Endless Bliss | Happy Lifestyle Blog: We Were Liars (Book Review).

We Were Liars (Book Review).



I have to admit, I jumped on the bandwagon with this one. I heard so many people talking about it, and to be honest, I was hesitant when I first decided to pick it up. If a book is in the 3.5-4 range in ranking on Goodreads, it's always a hit or miss for me. I really didn't know what to expect, and even from the description, I wasn't really sure if this was the type of book that I was going to be excited to dive into.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is about a girl named Cadence who grew up as a Sinclair. On the outside, the Sinclairs are perfect. They have the amount of money that most people only dream of, their smiles never falter, they're beautiful and powerful. Each summer, the Sinclair family gathers at their private island, and Cadence, along with her three best friends (cousins Johnny and Mirren and friend Gat), aka the "liars" savor their time on the island together. 

During the summer of 15, Cadence suffers a mysterious accident, one that she can't recall but everyone around her knows about. Even though her mother has told her what happened multiple times, she blocks it out, and everyone refuses to tell her about the events that took place during that summer. She has to figure it out for herself. 

Two years after her accident, Cadence returns to the island for the first time, and the events of the summer of 15 start to unfold.

Check out E. Lockhart reading the opening of We Were Liars:


Honestly, when I first started reading We Were Liars, I thought to myself, "Where is this going?" I wasn't really sure what to expect. The book description was pretty vague, and I refuse to read any kind of book review before I've read the book myself. I usually gauge how well I'm going to like a book by my stress level while I'm reading it. This one didn't have me dressed out until the end, but it definitely sparked my curiosity enough after Cadence's accident that I just had to keep reading. 

There are so many elements of this book that make it top notch for me:

1) The use of fairy tales that Cadence creates after her accident when she's still struggling to remember and trying to make sense of what happened to her and why it has such a horrible effect on her.

2) The foreshadowing that isn't obvious until you figure out what actually happens to her.

3) The voice of this book drew me in. I love the short chapters and short sentences. 

4) The characters. There are so many, and I love it. I love Gat who isn't even related to the Sinclairs, and he's so different, but fits in with all of the other liars. Johnny, who is easily my favorite character. He's so honest and funny. Mirren, who is the perfect best friend to Cadence. The littles who add a little comic relief to the story. Even the moms who are a little bratty and clearly spoiled. There are so many characters to love. 

5) The fact that you knew something huge happens, and you spend the whole book trying to figure out what it is, and when you figure it out, you're like "What the crap?!" Or at least I was. And that's "what the crap in a good way, by the way.

I read some reviews that said they thought the ending was obvious, but I guess I'm just slow, because I really didn't see that coming. I love suspenseful books that hit you with a crazy twist at the end, and this one totally did that for me. This book made me want to read everything by E. Lockhart. I read it in just a few days, because once I hit a certain point, I couldn't put it down. It was absolutely fantastic.

I easily give this book a 5 out of 5. I don't have enough words for how much I loved it. The ending pretty much made the book for me, and I've been telling everyone who will listen to me talk about books about how much I loved this one.


For more about E. Lockhart, check out her website, the We Were Liars official website or check her out on Twitter. She replied to my tweet, and I love when authors do that. 






Image source: 1, 2

38 comments :

  1. I love how you laid out this book review. Definitely made me want to read it! Going on my TBR list for sure.

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  2. I love when books foreshadow and you get to the end and it's like "OMG THAT'S WHY THAT HAPPENED." I live for it.

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  3. Adding to my list! Sounds like one I will definitely enjoy. I love when you get to the end and have that "What?!?!?!" Experience.

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  4. I haven't read a good book in a while and this one sounds very interesting! A great time to read is over the holidays.

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  5. Hi, sounds like a good book. I have a book review hop for family-friendly book reviews on Mondays, called Book Musing Mondays. The first week wraps up today. We are giving away five books too. Anyway, I am interested and will have to look into this title. Thanks for sharing!

    http://www.maryanderingcreatively.com/book-musing-mondays-1

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  6. Hi, I enjoyed your book review.I heard it just one the National Book Award. I will have to pick up a copy. Thanks for sharing. ;)

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  7. I love a good read! This one sounds great! I will have to add it to my must read list! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Omg. I've read this book and it tore me to pieces! After reading it, all the feels got into me and I thought about the ending for so long, still processing what happened. This book is one of the best I've read.

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  9. I have heard about this book and I still haven't tried it out. Going to put it on my to read list right now!

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  10. Right?! Gosh. I felt like I had a book hangover. I couldn't read anything for a little while because it affected me so much. I completely agree - it's one of the best books I've read.

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  11. That's so awesome! It definitely deserves all of the awards. It was so incredible.

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  12. That's so awesome! I'll have to check out your book review hop. I'm always looking for fellow bloggers who enjoy books as much as I do.

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  13. It's definitely such a great read. I hope you get to pick it up! Obviously I loved it so much.

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  14. Yes! This one hit me hard at the end, and I couldn't read anything else for a few days because it just affected me so much.

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  15. Yes! It's so incredible, and she did a great job of doing that with this book. I almost want to read it over again just to see all of the foreshadowing in a different way.

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  16. Yes yes yes! Do it! I think you'll love it, Llinos!

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  17. Thank you! I loved this book so much that I had to do it justice with an excellent review. I hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it!

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  18. This book is one my favorites that I've read this year!! I'm so glad you loved it too! (But really.. the book hangover was redic.)

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  19. It really was! I was just in shock. I hadn't reacted to a book like that for so long. It was amazing!

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  20. Your post is making me want to read this right now!! I'm in middle of a Dan Brown mystery-thriller Angels and Demons and this is going to be my next read!

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  21. Sounds like a good book. I just got a new one that I"m iffy about.
    -Emerald

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  22. I've been looking for a good book to draw me in for awhile now- found it! Thanks!!

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  23. You should read it! It's amazing. I haven't read Angels and Demons. I have read The DaVinci Code though.

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  24. You're welcome! I hope you enjoy it!

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  25. I'm so glad you liked it! I was also nervous about the reviews, however, when I went back to read them I found that most were just complaining that they were rich and pretentious, which makes no sense since that is the reason the story was more intriguing. I loved the foreshadows as well! I went back to read them and I was freaking out because it all came together. Definitely one of my favorites now!

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  26. I completely agree! If they weren't rich, that would have taken the entire point out of the story. That's a strange thing for people to complain about. After I finished it, I just wanted to go back and re-read it. It was amazing!

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  27. That's it. I'm adding it to my TBR list.

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  28. Do it! I have a feeling you'll enjoy this book.

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  29. I've heard nothing but good things about this book! I need to read it over our Christmas break for sure, thanks for sharing!

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  30. You're welcome! I think you'll really enjoy it!

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  31. I read this book a few weeks ago and totally agree with you. I really didn't see the end coming and was very surprised by it fir sure. The writing style is very easy to get into and keeps you interested, this was definitely a good find for 2014!

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  32. I completely agree with everything you said. I loved the writing style. I think that (plus the intrigue of figuring out what actually happened that summer) is what kept me reading.

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  33. I have to read this book! I will let you know what I think of it.

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  34. Wow this looks interesting! And I love it when authors tweet at you! So cool! :)

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