One of Us Is Lying Summary
One of Us Is Lying By Karen McManus
Setting
The novel is set in Bayview high school, outside San Diego, circa 2017.
Main characters
Simon Kelleher- he runs a gossip app called "About That” which aggregates the juiciest gossip on campus.
Bronwyn Rojas- she is the "brain” of the Bay view Four. Bronwyn is an overachiever with dreams of attending Yale.
Nate Macauley- is the "criminal” of the Bayview Four. Nate is a burnout, womanizer, and drug dealer who has earned a bad reputation for himself over the years.
Cooper Clay- he is the "jock” of the Bayview Four. Cooper is a popular athlete who seems destined for greatness as a baseball player.
Addy Prentiss- she is The "princess” of the Bayview Four, Addy is a popular and beautiful Bayview student who has been dating her equally popular and beautiful boyfriend, Jake, since their freshman year.
Mr. Avery- is a science teacher at Bayview High who is repulsed by social media and technology.
Jake Riordan- he is Addy’s boyfriend, who is a popular and good-looking student at Bayview High
Janae- she is A Goth girl with few friends at Bayview who was extremely close with Simon Kelleher before his death
Nate’s Mother / Mrs. Macauley- is a bipolar addict who struggled with substance abuse and mental illness throughout Nate’s childhood before abandoning him and his father several years ago.
Addy’s Mother / Ms. Calloway- is a self-absorbed, vain, materialistic woman who has been married several times and is now dating a man half her age.
Mikhail Powers- he is A TV personality who hosts a weekly news show called Mikhail Powers Investigates.
Plot Summary
The novel follows four different characters as their lives unfold after their classmate Simon Kelleher dies during detention after drinking from a glass-coated in peanut oil. Bronwyn Rojas, Nate Macauley, Addy Prentiss, and Cooper Clay were all in detention with Simon, and they are the four narrators of the book. They all went to detention for supposedly bringing their phones to class. However, the phones were not truly their cell phones but were planted on them. During detention, Simon accuses them of being four different stereotypes: the jock, the brain, the princess, and the criminal. Simon has an allergic reaction and the students look for an EpiPen in the school, but they are all gone which ends in Simon dying.
The four narrators become suspects in Simon’s murder, as they each had a motive to kill Simon: he ran a gossip app called "About That”, and his next post was to feature their darkest secrets. When they are accused, the secrets gradually come out, in part because of Tumblr posts by the supposed murderer. Their lives change as a result: Addy’s cheating on her boyfriend Jake Riordan results in their breakup; Bronwyn’s cheating in chemistry class affects her admission to Yale and sends her into Nate’s arms; Cooper’s homosexuality puts his baseball future on the line and reveals fake friends; and Nate’s past criminal history including drug dealing ultimately lands him in jail, accused of Simon’s murder.
The four suspects grow closer and they start defending each other from the taunts of their peers. They all believe that none of them are guilty, and they try to find out what really happened. When Nate is arrested, the stakes become higher. Bronwyn tracks down the driver in the car accident that happened during detention, and she finds out that Simon had paid him to crash. This is when they realize the death might have been a suicide, as Simon was depressed. Simon’s one friend, Janae, is also acting weird, which suggests that she is hiding something.
After Addy confronts Janae, she reveals a "manifesto” in which Simon explained that he wished to die, while ruining the lives of those around him. He hoped their reputations would be forever stained. It is also revealed that Simon had an accomplice, Jake. He wanted to take revenge on Addy for cheating. Jake tries to kill Addy when she finds out the truth, but she is saved by Cooper. The truth is revealed to the police and they are all free.
Themes
- The desire for Power. Jake exists at the top of his school’s social ladder, and extending a sense of power over those around him gives him a sense of validation. While dating Addy, he tells her how she should wear her hair and even makes her change her clothes when he doesn’t feel that they show off her body enough. His sense of control deepens when he learns that Addy has dared to be unfaithful to him, yet he hides his knowledge of her actions for months.
- Lies versus Truth. Each of the four characters fears being exposed by Simon’s app, and each of them has lived in fear of having their darkest secrets exposed. They are all lying, to themselves and to others, in an effort to avoid confronting the truth. When the truth finally comes to light, walls begin to fall down. Addy finds that being without Jake gives her freedom she has not known in years. Bronwyn finds that Yale values her honest confession and is still interested in her application. Cooper is able to spend time in public with Kris and finds that his grandmother is incredibly supportive of his relationship. Nate cuts his ties with drug dealing because being with Bronwyn makes him want to be a better person.