by E. Lockhart
YA Contemporary
Amazon / Goodreads
Plot Summary:
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.
Review:
The writing in this book was mesmerizing. So sharp, clean, sparse, and effective. And really clever. Even with the sophistication and uniqueness of the storytelling though, I felt this was believably a story narrated by a teenager. And because we see everything so completely through Cady, the other characters lack some dimension which is fitting, since Cady has such a particular viewpoint. All of this adds to the atmosphere of this story which goes from relaxed to increasingly disturbed and suspicious.The story does feel a little padded though, and I almost felt this would have been more effective if it was a little more streamlined (although it is already a slim book). I also felt like the timeline of the story could be confusing at times with all the summer trips Cady relates to the reader. And even though I did understand why the characters were a little one-dimensional, it definitely made it hard to empathize or connect with the characters, although Cady is easily the most sympathetic, and it was interesting to gradually understand her better. It is upsetting how privileged the people in this book are, and how they can distance themselves from reality so much. Luckily one of the characters - Gat - helps voice reason.
The resolution of this story is the best part, and I won't lie about what happens - I just won't say what it is. It definitely redeemed so much for me about this book, because I didn't see any of it coming, and it is so emotional and thought-provoking. And I shouldn't say much more than that. This book really sells a concept - which is the ending - and I think it is worth the read to find out what it is all about.
