"We Were Liars"

By: E. Lockhart

A psychological thriller with a plot twist that I wouldn't have seen coming in a million years

Cadence "Cady" Eastman is the oldest grandchild of the seemingly perfect Sinclair family. Every year, Cady and the rest of the Sinclair family spends their summers on a private island on the coast of Massachusetts. The novel centers around "The Liars" - Cady, her cousins Johnny and Mirren, and their friend, Gat. One summer, Cady suffered a head injury while she was swimming alone. The head injury gave Cady severe migraines and caused her to forget everything that happened during that summer.

In the novel, Cady returns to the private island to see her family after almost two years not in touch with them. This summer, Cady, with the help of the rest of The Liars, uncover the darker side of their wealthy and "perfect" Sinclair family, what happened during that summer, and the terribly twisted truth.

Can you hear me screaming?!

What can I say about this book? For one thing, it definitely did its job of being a psychological thriller. And the plot twist at the end? I didn't see it coming. At all.

I personally loved this book. I loved the plot twist and I loved the writing style. If I had to chose one thing that I didn't like about "We Were Liars", I would say that it's how long it took for the truth about the accident to come together. Little did I know, nearly every detail in this book contributed to the ending. It was incredible, and brilliantly weaved together - in my opinion.

I think that one of the two biggest things that people dislike about this book, is the writing style.

Parts of this book

had a writing style

that's a little bit

like this.

I usually hate it when books use this kind of prose, but this was different. For "We Were Liars", this writing style make me feel what Cady was feeling; from emptiness to despair. Whenever I start reading a book that I'm enjoying, my mind comes up with a voice and tone for every character. Whenever I read these parts in my mind, the tiny voice in my head rose and fell depending on the tone and atmosphere. It added to the drama.

What can I say? I'm a drama queen.

The second thing is the plot twist itself. You might think that it's unreasonable or unbelievable depending on how you view it. I thought that all the details that backed up what happened were included earlier in the book, especially considering that this is not realistic fiction. I'm usually more of a critical reader, but I was pretty okay with the ending. If you're the kind of reader who likes to pay attention to the details, you might be unhappy with the ending.

If you're still not sure whether you want to read this or not, I suggest you try to read the first chapter and see if you like it. Borrow from a library or find an online version unless you're sure you want to read it. "We Were Liars" get strong opinions from both sides.

I hope this book review helped! Don't forget to comment your opinion or recommend any books that you enjoyed!

~ WritingLightning