Publisher: Delacorte Press, 240 pages
Publication Date: May 13, 2014
From Goodreads:
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.
Sheri's Review:
While I don't normally choose suspense novels, I really enjoyed this one because I didn't spend the whole book stressed out by a sense of foreboding. In fact, there were times I relaxed into the story forgetting that something bad was lurking. I loved the unconditional nature of the relationships between the cousins, I was fascinated by the fairy tale stories that prefaced many of the chapters, and I desperately wanted Cady to be okay.
I know a ton of people have already reviewed this one so I don't have much else to add except......I kept forgetting these kids were living in 2014. Something about the way the book was written and what the families were like reminded me of the 1970s. Then there would be a reference to an email or a cell phone and I would have to remind myself its a contemporary story. I don't know if anyone else had the same feeling of disorientation but I think it only added to the suspense of the story for me.
I really am sorry I can't say more but its hard to review this one without spoilers but I would DEFINITELY recommend this book even if you don't normally like suspense. In fact, I would love some recommendations for more books like this one if you have any!
Pam's Review:
An unreliable narrator.
A messed up family.
Issues of class, discrimination, and greed.
A heartbreaking story.
Teenagers being really stupid.
A twisty story with an ending I didn't see coming.
So much suffering.
But possibly ending with hope?
Anyone know why they were called liars??
Really enjoyed this one, but very depressing. I had to read a light and fluffy book right after.
I wasn't a huge fan of this one. I liked it, but the unreliable narrator really got to me. I wasn't a fan of the writing style either. The twist got me, didn't see it coming, but I guess I just expected more after all the hype.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have no idea why they are called liars, Pam. lol
I, like Rebecca above, hasn't too over the moon with this one. I figured out the twist very VERY early on and so I was disappointed when I was right. The writing style was quite unique though and I loved how the words flowed. It was very old world-esque, like you mentioned Sheri. Definitely didn't read as something modern. I'm glad you both enjoyed it, though!
ReplyDeleteI might skip this one. I've been reading too many depressing stories lately! I need more happy right now. Maybe I'll come back to it at some point.
ReplyDeleteGlad both of you liked this one! As you may recall, I liked it too but I didn't love it. I thought the writing was wonderful and the twist took me by surprise but the kids were so stupid (I agree with you Pam!). I like E. Lockhart's other book I just recently read better - The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (which is a mouthful).
ReplyDeleteGlad you both enjoyed this one. I absolutely loved it, it's definitely one of my favourite books of 2014 so far.
ReplyDelete