We Were Liars
We Were Liars
Summary and Review By Krishna Jaswal
Summary
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is narrated by Cadence Sinclair, a 17 year old who suffers headaches and migraines because of an accident that happened 2 summers ago. The Sinclair family is perfect, beautiful, and wealthy. They're tall, handsome, athletic, and old money. In the summertime they all live on a privately owned island off the coast of Massachusetts together. In the family there are “the Liars,” which consisted of Cadence, her cousins Johnny and Mirren, and a teenager named Gat who Cadence had fallen in love with. They grew up with each other and were known to be very close. The Liars however never stayed in touch with Cadence while she was recovering from her accident.
After a phone call from some relatives and a visit from her Granddad, it becomes clear that something is going on in the family, something wrong and the truth is not being told. Granddad’s mind is starting to falter and the younger kids think Cadence is a drug addict and they think the island is haunted. Cadence still struggles to remember details from the accident and is just told to take medications for her head pains. Determined to find out what really happened 2 summer ago, Cadence goes back to the island of the Sinclair family in hopes to find the truth and see the Liars again. Will she find out the truth?
Review and Rating
We Were Liars offers a great perspective of what wealth can do to a family and their relationships. It also offers an insight on how wealth can shape people into not showing their emotions and appearing as “perfect” in front of people. It has extraordinary plot twists and an ending I did not expect. The way the book is written is also amazing, Lockhart just has a special way to put a spin on words. One place I love where Lockhart does that is near the beginning of the book when Cadence tells us about herself and says, “it is true I suffer migraines since my accident. It is true I do not suffer fools.” Twisting the meaning of a word and using it to describe different things is just such a cool way to pull your reader into the book and make them more interested in your writing.
I have to say writing this blog post about the book without spoiling the book was a little hard with the amount of plot twists but I love this book enough to go through that trouble. Originally my friend had recommended me We Were Liars and told me to read it. She claimed she knew I’d like it and she was absolutely right. I remember reading We Were Liars and I was totally sucked into the book. I read the whole book within a day. The plot being so thought out and the small details that all build up to the plot twist make this book so enjoyable and suspenseful.
The way the book is written and formatted is different and can be confusing to some readers causing them to dislike the book. However, if you're someone who doesn't mind how a book is formatted, I highly recommend this book. It's also the type of book where you do have to pay attention to detail to be able to catch the hints the author throws at you and to understand what’s going on. Overall, I think We were Liars is an outstanding book and I love it a lot. I also love rereading this book even though I don't like rereading books that often, so I give We Were Liars a 10/10!
Hey Krishna - I also absolutely love this book!! I understand how this novel would definitely be tough to summarize and write a blog about without giving any spoilers, but I think you did a pretty good job. I also think you gave a pretty good sense of the suspense and slightly chaotic plot without spoiling. I agree with it being amazingly well written, and was completely sucked into the story as well when reading it myself. 10/10 blog post for a 10/10 novel.
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ReplyDeleteHi Krishna, I also read this book, but did not really like it very much. It's always interesting to see people's different takes on something. The writing, with its unnecessary description (for example the overuse of the phrase, "He was ambition and strong coffee") and excessive length, made it tough to get through the story. However, your review made me realize how amazing the plot is, with its twists and overall message.
ReplyDeleteBtw sorry about the deleted messages, I realized I was commenting on the wrong account.
Hi Krishna, the plot of this book seems very interesting and dramatic. When I started reading you blog post and you said that their family had "old money," I had just assumed that they had a bit of extra money, but not so much that they had their own private island. I'll definitely have to check out this book and see what it's like.
ReplyDeleteHey Krishna, I read this book a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. The plot twists were a lot to take, and I have to appreciate how you dodged those and still made a really good revision. We Were Liars is just one of those books a reader can never put down for the first time. I also really loved how you talked about how wealth can affect a family; I've never quite heard that revision before, so it was really interesting. Thanks for such an engaging review!
ReplyDeleteHoi Krishna, I've seen lots of people reading this book but I've never truly dug into the book. Your review made this book sound so interesting! I love the idea of how the book shows all the effects "wealth" can have on people, both positive and harmful. Thanks for this amazing review :D, this book will definitely be on my to-read list :D
ReplyDeleteI have been recommended this book many times before but I haven't gotten the chance to read it yet. Maybe over winter break I'll pick it up, from your review and what others have said it seems very good!
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