We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Book Review

A New York Times’ Best Seller (number one), this novel is set in the present day. A young adult genre of fiction really packs a punch, and the reader is invited to answer a question; if you hated your family, really detested them, would you burn them all down?  Intrigued?  You should be because this is a book of intrigue and is told by seventeen-year-old Cady or Cadence. Sinclair Eastman the narrator and tells us that Cady spends her summers on a private island owned by her family, just off of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.  Cady is never alone there, she is joined by Mirren, Jonny, and Gat (two cousins and a family friend) and together, the four of them name their group “The Liars.”

A Teenage World

The Liars live in their own, private world which separates itself from the other adults and the younger cousins.  This is probably no different to most teenagers, who view life through their own eyes and tend to come together while separating themselves off from parents, younger siblings, and others.

Family Money

As you can imagine, The Liars come from a wealthy background and the book very much centers on family money.  That family money pays for everything – so perhaps negating the need to work for anything and taking luxuries for granted.  However, the lavish lifestyle is set to fall – as Cady tells us, she wants to burn the family to the ground.

A Mysterious Accident

The book charts one particular summer when Cady has a mysterious accident and loses her memory. Two years later, Cady still cannot remember what happened that summer and is desperate to unearth what really happened, she must try and regain her memory, but it certainly isn’t easy!  She returns to the island, reuniting with The Liars and the book charts their adventure on the island, frequently moving between past and present.  Through revisiting the past, Cady slowly starts to recall certain incidents that occurred over that fateful summer, and she pieces together the mystery that’s been troubling her for two years, rediscovering her memory and herself in the process.

Mental Health

While the Sinclair family may outwardly look like the family with everything, delve a little deeper and it becomes apparent that there is far more to just wealth.  The novel explores subjects such as mental health (through different generations), racism and material wealth that leaves Cady questioning how she feels about her family, thus the early question about hating your family and wanting to burn them to the ground.

Prose and Poetry

The book is written using prose and poetry – it is a little abstract which for some, might make it difficult reading but you do get used to the structure after a couple of chapters.  This use of prose is a very effective story-telling for the novel.  To buy a copy of We Were Liars by E Lockhart, click this link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-were-liars-e-lockhart/1116530632

A New York Times’ Best Seller (number one), this novel is set in the present day. A young adult genre of fiction really packs a punch, and the reader is invited to answer a question; if you hated your family, really detested them, would you burn them all down?  Intrigued?  You should be because this…