Author: E. Lockhart
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Pages: 227
Published: May 13th, 2014
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.
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
“We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.”
Sorry we haven't published any reviews recently, but we've been busy with the start of school. I've had this set prepared for a while, so enjoy!
I was encouraged heavily by booktube to read this book by several channels I followed, and the first thing they all warned me was that I should log off that video ASAP. This book, they told me, was best to go into with no outside knowledge, opinions, or facts. So I followed their instructions, avoided all news of the novel, and ask for it on the list of books I wanted for my birthday. Then I read it. And woah. I agree, don't go into this book with outside knowledge. If you haven't read the book, leave this review now. Even with no spoilers it may give too much away.
I was encouraged heavily by booktube to read this book by several channels I followed, and the first thing they all warned me was that I should log off that video ASAP. This book, they told me, was best to go into with no outside knowledge, opinions, or facts. So I followed their instructions, avoided all news of the novel, and ask for it on the list of books I wanted for my birthday. Then I read it. And woah. I agree, don't go into this book with outside knowledge. If you haven't read the book, leave this review now. Even with no spoilers it may give too much away.
This story, for those of you who have read it or refuse to heed my warning, is the story of Cadence Sinclair Eastman. She is the eldest Sinclair grandchild, and every one of the Sinclairs is perfect on the outside. On the inside, not so much. Beneath the gorgeous facade hides greed, racism, divorce, addiction, and depression (just to name a few issues). It's a pretty quick read, which I was thankful for after the 1100+ page "A Storm of Swords" I read last week.
Some things I loved. . .
The end. I can't spoil it for you (that's book review etiquette 101), but holy mother of plot twists. Some other people on the internet said they guessed it due to clues, but I was stunned. Did not see that coming. A+ story ending.
This book was incredibly blunt. I liked that in most cases, because it gave you a clear insight of Cadence's sadness and background. It was one of the many qualities which made me love this novel and everything it told me.
Woven into the story is a whole bunch of fairy tale stories written by Cadence. It helped give the story another dimension, and see deeper into her thoughts. All the stories were based on her and her family's lives, but took place with kings and queens instead of up-class Americans. They were all only a few pages long, but I highly enjoyed them.
Woven into the story is a whole bunch of fairy tale stories written by Cadence. It helped give the story another dimension, and see deeper into her thoughts. All the stories were based on her and her family's lives, but took place with kings and queens instead of up-class Americans. They were all only a few pages long, but I highly enjoyed them.
Lockhart has a freakishly talented way of condensing information. You read 40 pages, you feel like you've gone through 100. The book was pretty short, but it felt like you went through so much with Candence. You learned more than you thought you'd be able to in such a short time, and I wish I had more of this style right now!
Some things i disliked. . .
A couple times the metaphors got a bit out of control. An example? Only 5 pages into the book when Cadence's father is leaving her and Mummy, you get this little gem:
“Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,
then from my eyes,
my ears,
my mouth.
It tasted like salt and failure. The bright red shame of being unloved soaked the grass in front of our house, the bricks of the path, the steps of the porch. My heart spasmed among the peonies like a trout.”
To this I was like woah! What the hell? He shot her? Is this why the book had so much hype? Is this the drama of the book? Her getting over the wounds? Why the hell did he shoot her? Then Cadence's mother came over and told her to stop making a scene, and I got it; E. Lockhart had been personifying emotions. That bullet was metaphorical. But why were scenarios like this so unclear at the beginning?
Recommended to all (although, if you made it to this point you should have already read it. Best to go in with no outside info, remember?).
-Claire
Some Other Reviews for "We Were Liars":
No comments:
Post a Comment