We Were Liars | E. Lockhart

CHARACTERS: 3/5
PLOT:  2.5/5
ENTERTAINMENT: 3.5/5
OVERALL: 3.5/5

The book, released in 2014 has won many accolades including the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Young Adult Fiction. Having won the hearts of both critics and readers alike, you can only imagine the buzz that the book created all over the internet. Expectedly, I too had heard a lot about E. Lockhart’s (a New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist) writing especially in this book, so you can only imagine how intrigued I was by this YA Mystery. This was one of those books that remain on your TBR for a long time. And by the end of it, I can only say that reading this one was a very different experience.

The summary of We Were Liars

The Sinclairs are an ideal family, a well-respected and celebrated family who are not just wealthy but also perfect in every way possible. And so it is that like every other perfect family, they have a vacation ritual.

Each summer the elaborate Sinclair family spends time on their private island. But on the 15th summer year of her vacation, something happens to Candence, the eldest of the Sinclair grandkids, an accident that results in her memory loss.

This is the story of a friendship that turns cataclysmic, of relations that become ruinous. The story of an accident, a secret, and lies. So many lies. All 4 Sinclair grandkids (cousins) call themselves Liars! And maybe, that’s just what they are.

And now, Cadence is back after two summers to reunite with her family, in the hopes of getting her memory back. But…

What is true?

What is false?

It’s for you and me to decide.

My thoughts

I will be honest here, it took me some time to understand the plot, but once I got the hang of it, the book was simply unputdownable.

The writing is different from most books. The sentence structuring and the lyrical writing in some places were a hit and in some places a miss, for me. But I guess that’s what makes this book unique.

There is not much of a plot as such, just a central character Candence who is pretentious, privileged, and full of self-pity while trying to figure out what happened to her.

We don’t get to the incident until the end, till then it goes back and forth to different summer holiday years, and most of the mystery and intrigue is served in this way.

My favourite part was the use of fairy tale dialogues/stories all throughout the book which describes the situation quite well, taking the story forward and showcasing some real perspectives in the book.

In the end, I would say this isn’t your typical YA mystery thriller. It was intriguing enough for me that I continued reading, but I have mixed feelings about it. I neither loved it nor hated it.

I would recommend you to go in blind without too many expectations, that way you would probably enjoy it much more than I did.

Want to read it yourself? Buy your copy of We Were Liars using the link below.