Title: We Were Liars
Author: E Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult/Suspense
Length: 240 pages
Published: May 2014
Disclaimer: This isn't going to be one of those vague, mysterious reviews. If you want to go into this book truly blind then feel free to click out of this review. This is the kind of book where you might be better off not knowing. But I can't stand going into a book blind (I at least need to know something about the characters!) and so I thought I'd put out this review for all of those who read like I do. However I'm not going to reveal any major plot points and I'm definitely not going to spoil the ending for you.
"We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken. A tale of love and romance. A tale of tragedy. Which are lies? Which is truth? You decide."
This book. I honestly had to read this book twice in order for me to love it, because of the reason mentioned above: I hate not knowing. Mystery books drive me crazy, I speed through them so quickly because I just want to know what happened. But after reading it the second time (when I know all of the things that have happened) I was surprised and a little overwhelmed by how amazing this book is. The writing is one of the major things I loved - it's such beautiful writing and very poetic, with some pieces spaced out on lines in an almost poetry-ish format. Also, the metaphors. Ah, the metaphors. They are so blunt and powerful and intense that you almost have to stop for a second and evaluate if it is a metaphor or if it is really happening. The dialogue in this book is also very good, it's really realistic and flows easily. The addition of the little fairy tales at random intervals of the book are also very relevant to the story, and helps give an insight into the family dynamic.
The main character and our narrator of this tale is Caedence, eldest grandchild of the grand Sinclair family. The Sinclairs are rich, tall, blonde and seemingly very happy. But they hide a lot of dark secrets. The dimensions of this family are perfection - it is totally believable and the family tree at the beginning adds to the grandeur of them: this is totally the sort of family to map out their own family tree and display it with pride. But back to Caedence - we meet her at the beginning of 'Summer Seventeen' where she is returning to the Sinclair family island for the summer, after missing two years due to this reason and that. But this is Caedence's first year back on the island following her accident, which left her with sickeningly fierce migraine headaches, a frequent pill-popping habit and a touch of amnesia. She has also developed a habit of giving away her personal belongings - she contributes this towards her family's materialism (is that a word?) although after reading you begin to question her motives. She can't remember anything about her accident - just flashes here and there - and this summer she is determined to work out what happened.
Overall, this book is a must-read. It's intense, full of suspense (unintentional rhyming happened here) and beautifully written. I gave this book 5/5 stars. It was truly an experience. I'd probably recommend reading it twice like I have, you may be surprised on how you view it the second time.
Just remember, everything may or may not be as it seems...
_________________________________________________________________
If you liked We Were Liars, I'd recommend Looking for Alaska by John Green.
Currently listening to the audio book of this atm and loving it so far. I have to admit its a little confusing with the family tree, without having it in front of you like the book does.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't guessed by now I'm basically reading every book you have lol, we have such a similiar taste in books!!!
www.simplysara.co.uk