We Were Liars Book Review

E. Lockhart is known for writing picture books and for adults. Her book, We Were Liars, is cunning, surprising, and brutal to say the least. It's the kind of story many people dream of having: your own private island, a close knit family, and a boy you love.

Cadence Sinclair Eastman spends every summer on her family’s private island. Each of Harris Sinclair’s three daughters has a house. The kids who live in those houses are all cousins. The oldest, Cadence, call themselves the Liars. She finds comfort at Beechwood Island with her cousins and step cousin named Gat. During summer of her 15th year, Cadence gets in an accident that leads her to horrible migraines and memory loss of that incident. The Sinclair family begins to fall apart as secrets lie around and the Liars decide to take matters into their own hands.

From a reader's perspective, I think the characters weren’t developed enough to have a connection with. In fact, we never got an explanation to why the cousins call themselves the Liars. The way Lockhart writes this story is like a poetic tone. She cuts off short with her sentences and references princess fairy tales. She leads a smart and mysterious path throughout the story. She does a great job at describing the characters in a confident way. “The Sinclairs are tall, athletic and handsome...Our smiles wide, our chins square and our tennis serves aggressive.” Furthermore, the plot twist ends off shocking. Its an ambitious novel with a clever plot and some suspense. This story portrays a shattered family and the consequences of greed.

Of course I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say it turns out to be more shocking and full of twists than I imagined. It's an ending that sent me straight back to the beginning.