Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Title:  We Were Liars

Author: E. Lockhart

Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publishing Date: May 13th 2014   

Pages: 227
Genre:  YA Contemporary Mystery

Series:  Stand Alone
Source:  Audio

  

 
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 National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

This was a very anticipated read for me. I loved some of the other reads by this author and I couldn't deny the synopsis was very intriguing. Without knowing much about the book, I dove right in. I absolutely loved this book. Simply said, it was probably my top read this year. I can't sing enough praises. It was written beautifully. It was compelling and dark, romantic and mysterious. It was perfectly done in my book. 
Cady and her cousins visit their family island every summer. One summer an accident happens, Cady hits her head, loses the memories right before and right after the accident. Cady hasn't been back to the island for two years. Now she is back for another summer with her family and all those lost memories find their way back into her head.


There were so many wonderful things in this book that came together just right to create a masterpiece of a story. One of the most alluring pieces of this book for was the mystery. I love books that are written with pieces missing and they are slowly filled in by flashbacks and of course the present. This book was another one of these that was very well written. There were a few times that I was confused for a split second trying to get a grasp on past or present, bit it literally was just as split second.  I loved the flashbacks. I was able to really connect with the main character, Cady, the cousins, and the rest of her family.  The present was also very compelling because of the mystery that flooded Cady's mind. The reader only knows what Cady knows and it wasn't much. It all comes together and I was able to piece together enough to figure out most of the mystery, but not all of it. The truth was a whopper too. 

The characters were all amazing. They were very well developed and I just loved Cady. She was a bit messed up but I dealt with that because her family was just crazy. I also loved the cousins. They were all wonderful. There was one outsider  involved too, the love interest of course, and he was pretty amazing too. I could go on and on about these mesmerizing characters but Cady explains them better than me with her vivid and beautiful descriptions. They were wonderful though, crazy, loving, kind, loyal, fun, and so much more. I enjoyed getting to know them immensely. 

The romance was sweet, heartbreaking, desperate, and deep. It was just right and I couldn't have dreamed it better. Cady and Gat have known each other for 9 years and they were able to spend every summer together. They were friends that fell in love. They were good together but never together enough. My only complaint. I was only able to see snippets of the romance, fortunately Cady was an expert and sharing her feelings, so I was able to feel how strong her love was with just snippets. 

So many emotions, so many unforgettable moments, so many wonderful characters, all brought together by beautiful, eloquent, captivating writing. It was like chocolate melting on my tongue. It was everything delicious in life and I was entranced. The writing style created the setting and set the tone and it was exquisite. This author amazes me. 

An unforgettable read for me. I will own this book and read it over and over... even if I do know how it ends. 

E. Lockhart is the author of We Were Liars, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The Boyfriend List and several other novels.

website: www.emilylockhart.com
Liars site: www.wewereliars.com
blog: www.theboyfriendlist.com
Twitter: elockhart