Her laugh is as light as spun sugar, and just as brittle
Rating: 4/5
Spoiler Alert! If you haven’t read the book, this review will contain spoilers so it’s up to you if you continue…
Karen McManus is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. Granted, she only has two books out at the moment, but I read them both in a matter of days - which we all know is the sign of a good book.
Though I’m rating Two Can Keep A Secret lower than One of Us is Lying, the actual mystery may have been better. In One of Us is Lying there was a moment when I figured out what had happened before the characters had (I spoke about this a bit in my review here). That happened with a couple of moments in Two Can Keep A Secret such as the hit and run situation, but there was still more twists to come. Even though I thought I’d been smart and figured it out, these moments I understood were only parts of the “big reveal” which was yet to come - and which I never would have guessed. The two books have very different plots and reveal tactics (I suppose a consistent reveal tactic is more of a detective series trope than a mystery) but they were just as suspenseful, twisting, and clever as each other.
Part of the reason these books are so clever is because McManus really knows her audience. There is something youthful in her writing, and it’s not just because of the young protagonists. Two Can Keep A Secret really showed how a YA book can be up to date without being cringy. There are mentions of social media made in very natural ways, and used how real teenagers use it (or at least how young adults like me do, I’m a bit out of touch with teenagers nowadays). Likewise, mentions of sexulity weren’t dwelt upon. They were there in Ezra and Mia who importantly represented parts of the LGBTQ+ community, but they weren’t major parts of the story so there wasn’t an excessive focus on them. To have sexuality not be the only part of their characters - to not even be big parts of their characters - is how representation should be, where it should be heading.
I’m not going to complain about representation or inclusivity - obviously there’s no reason to to ever complain about it - but the one unnatural moment which sticks with me is Daisy’s mention of being ‘one of the only minority families in town’. It’s great that McManus wanted to make a point that her whole cast isn’t white, but mentions of sexuality were made so naturally that the mentions of race felt less so.
*Major spoilers from here*
There’s a really good balance between this youthful and youth-orientated content and a darker, more adult side which makes the crimes believable, serious, and scary. Brooke’s relationship with Peter came as a major surprise and it’s the part of the book that I would love to have found out more about. It completely changed the dynamic of the book to me and it’s really tempting to read it again just to pick up on and clues pointing to their relationship. Maybe it’s this lack of obvious build up which makes me think his connection to her death was a little flimsy. A mystery should be hard to guess, but I think there needed to be something more, maybe something really close to the start which would have connected them, because it did feel slightly out of the blue to have Peter kill her. The secret relationship made more sense than the murder did. Likewise, Peter murdering Sarah really held no weight for me. She didn’t feel even slightly connected to him. There was something dissatisfying about Peter being the answer to everything - maybe Sarah’s disappearance didn’t need to be solved. I find a few loose ends in a mystery keeps the questioning alive.
Overall though, a really good read. It’s easy enough to get through, but the mystery is by no means a simple one, and I can’t wait for McManus’ next release.
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