Author: E. Lockhart
Published: May 13th, 2014
Genre: YA contemporary
Pages: 240
POV: 1st person
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format: e-ARC
Source: Netgalley / Publisher
Rating: The Royal Library, Top Shelf
A beautiful and distinguished family.
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.
On the outside, the Sinclair family is perfect. Just ask anyone. But for Cadence Sinclair, life is anything but perfect after an accident she cannot remember. For her, life is one big show of acting like she's okay, she's fine, even as she suffers from severely crippling migraines and the lingering uncertainty of what exactly happened her fifteenth summer on the island - the summer she can barely remember and the summer that changed her life completely. We Were Liars is simply captivating, and the type of story that demands you set everything aside in order to finish reading in one sitting.
We Were Liars is a quiet type of story, and it quickly became a story that I did not expect to read. From the very beginning, I was not sure what to make of Cadence. From the title alone, the possibility of having an unreliable narrator is high, but Lockhart shapes Cadence into a character you want to trust and fully believe. With each new reclaimed memory from Cadence and all of the little confusing moments, I was hooked, curious, and eager for more. This is a genuinely challenging story to discuss, but it is one worth reading and rereading. Smart, evocative, and surprising, We Were Liars is a thrilling puzzle to piece together, tear apart, and put back together again and again.
Highlights: Lockhart's writing style is simplistic yet evocative. Cadence's voice is a nice mixture between a familiar YA-style prose and bare, revealing poetic lines. Despite the numerous hints, I guessed the wrong ending, which made the reveal more shocking and intense. Cadence, as an MC, was great simply because of her imperfections - she's a spoiled rich girl, and even though she tries to be better, her privileged side shows through in some moments.
Lowlights: I wish it was longer, and that the side characters had been developed a bit more.
Rating: The Royal Library, Top Shelf. We Were Liars swept me away right from the beginning with its mesmerizing writing style and tantalizing mystery. This is one story you need to check out.
This book is AMAZING! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Lea. It really was thrilling and I had no idea how it was all going to end.
ReplyDeleteSO glad you enjoyed WWL too! I completely agree, the ending was a complete surprise. A very fascinating, fun story to read!
DeleteSounds like I need to move this one up on my TBR. I've never read anything by E Lockhart before even though I've had The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks on my shelf for years! I look forward to her unique writing style.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first Lockhart book, but it won't be my last. It was such a thrill to read - very intriguing and surprising.
DeleteHope you enjoy it!
Aw, I'm glad you enjoyed this one :D Thank you for sharing. <3 It do look pretty amazing. Pretty cover, hih. <3
ReplyDeleteIt was great! And the cover is definitely pretty :)
DeleteOh, I'm so glad to see this rated so highly by you, Lea! I have it coming up on my review pile, and I've been hoping for a really strong follow-through! Wonderful review :)
ReplyDeleteThis book took me by surprise - It was an easy book to curl up with for a few hours. I hope you enjoy WWL!
DeleteThis book sounds so good and when I get it I feel like I'll be going into reading it completely blind, I still don't really know what its about!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely want to go in with as little info as possible. I tried to keep everything important out of the review, just because it's one of those novels where you need to read it for yourself. It makes the ending more surprising!
DeleteThis book sounds awesome, and I really can't wait to get my hands on it! Thanks for the great review!
ReplyDeleteIt's fabulous!!
DeleteAwesome review! I am looking forward to reading this one. I know some people either really like it or were let down…I'm glad you enjoyed it. The writing sound fantastic, especially since you were guessing until the end and were surprised! I love when that happens! :)
ReplyDeleteWWL seems to be a hit or a miss kind of a book. It was perfect for me, though - I didn't expect much going in, but quickly found myself unable to tear myself away from the mystery of the story. The writing was great, and the mystery was wonderful (I'm still shocked I didn't pick up on the hints, because they were there).
DeleteSuper intriguing! I love the "just lie" part of the synopsis. Now I really want to read it haha
ReplyDeleteI love that part too. It's always fun when summaries get creative like that :)
DeleteWow! Before your review I actually hadn't given this book much thought, but now I'm definitely going to be giving this one a try.
ReplyDeleteI had low expectations for this book, and quickly found myself reading for hours. If you click with the writing style, it's an easy book to love!
DeleteI hope you enjoy it when you read it :)
A quiet and evocative story sounds nice even if it could have been longer
ReplyDeleteIt was nice! I wish it was longer, but it was still wonderful.
Delete