One of us is Lying by Karen McManus is a book about a kid named Simon going to detention and drinking a cup of tainted water and dying of an allergic reaction. The four kids in the room at the time are suspects of murdering Simon. The author builds the story's plot by introducing many points of view to the Simon's sudden death. Karen McManus also includes the character’s perspectives on their own sub-conflicts and how it all adds up to the plot.

It’s no secret that Simon gossiped about everything he could get his hands on, so it wasn’t unlikely that he had some dirt on each of the characters. Nate still dealt drugs while on probation, Bronwyn cheated her way to a good grade, Cooper took steroids, and Addy had relationship problems with Jake. These problems brought them closer together because they still needed each other in one way shape or form. If it wasn’t for Cooper saving Addy from Jake in the woods that day, there’s a high possibility that she wouldn’t have survived. That can also be said for every main character because they each were involved in Simon’s murder case but still had different views and aspirations on how to combat it.

Simon tried to frame Nate for his suicide by telling Janae to plant all of the missing epipens from the nurse's office in his closet and locker. It seemed like it was all said done and the killer had finally been caught.But Bronwyn still felt optimistic that Nate wasn’t the killer.Nate got released shortly later after the police found out it was a act of tampering.

 After new details surrounding the case and their personal lives, we learned that Simon commited suicide and intended to ruin everyone’s lives by dragging them into a scandal. Instead of separating and becoming more dependent on themselves, they seeked out help from each other. Bronwyn got help from Nate by being emotionally there for her, Cooper was there for Addy when she needed him to save her life from her psychopath ex-boyfriend Jake.

Karen McManus also includes the character’s perspectives on their own sub-conflicts and how it all adds up to the plot. It helps deepen the understanding of their dilemmas. Karen McManus did a profound job of adopting a new format of conveying the story from various standpoints yet still maintaining a firm sense of direction.