We Were Liars

We Were Liars will take you on a twisty journey to truth. Our main character, Cadence, has had a traumatic experience, but she can’t remember what happened and has crippling migraines frequently. I listened to the audiobook for a portion of the story, and the narrator nails the hazy, drug-fogged musings of the characters as she contemplates how perfect the Sinclair family has always tried to be and who she is now and who she once was.
Every summer, the family goes to their private island and lives the life of the fabulously rich and careless. Cady adores her cousins Mirren and Johnny. Johnny’s mother loves a man from India, but doesn’t dare marry him, or she will lose her inheritance. She daringly brings her lover’s nephew, Gat, each summer from the time he was eight. By 15, Cady loves him fiercely and obsessively, and receives veiled comments from her grandfather. Gat tries to make her understand his rage and the impotence he feels dealing with her grandpa’s understated racism.
Wow, this story packs a punch of a plot twist. As Cady flashes back to the summer she was 15, we are given clues but never expect the big reveal. He grandfather is ultrarich, and her mother and 2 aunts have lived a life of privilege, never making much of themselves. This gives her grandfather enormous control, and the claws come out once their grandmother dies over who will inherit which portion. It takes a while for the reader to understand how important this theme is.
Full of mystery and suspense, we come ever closer to the truth bomb as Cady remembers more and starts to process. Once you know the truth, it makes you want to immediately reread, to see the story from her family’s perspective. It makes me wonder what the family must have thought when she returned to the island at 17 that summer.
This book has great potential for discussion on wealth, power, overt and subtle racism, mental health, and family. Once you know the truth, it is hard to come to terms with how irrevocable it is. Fans of We Were Kings by Court Stevens and Ginny Myers Sain’s Secrets So Deep should put this on their TBR asap! They have just adapted the series for TV, and I know what my next binge watch will be.

The Sinclair family is American royalty. Blonde, beautiful, and wealthy. Each summer, the family comes to Beechwood Island. That includes a group of friends, the Liars. Then one evening, Cadence wakes up on the beach, hurt and with no memory of what happened that fateful July. Determined to find out the truth, she returns. No one offers her any clues on what happened. Little by little, her memories come back with a painful truth. A truth that might be too much to bear.

What worked: Beautifully written, haunting tale of friendship set in a wealthy New England island. Lyrical, this story is addictive as readers follow the four forever friends: Cadence, the firstborn granddaughter of the wealthy Sinclairs, Mirren, the artistic romantic cousin; Johnny, the impulsive, snarky cousin; and Gat, the 'outsider' who wins the heart of Cadence.

There are flashbacks to the fifteenth summer of the friends that led up to the tragic event that has Cadence searching for the truth. Readers sense that Cadence's amnesia and horrific migraines might be her body's way of protecting her from a terrible truth. The clues are woven throughout on what might have happened. But the final reveal is guaranteed to take readers off guard!

The Sinclair family, with all its wealth and privilege, has its dysfunctions. Secrets are everywhere. It's a sign of strength not to show weakness. It's very telling when the grandfather suggests that Gat is like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Racism is there, and the others either ignore it or brush it off. That brings tragedy to Cadence and Gat's relationship.

Punchy writing that is fast-paced, but totally engaging.

This tenth anniversary copy includes an interview, a quiz on what liar are you, and the TV show Q & A.

Sharp, twisty, with all the clues scattered around Cadence as she tries to make sense of what happened that fateful summer. I highly recommend reading the next book in this series, FAMILY OF LIARS, which tells the story of the mothers' teen years and how it all connects with the future events.

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!