Long Lost Reviews is a monthly meme created by Ally over at Ally’s Appraisals which is posted on the second Thursday of every month. The aim is to start tackling your review backlog. Whether it’s an in-depth analysis of how it affected your life, one sentence stating that you only remember the ending, or that you have no recollection of reading the book at all.
Published: 27 July 2023 (print)/27 July 2023 (audio) 
Publisher: Penguin/Penguin
Pages: 368/10 hrs and 12 mins
Narrator: Shannon McManus, Holly Linneman, Robbie Daymond, Jeff Ebner
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Mystery/Thriller
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars
At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the crew disappears, it’s clear this ‘game’ just got serious – and no-one understands the rules.
Ever since Simon died in detention, life hasn’t been easy for the Bayview Crew. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation had to outwit a vengeful copycat. Now, it’s beginning again.
The thing is, Simon was right about secrets-they all come out, eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.
Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things are starting to get deadly.
Simon was right about secrets – they all come out in the end.
This I’m resigning into a Long Lost Review because my notes are few, my memory of it is non-existent, and even the blurb is giving me nothing. I have a few notes but don’t remember much from this book. Even reading plot summaries nothing is sticking. Given my notes are about it being a bit confusing probably has something to do with it.
As the story starts there is a pause to recap previous books as characters are introduced. It’s seamless enough, but it’s a lot to recap given the complexity of previous books which makes it a little wordy and awkward all the same.
The cast has grown which is acknowledged, there are a lot of people to keep track of, and to mix the old ones in with the new and bring new readers up to speed and refresh memories is a lot. With the return of previous characters you can see growth, how they haven’t changed, how they are beyond high school even though it hasn’t been that long.
I have given it four stars so I must have enjoyed it, but maybe also I enjoyed McManus’ writing style, enjoyed returning to these characters, and maybe the plot was good and interesting at the time but isn’t one that sticks.
You can purchase One of Us is Back via the following
Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
