Eva Pace, Reporter
@espcourant
A review of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.
Published in 2014, this young-adult novel has received critical acclaim and has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction, on top of being listed as an ALA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults for 2015.
The book follows the Sinclair family on their private island off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard (it’s outlined on a map on the back of the front cover, which I love!) On this island, there are jaw-dropping mansions that house not only the Sinclairs, but also friends and
extended families. The teens of the island, Cadence, Gat, Johnny, Mirren, have dubbed their gang ‘the Liars’, and thoroughly live up to their title. While their main homes are scattered across America, they meet again, each and every summer, to create new memories on the tennis courts or by the fire pits.
Having all of this money hardly makes them perfect, however, that façade is what keeps Cadence Sinclair, the main character/narrator, and the rest of her family afloat. Cadence can have everything she wants, well, except a unified family, good health and a devoted boyfriend. Maybe a flute of Dom Pérignon champagne will help.
Here were some of my thoughts (SPOILERS):
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart was a book with plot twists at every corner, which is fitting considering one of Cadence (the main character)’s final statements, “I like a twist of meaning” (225).
- Do you think the Liar gang were hallucinations or ghosts? I’m leaning on the hallucination side, because it would make sense considering Cadence was drugged up and injured.
- Isn’t it ironic that the first few lines of the novel itself was a lie? #foreshadowing
- The end really tugged at my heartstrings (I may have shed a few tears…OK fine I finished a tissue box). I really appreciated how E. Lockhart made each and every character so complex.
- It really developed the theme of the cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover” in a beautiful way.
★★★★★
