The Cousins

Product Information

Karen McManus’s books are on my automatic buy list and I don’t see myself taking her books off there anytime soon. The Cousins” comes as a standalone in McManus’ plethora of published mystery works, including the popular book “One of Us is Lying” and its sequel “One of Us is Next." But, "The Cousins" is definitely on a completely different plane in terms of its darkness in comparison to the aforementioned pair of Breakfast Club-esque stories. Despite the trio's synonymous themes of lies and betrayal, "The Cousins" takes the cake.

The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder—but instead, thanks to Tripp, they're now at the top of the Saint Ambrose social pyramid. Tripp’s friends have never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day, and neither has he. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie. And speaking of endings, I was generally sated by the wrap up at the close of The Cousins. Itt hit a nice balance between tying up loose ends and leaving a few to fly in the wind. If I’m truthful, I would have liked a few more clever revelations, but maybe I’m just being greedy! What Happens at the End of The Cousins?

The teens do not want to go. However, their parents encourage them to accept the invitation. The cousins think that their parents hope to be re-inherited. Milly‘s mother bribes her by offering her a family heirloom. The only reason Aubrey is now anxious to go is because she has just learned that her father has had an affair with her swim coach, who is now pregnant with his child. Jonah complains about going because he has gotten a scholarship to attend a competitive science camp. For instance we have three cousins whose characters are all very similar to those in “One of Us is Lying”. We have Milly who’s basically Bronwyn, we have Jonah who’s like Nate and we have Aubrey who’s the equivalent of Addy. Their characters reminded me a lot of those three and at times it felt like only the names were changed and they were put into a different environment. Which isn’t exactly bad but it isn’t something new either and it made it very easy for me to see where the plot would head. So in the end I saw some of the twists coming from miles away because I only had to remember ��One of Us is Lying” and already knew what would happen next. It’s hard to describe this but I hope you get what I mean?!

I received a review copy from Penguin Random House SA. All opinions are my own. Review Characters – 6/10Karen's books are always adept at multi-POV, but I really gelled with the characters in this one. I think b/c this one focuses on family trauma and the "sins of the father" being carried out on the children, there was a lot to latch onto (since I enjoy that stuff). The cousins are Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah, whose parents were disowned by their mega-rich mom 24 years ago and no one knows why. After two decades of radio silence, Grandma Milicent reaches out finally to her grandchildren and invites them to work at her resort for the summer so she can get to know them. All three teens think that this sounds like a terrible way to spend the summer, but they aren't really given an option. The twists in the novel surrounding the Story family secrets are much deeper in comparison to those uncovered in other literature penned by McManus. There were continuous bombs being dropped as Milly, Aubrey and Jonah learn everything, from why they’re present at their grandmother’s home to why their parents’ relationships with her are so strained. The minute I thought I was over one twist, another one popped up for me to process.

Goodreads Description: The Storys are the envy of their neighbours: owners of the largest property on their East Coast island, they are rich, beautiful, and close. Until it all falls apart. The four children are suddenly dropped by their mother with a single sentence: The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: McManus, Karen M. The Cousins. Delacorte Press, 2020. Kindle Edition. Characters :- None of the characters were appealing at all , I wasn't rooting for anyone . I just didn't care whether they live or die. Aubrey ( only okaish and sensible character) , Milly ( buy me a drink and please give her some sense) , Jonah ( haha , which one?). What irritated me the most was that I had to remember the name of there parents and they were so damn confusing like why you have to name them with A. And in my professional life, I'm really proud of the fact that there's such a wide audience for my books, and particularly, I hear from so many teens and kids who say they don't like to read, but they like my books. That's such a great thing to hear because reading was such a huge part of my life as a kid. And if I can bring a kid into that sphere, who doesn't typically like to go there, and they find it worthwhile, and then they want to find more books than I think that's potentially life changing for that kid. And that's really exciting.

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Hi friends! Today I’m posting my The Cousins Book Review. I am a huge fan of Karen M. McManus and her thrillers, so I was super excited when Penguin Random House sent me this book for review. Let’s get into it!