Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publish Date: May 13, 2014
Source: Owned

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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 New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE."

My Two Cents:

"We Were Liars" is the story of a group of tightly knit cousins. Every summer, they go to the same island where each family has a house. The island is idyllic and every summer is filled with memories, good and then eventually bad. Filled with twists and turns and an ending that I definitely did not see coming, this was a great book that kept me on my toes.

At first I wasn't sure how I was going to like the characters. The family is extremely rich and the cousins often don't seem to realize how good they have it. They also seemed a bit flat at first and I felt like I was being held at arm's length from the action. As the story goes on though, you see that there is a purpose to feeling like you are not in the midst of the action. Eventually the story expands to the point where you are enveloped in the web of secrets and lies that the whole family is holding on to. I loved how the author was able to make me as a reader go through these different phases.

I don't want to tell you too much about the plot. So much of the book hinges on being surprised! The story itself is interesting but how it's told (very carefully) and how it unfolds makes this book very good. This would be the perfect book for you if you like unreliable narrators and family secrets!