REVIEW: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

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 that will leave you reeling.

Read it.

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

My Thoughts:

Welcome to the beautiful Sinclair family.
No one is a criminal.
No one is an addict.
No one is a failure.

We were Liars was recommend to me by almost everyone that I came across who had read it. I was told that it was going to be a book that would have such a huge impact on me. I was told it would be a book that would stay with me long after I had finished reading it. Was I excited to read this? You bet I was!! And now that I've read it, I'm not even sure what to say about it. I think I'm in the minority here because I'm left rather underwhelmed. While the love for this book is huge, I'm afraid that I can't jump on the bandwagon.

None of them did anything useful in the world. Nothing necessary. Nothing brave. 

One of the constant thoughts I had while reading this was that I don't think that I can say that I liked any of the characters. The adults are spoilt and self absorbed. They are continually bickering over what possessions of their parents they are entitled to and have no shame whatsoever in using their children to get exactly what they want and to have the upper hand on their siblings.

We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.

I didn't feel like I knew anything of real substance about Cady, her cousins and Gat, and because of that the emotional connection to them was zero. To be honest I found them just as bad as the adults in that they feel that they have the right to make the huge decisions that they make. Decisions that will destroy lives. Where does that thought process come from? What makes a group of kids take such drastic actions? Yes, I'm sure that they never expected the outcome that occurred but in doing what they did, there was always room for things to turn out like that. And even then, the adults just kind of swept everything under the carpet. They covered up events, and that just didn't sit right with me. Really, is it any wonder the kids turned out as they did, with the role models that they have.

We Were Liars is divided into four sections. For me, the last portion of the book was really the only one that I enjoyed. And this was the shortest part, when the truth is finally revealed. The truth that we are kept guessing about throughout three quarters of the book. But for me, it was revealed all too quickly. After this big build up, it was suddenly all over. 

I cannot fault the writing of E. Lockhart, but for me, I just didn't have that connection with the story or the characters, which was such a shame, because there were glimpses of what could have been. I think that maybe had I have gone into this book without everyone's declarations of excellence, I may have enjoyed it more.  I think my expectations were just too high. 

2.5/5 Stars.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for providing me with this copy for review.