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Title: We Were Liars
Publisher: Delacort Press, an imprint of Random House
Genre: Young Adult - Contemporary, Mystery
Release Date: May 13, 2014
Source: Purchased, opinions are my own. – review policy here.
Synopsis via Goodreads:
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.
I wanted to read this so bad when the ARC reviews started appearing online. I have a love affair with American aristocrats, especially anything Kennedy-esque. We Were Liars has nothing to do with the Kennedy family, but the family is plagued with their own so-called "curse," which allegedly stems from the greed of family patriarch Joseph Kennedy. Soooo many parallels and so I found it interesting as I met the Sinclairs... plus, I love John who was morphed into my own version of Johnny.
On to business...
We Were Liars is a very quick read in both page count, pacing and formatting. The chapters are brief which allow the reader to quickly take in bits of information that keep the mystery and suspense moving forward. Interspersed between narrative chapters, appears an evolving fairy tale alluding to the state of the family and revealing damning information. These are my favorite bits.
Told from Cadence's point-of-view we're guided through her her life post-personal tragedy and bits of her past as they become clear to her. In other words, we're missing a lot because homegirl has holes in her memory. With an untrustworthy narrator the reader is piecing the Sinclair mystery together blindly because it becomes clear that those Cadence should trust are questionable at best.
The Sinclairs are plagued with money and the illusion of power that comes from privilege. To protect the Sinclair brand they've built a life of structure, expectations and legacy. With this comes a life shrouded in secrecy and a lot of being fake or putting on a show. This brings us to the lies... or rather The Liars. The Liars are teens Cadence, Mirren and Johnny, her cousins, and Gat, an Indian–American whose uncle is in a relationship with a Sinclair. I absolutely ship the Liars and ache to bandage all of their hurts.
The four of them enjoy every summer living on the family–owned, secluded island peacefully until summer 15. After the accident Cadence is absent in summer 16 and returns in summer 17 to discover the mystery surrounding her accident. The accident no one is to speak about.
swoon!
On to business...
We Were Liars is a very quick read in both page count, pacing and formatting. The chapters are brief which allow the reader to quickly take in bits of information that keep the mystery and suspense moving forward. Interspersed between narrative chapters, appears an evolving fairy tale alluding to the state of the family and revealing damning information. These are my favorite bits.
Told from Cadence's point-of-view we're guided through her her life post-personal tragedy and bits of her past as they become clear to her. In other words, we're missing a lot because homegirl has holes in her memory. With an untrustworthy narrator the reader is piecing the Sinclair mystery together blindly because it becomes clear that those Cadence should trust are questionable at best.
The Sinclairs are plagued with money and the illusion of power that comes from privilege. To protect the Sinclair brand they've built a life of structure, expectations and legacy. With this comes a life shrouded in secrecy and a lot of being fake or putting on a show. This brings us to the lies... or rather The Liars. The Liars are teens Cadence, Mirren and Johnny, her cousins, and Gat, an Indian–American whose uncle is in a relationship with a Sinclair. I absolutely ship the Liars and ache to bandage all of their hurts.
The four of them enjoy every summer living on the family–owned, secluded island peacefully until summer 15. After the accident Cadence is absent in summer 16 and returns in summer 17 to discover the mystery surrounding her accident. The accident no one is to speak about.
The mystery of Cadence's accident comes out in small chunks of information the more time she spends on the island with her Liars. Of course I can't divulge too much information due to potential spoilers but I promise the read is worth uncovering the truth, well as much of the truth as we can handle.
In the end, it's the secrecy and shame following the Sinclairs that rocks their core and sends the reader grasping for answers as the final chapters approach. Confused as to whether you're rooting for or against our heroine, Cadence, We Were Liars will have you filled with sorrow, disbelief, disgust and hope.
We should not let the family fall apart.
We should not accept an evil we can change.
We would stand up against it, would we not?
Yes. We should.
We would be heroes, even.
4-Stars: Solid read with enticing, rhythmic prose.
For those who like mysteries it's a must read, but I could be lying.
For those who like mysteries it's a must read, but I could be lying.
Glad you enjoyed it. This was a very interesting read for me. I struggled with the writing style but did finish it. I'm glad I did.
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