Bite Sized Book Blogs

“One of Us is Lying”: Recommendation or Denunciation? I n this blog post, I will be discussing “ One of Us is Lying ” by Karen M. McManus. “ One of Us is Lying ” is a high school murder mystery centered on the mysterious death of Simon (the outcast) in a detention room with four other students. These five other students include Bronwyn (a Yale Bound rule-abiding student), Addy (the beauty or homecoming queen), Nate (the criminal already on probation), and Cooper (the athlete/all star baseball pitcher). One of us is lying, takes readers through the student’s inner secrets and challenges the reader to figure out who’s lying before the end.    I first read this book two years ago, and I was pretty disappointed. Prior to reading it, I read many reviews and book blogs (similar to our classes) hyping up the book as a huge, mind blowing, revolutionary murder mystery. However, predictable is the only thing I would call this book. To me, the culprit was pretty obvious from the beginnin...

Circe  and  The Song of Achilles  are both novels written by Madeline Miller. The two stories are both retellings of classic ancient Greek tales, with  Circe  stemming from  The Odyssey  and  The Song of Achilles  from  The Iliad . Both of these books are amazing but most people only hear about  Circe  because of  The Song of Achilles . Since  The Song of Achilles  was so popular, I expected to like it much more than I had liked  Circe  but this was not true. The Song of Achilles : The Song of Achilles  is a 2011 retelling of the tale of Achilles and the Trojan war. The book is narrated from the point of view of Patroclus, the “best friend” of the hero Achilles. I put “best friend” in quotes since in this retelling they are lovers, not pals. The story itself follows the narrative of the Trojan war very closely apart from the queer romance between Achilles and Patroclus. It is a heart-breaking story...

One Of Us Is Lying Summary Five students, each with their unique stories and personalities, walk into a detention room at Bayview High School. Bronwyn Rojas aspires to be a Yale attendee and is the embodiment of a teacher’s pet. Nate Macauley lives in a troubled household and is on probation for drug possession and dealing. Cooper Clay is a star pitcher for Bayview High and is already being scouted by colleges. Addy Prentiss is the princess, one of the more popular girls in the school. And Simon Kelleher, the writer of Bayview High’s notorious gossip website About That, is depressed, reserved, and revengeful. However, that day, only four students leave the detention room alive.  By constantly sharing conflicting views between the four students present at the time of Simon’s death, Karen McManus paints an exhaustive image of a revenge-seeking student’s unprecedented death and how the aftermath leaves long-lasting impressions on the four students’ records, reputations, and relationsh...

  Book Review: Salty, Bitter, Sweet In this review, I will be talking about Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas. This book is about seventeen-year-old aspiring chef Isabella Field, her path pursuing her culinary career, navigating the loss of her Cuban Abuela, and dealing with her parent's divorce.  First, I want to note this book is all about food. In almost every dialogue and paragraph, Isabella mentions a recipe ranging from across the world. I have learned about 30 new recipes from this book that I need to try immediately! The author also italicized the food mentioned and provides a description at the end of the book. I would say this book is half a fiction book and half a cookbook. Review: (SPOILERS) I liked this book! The author builds a cozy character background using many stories and anecdotes with both Isabella and her Abuela, especially noting how Isabella's love for cooking began at her Abuelas small cottage in the fields. It was interesting to watch Isabella’s unc...