing so I picked it up and... OH GOOD GRIEF, I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! I had to resort to finishing it overnight with the Kindle app on my phone under the bed covers because my beloved one is a very light sleeper.

Anyway, it's a great read, really well plotted, full of characters you come to care about. The structure is especially well done - the plot advances as we hear from the four students in turn, right through to the final twist (which seasoned thriller readers might guess at early on but it's still very well done).

My tip is to set aside enough time to read the first 2 or 3 chapters so that you're familiar with each of the characters - since it's all written in the first person by the individuals involved, there are few physical descriptions, at least at the start so you'll need to keep your wits about you to remember who's who. Or maybe that's just my age and having to read it late at night because the four are very clear in my mind.

An excellent debut; I'm really looking forward to the next Karen McManus novel.

Hugely recommended to all.

[This is an honest review of an advance review copy provided by the publishers via the lovely folk at NetGalley.]

I loved this book, I genuinely couldn't put it down and was even late for things over the few days I was reading it because I would try and sneak a few more minutes of reading it before leaving the house! I guessed several of the twists but not all of them and enjoyed the way that the main characters evolved over the course of the book. A very enjoyable thriller for teens and adults.

Wow this is a tense, page turner! Five kids are in detention but one of them doesn't survive, killed by an extreme peanut allergic reaction. He ran a gossip app that had upset many people but surely not enough for them to want to kill him? The other four become murder suspects, he knew secrets about them all that he had apparently been about to reveal.

More sudden twists than the Hogwarts staircase to this one and it's an interesting portrayal of what's important in the lives of teenagers. I love a whodunnit and didn't guess until near the end. Fast paced and chilling, with a love story and sexuality issues thrown in.

The premise of this book was what caught my attention and it doesn't disappoint. I got into itstraight away - the characters are all well drawn, the plot trips along at a great pace and it keeps you guessing until the end. I raced through it in a couple of days and will be recommending it not only to teenage readers but to anyone who enjoys a well plotted mystery.

Great use of multiple voices to tell this twisted High School tale. The subtle and not so subtle message to think carefully about who your friends are - whether real or cyber - the damning indictment of Trial by Media and the fickleness of public opinion are strong threads for teens to sublimate.

This book was brilliant! I seriously could not put this book down and finished it within 24 hours!
The characters are wonderfully written and feel so real. Their development throughout the book is superb and I found my self feeling like I really knew them.
I will say that I predicted who the murderer was but only because I'd read a few reviews before reading this book and I was way too many crime dramas to not have seen it coming but it didn't disappoint. I didn't see the twist coming either so that was a fantastic surprise.
I think the last chapter was kind of unnecessary to be perfectly honest but the rest of the book was so flawless that I can ignore it.
Without giving anything away I recommend this book to anyone looking for a gripping YA thriller/mystery style book. 5/5 stars without a doubt !!!

Five students turn up for detention, a jock, a jock's girlfriend, an overachiever, a delinquent and a gossip blogger. One of them doesn't walk out alive.
As the investigation peers into their lives, secrets thought buried are revealed, reputations are shattered and relationships are forged. But the biggest question of all is who committed the murder?

The Breakfast club meets Veronica Mars.

I thought I'd read a Chapter before bedtime just to get started and ended up finishing it at 2am with work in a few hours. It was a gripping read that kept you guessing with all of the twists and turns.
At first it seemed like another teen angst novel but it quickly became an interesting mystery and high school drama. It was excellently written and the characters who, at first, seemed stereotypical versions soon became well rounded characters with their own lives and flaws. The suspense was seamlessly integrated into the tale and I really enjoyed the brief look into various family lives.
All in all a truly great story.

This book got me gripped from the first page. It'd the Breakfast Club meets Gossip Girl meets thriller. I really enjoyed it, each character evolves and has their own distinct personality. The only thing unexplained is how Simon got all his gossip but I guess you just have to accept that he had eyes everywhere and enjoy the ride.

One of us is lysing appealed to me as it sounded a bit like Gossip Girl gone wrong.
The storyline caught my interest straight away, we flick between the multiple lead characters, learning just enough about them to start guessing whodunit, but not enough to really know or empathise with them. Some of the names were a little unusual, and made me wish they had nicknames ( Bronwyn is the prime example here) but it also highlighted the elite-ness that her family held in comparison to Nate, ( a normal name)
It a good read, and without spoiling the ending its about 50% guessable with who the ‘villains’ of the story are. This doesn’t matter though as the narration creates a who will come out of this smelling like roses mystery alongside the find the killer plot.

This is a young adult contemporary novel with a mystery element involved and is set mainly in a high school environment. We follow the story as five characters attend a detention, which is a strange group of students to be there as most of them are the hardworking type who never get in trouble at school. While they are there, one of them mysteriously starts having an allergic reaction, an ambulance is called though the student, named Simon, dies later on that evening. At first this seems like a tragic accident, but it soon becomes clear that something more sinister took place. The other four students in the room all become suspects of Simon's murder and the reader follows the experience from each of the other four students perspectives.

This book gave me everything I wanted and also so much more. I was drawn to this book because of the description on the cover, I loved the idea of reading a story based upon lies, deceit and murder. I also really liked having the perspectives from the four suspects, and I grew attached to each and every one of them as their voices were all so unique. I loved how each main character essentially represented a stereotypical personality that you would expect to find in a school environment. First of all, we have the murder victim Simon. He represents the outsider character, the person who is always trying to get into the crowd and be noticed, though has a geeky aspect to him. Then we have Nate, the token bad guy that deals drugs, and naturally everyone claims to dislike, yet many girls secretly swoon after him, and jump upon the chance to get into bed with him. Next we have Cooper, the token jock character, yet he is so much more complex than that. Then we have Bronwyn, who is a smart and quiet good girl type who just wants to do well and get into the best college she can. Finally, we have Addy, who is in the same friendship group as Cooper, and she represents the typical homecoming queen type character, obsessed with makeup and friends, and overall just very superficial. Despite these stereotypes, from reading from each perspective we learn that there is so much more than this to every person. I also loved how each and every character had a wonderful development throughout. This book is so well written, the plot fits together nicely as you jump from the perspectives and the mystery element keeps you guessing right up until the very end. At one point I did guess correctly who the murderer was, yet I wasn't convinced by my guess and even changed my mind again several times afterwards.

I love that this book also contains unexpected diversity, I won't go into the details because of spoilers, but I appreciated the genuine feel of the aspect I am referring to and I think the whole subject was handled brilliantly and also realistically. I think it was fantastic that you got to see the persons own feelings on it, other characters true feelings on in from their perspectives, and also how family handle it, which all feels true to life.

This is already one of my favourite reads of this year, possibly even all time and it will stay with me for a long time to come. This is a debut novel by this author, but I can't wait to read more by her in the future and I can't recommend this book enough.

Well what a fantastic read this was. Read it in one sitting as I could not put it down!!
Very simple plot a bunch of friends get sent to detention and one dies, who did it? I thought I had it sussed at one point but then I was wrong! Loved Nate & Bronwyn and really connected with them hated Simon thought he was vile but in the end felt sorry for him. Great twists and turns and brilliant characters I would defo read more by this author!!!

A detention, a student death, 4 student suspects.... whodunnit??
Great YA novel. Easy read
Recommended 4.5⭐️

This book grabbed me simply the illusion on the cover to The Breakfast Club. 'A Jock, A Criminal, A Brain, A Princess.' It does, however, ramp things up with a murder. The premise is five students find themselves wrongfully in detention; one of them does not survive it and suspicion rapidly descends on the remaining four. An issue which is not helped by the fact that the boy who died was the school gossip and each characters has something to hide.

Cooper, Nate, Bronwyn and Addy find their lives change in the aftermath of that day. They are questioned by police, hounded by the media and gossipped about by their peers. They also find themselves looking with suspicion at each other and at the same time bound together by their experience.

McManus does a wonderful job of bringing these characters beyond the two dimensional descriptors. I think the use of the narrative perspective shifting from one to the other helps with this, allowing us to see who they perceive themselves and by others. It also reveals to us the secrets that they are keeping. The shift doesn't allow the time frame to stall but moves briskly through the events. It give us a chance to see into the students' lives at home, the pressures they are under and how this forms their identities and choices. There was enough time devoted to their family relationships that the strength of the bonds between, for example, Addy and her sister Ashton, were very clearly portrayed. The latter going out of her way to step up as a strong parental figure even though her own life is changing radically.

I thought the title was an excellent starting point as I started reading with a sense of mistrust in the narratives being presented. The use and presence of social media and technology wasn't over done, although present it didn't feel as though there it was demonised. There are comparisons to be made to Pretty Little Liars and to a lesser extent Gossip Girl but it had a genuine softness when is came to the handling of the characters, which particularly shone through when reading Addy's perspective. The dialogue was natural sounding to my ear and created an immersion with the events. This book was great fun to read, I found that I did correctly surmise the conclusion of the plot before it was revealed but that in no way detracted from my enjoyment.

For fans of - Pretty Little Liars, Dorothy L. Sayers, E. Lockhart.

This turned out to be a far more enjoyable book than I initially expected. The characters were pretty well-realised and the mystery was interesting (and did not turn out as I expected!) A surprise winner for me.