We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Published by Delacorte Press on May 13, 2014
Pages: 227
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Young Adult
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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.
I love a good mystery, and by good I mean one that truly makes me think. I’m one of those smarty-pants readers who frequently figures out the secret long before it’s divulged. I pride myself on seeing plot twists coming a mile away. I start a mystery by throwing down the gauntlet to the author: okay, surprise me. E. Lockhart picked up my challenge. We Were Liars tested my intellect, kept me guessing, and had me on the edge of my seat until the very end.
Every summer, Cadence and the entire Sinclaire clan live on their privately owned island off the coast of Nantucket. She looks forward to reuniting with her two cousins, Johnny and Mirren, and their friend, Gat, every year, and the four of them come to be known as the Liars. The friends grow up enjoying carefree summers on the island and all the benefits that a life of privilege has to offer. Everything changes the summer Cadence is fifteen. She has a horrible accident that results in memory loss and crippling migraines. The story alternates between the present—two years following the tragedy—and the past, as Cadence desperately tries to recall the events surrounding her accident.
Lockhart’s writing is beautifully poetic, if a bit choppy at times. The plot is imaginative, thought provoking, and entirely engrossing. I appreciated the way in which the story unfolds; however, the ending left me wanting. While there is no cliffhanger, there is—for me at least—a sense of unfinished business. To say more would be a disservice to would-be readers, but what I wouldn’t give to discuss this with a book club.
Recommended for fans of:
Mysteries
Young Adult
New England
About E. Lockhart
I am the author of Genuine Fraud, We Were Liars, Fly on the Wall, Dramarama, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and the Ruby Oliver quartet: The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, The Treasure Map of Boys, and Real Live Boyfriends. How to Be Bad was co-written with Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski.
Disreputable History was a Printz Award honor book, a finalist for the National Book Award, and recipient of the Cybils Award for best young adult novel. We Were Liars is a New York Times bestseller. It won the Goodreads Choice Award and was Amazon’s #1 YA novel of 2014. Genuine Fraud is a Times bestseller as well.
I have a doctorate in English literature from Columbia University. My field was 19th-century British novel. In 2013 I chaired the committee on Young People’s Literature for the National Book Awards. I currently teach creative writing at Hamline University’s low-residency MFA program in Writing for Children.
I adored this book! And E Lockhart. Her series that starts with The Boyfriend List is also good, though a little lighter.
I adored this book and E. Lockhart! Her series that begins with The Boyfriend List is a little lighter, but also good.
I need to check that out!