We Were Liars

I went into We Were Liars one cocky son of a biscuit eater, feeling above it all right from page one. I’d seen this book talked about so heavily by other bloggers and how some never saw the twist coming or how others totally saw that twist coming. All the while, I was sitting on the sidelines with my shades on, posted up with my arms folded, saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hot potato.” That’s not to say I didn’t want to read this book, because I did. I even had an ARC sitting on my shelf for the longest time, but due to a lot of the hype, I kept putting it off. Plus, I’m one of those people who usually can easily figure out a plot twist and I didn’t want to dive into something where a lot of people already mentioned figuring it out.

But one thing did nag me a little in the back of my mind was that my Bookish Twin, Blythe from Finding Bliss in Books, LOVED it. I highly value her opinion when it comes to books, because we almost always agree. So when I happened to get my hands on the audiobook, I thought, “What the hell? I was supposed to read and review this anyway, right?” Let me tell you… WHOA.

***First off, I just wanna say that I don’t know how the print compares to the audio and that it’s possible I loved the book more than others because of the excellent job of the narrator. I can see how the fragmented sentences could be a pain to read, but this might be one of those cases where it sounds better out loud. That being said, I if you haven’t read this book, possibly check out the audio version first.***

Anyway, I was feeling very blasé about the first half. It felt like a really random story about a rich, white girl and her white girl problems, crying her white girl tears and I felt myself unsure about what the point of it all was.

And maybe that makes me sound extremely heartless, but I couldn’t relate to the main character (no, I’m not even going to tell you her name because I want you to go in blind). But somewhere along the lines, I started to become intrigued with the story because it became this strange, wild thing that I couldn’t piece together.

Lockhart uses a very odd narration with fragmented sentences and strange descriptions, but I thought it was beautiful and unique. It added a very creepy layer on top the the existing oddness. It makes you question the main character, her account of the incident and the entire book. She’s not very reliable and has the habit to cut off mid-sentence. I’m not sure if that was used as a way to distract the reader or if it was to used to make us question her sanity. Maybe a little bit of both. Either way, it worked on me.

As things started to heat up and I reached the cusp of the climax, the narrator’s voice increased in intensity. She began talking faster, became very emotional, then suddenly on the verge of tears!

And I started thinking to myself, OH GOD NO. WHAT IS HAPPENING.

And then IT was revealed and I was all, “WHAT IS THIS LIFE? I REJECT EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ENDING. NOOOOOOO!!!!”

So, naturally, I had a good cry and needed someone to hold me.

I know this review might not be the most helpful in the world, but it’s true what everyone says about We Were Liars. You should absolutely go in blind, with no expectations and let this book take your feels as it sees fit. If you are a fan of psychological thrillers like Stephanie Kuehn’s Charm and Strange or Complicit, than this one may be up your alley. I’ll be here to hold you when you’re finish.

Devastatingly beautiful and tragic. I started reading We Were Liars while on a train ride to NYC. As I got further into the story I found myself happy there was a train delay - I needed to finish this book. What started off as "I will just read a few chapters," turned into " I cannot leave this train until I finish!"While not your typical suspenseful page turner, I found myself so entrenched in the story that I had to keep reading- I had to find out how all the pieces fit together.

The best way to read this book is to go in blind. The one thing that made this book enjoyable was not knowing too much about the plot and trying to piece together the puzzle pieces as the story went on. With this in mind- I am trying to make this review as vague as possible while still being specific.

What I loved the most- the large cast and dark and twisted fairy tale feel of the entire story. The fairy tale imagery gave the story a different feel and moved the story along. The writing- words cannot explain- it is beautiful and almost poetic,keeping readers completely intrigued.

We Were Liars is a great book to read with a bunch of friends- unravel the mysteries and have someone to talk to after you finish the last page.This is a perfect summer read, everything you could ask for wrapped up in one great novel!

I was so excited to get this book to review and as soon as I started it, I couldn't put it down. I was quite pleased with this book, although (and I do not want to give away any spoilers here) it did not end the way I thought it would.

What I loved:

The writing. Holy smokes. E. Lockhart does a fantastic job of creating a visual world. It's so hard for me to visualize books, but she does an amazing job at making me SEE her world.

The characters. Oh my goodness. Cady, Johnny, Mirren and Gat. Right from the start I GOT Cadence's voice. I understood what she was saying. It wasn't easy to read at times, but I got it. I'm not sure what that says about me, but.... I adored Johnny and Mirren, two of Cady's cousins. I loved how they joked with each other and always backed each other up. Gat. Oh sweet Gat. He is a friend of the family, not a relative, but he is with the Sinclair's every summer. I loved his character and I really adored Cady and Gat's relationship. I would love to have the summers they have had growing up. This is not to say that their lives are easy by any means, but I've always wanted to spend the summer on some private island.

What left me wanting more:

I realized the plot twist in the book about half way through. It did not ruin the book for me, but I as I figured out where Ms. Lockhart was going with the book, I really took my time with it. I don't want to give away any spoilers because I don't want to ruin the book for anyone. This book was more "heavy" than I thought it would be and left me emotional.

Overall a great read and I highly recommend it!

Obviously, the summary gives you very little to go on to decide if you want to read this book. For me, it worked for friends to shove it into my hands saying, you will like this. But that’s because they know my taste. You probably need a little more to go on, because I actually don’t believe this book is for everyone.

So here’s the most non-spoilery summary I can give:

WE WERE LIARS is about a group of four teens (three cousins, one friend) who grow up spending their summers with their families on a private island. When they are fifteen, the narrator, Cady, has an accident. She hits her head and loses her memory, suffers a traumatic brain injury, and spends two years convalescing under the watchful eyes of her parents. She never can recall what happened to her, but she misses the island and begs to return. So when she is seventeen, she does.

Only this time, everything is different. And no one will tell her why.

This is a hard book to peg down. It’s not the suspenseful page-turner I thought it would be, given the back cover copy (although it is a speedy read). Nor is it the quiet literary fiction that it feels like in parts. It’s a mystery that doesn’t read like a mystery. It’s a modern story that feels vaguely historical because of the isolated setting (Internet, phones, cable all don’t seem to work on the island). It’s psychologically manipulative, but then again, maybe it’s not.

It’s an enigma. It defies categorization.

The prose is gorgeous, but detached. It took me a while to become completely engrossed in this book because I couldn’t emotionally connect with the narrator. I was always interested in the plot and wanted to see what happened; I just wasn’t invested until about the halfway point. (Take this with a grain of salt – I have many friends who were utterly riveted by page 1.)

That said, once I was in, I was all in. This book solidly staked its claim on the “There Were Tears” shelf in my brain, and let me tell you, that is a small shelf.

There are twists and red herrings galore in WE WERE LIARS, and whether or not you see them coming or find them satisfying is part of the draw of this book. I found it smart and well-executed and original, but I also was able to call some of the surprises early on. However, that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the book.

This is a book you can only really discuss with others who have read it, and it’s one of very few books that I’ve heard people recommend even if they didn’t like it, just because they wanted to be able to talk about it. It’s well crafted, beautifully written, and unlike anything else I’ve read. It’ll leave you thinking for days (and, if you’re like me, you’ll flip back to the beginning and start reading again immediately after you finish, looking for the things you missed), and talking about it over dinner with your friends.

You know, the friends who read it because you made them read it because you just had to talk about it.

I will give you the disclaimer that this book isn’t one for people who need clear answers. There is a lot open for interpretation, and there is a very valid way of reading the book that could leave the reader in a pretty dark place. There’s also a more uplifting way to read, but if you prefer your endings unambiguously positive, this may not be the book for you.

That said, if you’re up for a ride into the twisting dark unknown, I hope you’ll give it a try.

What I Liked:
In We Were Liars, the frame’s rather simple. Cady was in some sort of accident she cannot remember, and is spending her summer trying to figure out what happened on the Sinclair’s island two years before. Cady cannot remember what happened, even though she’s been told; her brain cannot handle what happened and continues to erase everything. Whatever it is, though, continues to affect her. Some impulse has her giving away even her most prized of possessions, and she’s swamped by loneliness because Johnny, Mirren, and Gat have not been supportive friends since her accident. In returning back to the island, she hopes to find her memories and discover the truth of why her friends abandoned her in her time of need.

The Sinclairs are upper crust, complete with fights over the inheritance, scandal, and all sorts of sordidness underneath the glamour. Cady’s the sort of girl who, though nearly an adult, continues to refer to her mother solely as “mummy.” She has no real conception of her privilege, and is shocked when Gat points it out. She feels charitable for giving away her things, but that still leaves her living a luxurious life. Lockhart really sells the character and makes Cady completely believable. At the same time, though, I didn’t particularly like Cady or find her all that compelling.

I loved the inclusion of Gat, a relative of one of Cady’s aunt’s boyfriend. Gat is Indian and not from a wealthy background. The two fall in love during their fifteenth summer and it’s completely sweet. For one thing, I love that he’s a POC. I also love that he drives her to consider her life in new ways, not in a man-splaining way, but by his sheer existence. She’s forced to recognize the racism in her grandfather’s attitude and the blithe unawareness that she herself has towards the circumstances of others.

My favorite aspect of We Were Liars are the fairy tales sprinkled throughout. As a way of processing her memories and conceptualizing, Cady composes these fairy tales of a king with three beautiful daughters. Though they start the same, they end differently, adapting with whatever new understanding she has. These were gorgeously written and more moving to me than the overall story.

What Left Me Wanting More:
My problem was that I didn’t really engage with the characters. I was consistently entertained but not emotionally drawn-in. Without that emotional connection, I was pretty much just waiting to see what the twist would be (it’s good and I didn’t see it coming though maybe should have?). Without an emotional tie, the ending lost much of its impact.

The Final Verdict:
If you bond emotionally with the characters, this book will crush you and you will love every moment of it. Aspects of the writing, which is almost poetic at times with mid-sentence line breaks, and Cady’s personality kept We Were Liars from really being a Christina book. I still urge you to try it, because, if it IS a YOU book, it will break your brain.