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We Were Liars No Spoiler Book Review

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Book Review: We Were Liars (Spoiler Free) -Favbookshelf

Generally, reading thrillers usually have a hook to grip the reader’s imagination from the very beginning, thus compelling the reader to engage their brains in an active experience. Certainly, the book review of We Were Liars would do that.

Undeniably, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is one such mysterious thriller. While in this article, we bring you a spoiler-free book review.

About The Book

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart book review

Title : We Were Liars

Author : E. Lockhart

Genre : Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary Fiction

Publisher : Delacorte

Type : Standalone

Pages : 242 pages

Goodreads rating : 3.7/5

Basically, the Sinclairs are athletic, wealthy, beautiful, smart, and respected by all. But they are liars who hide their secrets, lies, and flaws. It is narrated by 17-year-old Cadence Sinclair, who spends her summers on her grandfather’s island, where her entire family gets together every year. However, Cadence has a close-knit relationship with her two teenage cousins, Johnny and Miriam, and Gat, her uncle’s stepson. The story centers around a mysterious tragedy two years before Cadence was 17. This summer was spent falling in love with Gat and spending time with her cousins. Toward the end of the summer, Cadence has an accident. Due to the trauma and possible amnesia, Cadence can’t remember what happened. With migraines and pills clouding her judgment, 17-year-old Cadence goes to the island again, determined to discover the truth of what happened two years ago.

We Were Liars Book Review

This book is about Cadence and her summers with her cousins, who she calls “the Liars.” The best part? – its dramatic and stunning plot twist.

We Were Liars had one of the best plot twists I’ve read. And don’t worry, this book does not have a cliffhanger ending. Every question you might have gets answered and everything is explained perfectly.

The characters are solid. Cadence, in particular, stands out. Watching her grow up through her teenage years is a journey. Her feelings for Gat? Super cute.

Gat himself is fascinating. His deep thoughts make him seem way older than he is. Then there’s Johnny, who brings the humour, and Mirren, the serious one of the group.

“We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.” E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

Reading from Cadence’s perspective made me feel like I was living the story with her. The writing is simple yet lyrical and poetic, which just adds to the whole experience. The plot is intriguing, but I have to say, the content feels a bit light.

There aren’t any clear morals or lessons in the story. It’s a mystery, but nothing truly thought-provoking happens. At times, it felt a bit slow. I found myself reading about the lives of these rich, privileged teenagers and thinking, “Okay, where’s this going?” Some details just seemed unnecessary.

“The universe is seeming really huge right now. I need something to hold on to.” E. Lockhart, We Were Liars

Overall, We Were Liars is a decent read, although it is a forgettable one. The plot twist, however, is what saves it from being completely flat.

This isn’t your typical young adult mystery thriller. I have mixed feelings about it; I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. I’d say give it a read, but keep your expectations in check. That way, you’ll probably enjoy it more.

Rating : 3.5/5

Recommendation : If you love thrillers with amazing plot twists, this one’s for you!

About The Author

Emily Jenkins, who sometimes uses the pen name E . Lockhart, is an American writer of children’s picture books, young-adult novels, and adult fiction. Her first book by Lockhart was a novel, The Boyfriend List. We Were Liars is one of her most renowned works to date, and she has also won the Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction for this book.

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We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Book Review)

March 20, 2018 By Ben McEvoy

The first half of this We Were Liars review is spoiler-free. I’ll give you a heads-up right when I get into spoiler territory. If you’ve already read We Were Liars and are intrigued to know what I think, feel free to skip ahead to the second half of this review.

I’m only going to do a real quick rundown of the plot. If you’re interested in reading We Were Liars , you probably already know a little bit. And, to be honest, this is the sort of book where you don’t want to know too much anyway.

We Were Liars Spoiler-Free Book Review

We Were Liars is about the Sinclair family who lives on a private island. The family is filthy rich. Except for the grandad character, nobody works.

We Were Liars is partly a drama about the family and partly a mystery because the main character, Cadence, suffers from memory problems. The book is all about her trying to get her memories back.

The deluxe edition cover of We Were Liars is gorgeous.

When it opens, Cadence remembers waking up in the water. She’s hit her head and she has an injury but she doesn’t know why. And people don’t want to tell her what happened.

We Were Liars keeps you guessing all the way through.

It’s only in the last 10-15 pages that you find out the answer.

Who would I recommend We Were Liars to?

We Were Liars is a very good book but, personally, it’s not my sort of book.

Although I give it 4 stars, I’d say We Were Liars is for someone who likes very angsty stuff and doesn’t mind getting a bit bummed out.

If you listen to depressing music and watch depressing TV shows, you might love this book.

Especially if you love mystery and poetic writing, you’ll probably get a big kick out of We Were Liars .

But if you want something fast paced, focused on plot, and will leave you feeling happy, I’d say give it a miss even though it’s very well written.

The deluxe edition of We Were Liars is crammed with lovely additional goodies like this map of the island.

Thematically, it’s interesting and you might want to check out this book if you like reading dramas revolving around interracial relationships.

You can get a good idea of what a minority might feel like when trying to ingratiate themselves into a completely white family.

Some readers might also enjoy the themes of materialism that We Were Liars explores. I think this theme is dealt with from an angsty, teenage POV but that doesn’t mean the ideas are any less valid.

We Were Liars also raises a lot of questions about mental health, mental decline, and stability and support within the family structure.

So it’s definitely a good drama but it’s a bit of a bummer .

Overall impression: for a certain type of reader, We Were Liars is a great book. If you’re that sort of person, go check it out .

Now here comes the spoiler-full review.

Turn away now if you haven’t read We Were Liars .

We Were Liars Spoiler-Full Book Review

So the first and most important question is…

What did I think of the ending of We Were Liars ?

The whole book was building up to the ending. All the way through, we’re trying to piece things together along with Cadence.

I wasn’t expecting the ending and it was a shock but my reaction when I got to the end was:

Are you kidding me?!

It felt a bit like a dirty trick.

I’m not bashing the book. I thought it was brilliantly written and I did like it.

But I’ve seen so many films like Fight Club, Memento , Shutter Island , and many more that have a trick ending that I kind of thought people had stopped doing that by now because it feels like it’s been done.

So the ending was a real slam in the gut.

I personally prefer happy endings too.

This one was a real bummer and, after I read it, I couldn’t really sleep because I was thinking about it.

I was thinking:

Holy shit, she sent emails to her dead friends that she burnt alive in the house… for two years?!

That’s freaky.

I must applaud the way E. Lockhart writes about being on medication though.

I’ve been on similar medications in the past and Lockhart nails the dreamy haze-like state that is anything but fun.

The way Cadence talks about being high – like “I wish I wasn’t high for this” – is so relatable for anyone who has been dependent on this sort of medication for a while.

Either the writer has a direct experience with this or she’s just really good at imagining what that would be like.

We Were Liars is masterfully done but I got to the end and was like, “Oh…”

I just wasn’t happy anymore after finishing this book.

We Were Liars signed by E. Lockhart.

I would have really enjoyed this book during my teenage years. But right now I’m at a point in my life where I want something fun, fast paced, and preferably innocent, something that gives me a little bit of escape.

I also couldn’t grow to love the characters either. I’m sorry but they’re all complete morons .

I mean… the way they started the fire?!

If you’re 15, you should know that’s not the way you do it.

Some of them went upstairs, some went in the basement, and they all just started burning the place down from within without checking to see if there was anyone else in the house like, I dunno, the dogs!

What did you think of We Were Liars ?

Hopefully you reached this part of the review because you’ve actually read it. If not, you’ve just had the whole thing spoiled so don’t bother.

If you’ve read it, what did you think? Did you like it? If so, why? And did it bum you out as well or do you have some different emotions attached to it?

Comfort Reads & Writes

We were liars ~ non-spoiler review.

Hi Readers! I read this book over year ago and posted this review on my old blog, now I’ve updated it and hopefully improved it, (by getting rid of a few thousand exclamation points) so I thought I would repost it onto this blog.

Release Date: May 13th 2014 Genre: Contemporary Length: 242 Pages My Rating: 4/5

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.

Before I begin this review I just wanted to say that this book is one of those ones where you really don’t want to know anything about, therefore I’m not going to actually tell you any more about this book than what the description says, it’s vague for a reason and I definitely think going into this knowing absolutely nothing about it really adds to the experience.

The first thing that I actually noticed about this book is sadly a negative and that is that you are all of a sudden introduced to so many characters its hard to keep track of who is who. It soon becomes easier to understand once we learn more about the characters, but for the first 50 or so pages I had to keep flipping back and forth to the family tree, which on kindle was not an easy thing to do.

Once you get passed that and the plot starts taking off, you start noticing the amazing writing style that has this way of gripping you and it doesn’t let go, not even after you’ve finished the book. The writing really makes the book cause its so tense and mysterious, you literally cant put the book down until you’ve finished it and figured out what the hell is going on. And once you’ve done that you will immediately want to go back and reread the book.

The main character isn’t a very reliable source of information as she herself is confused about every thing that’s going on and so your constantly questioning whether what your reading is true or not. The story line goes back and forth between times which I love in books, because I feel like I’m getting the whole story, rather than just the aftermath.

This book is mysterious and tense and absolutely heart shattering. A must read. Please. READ IT!

Thanks for reading! Jess X

We Were Liars (Review, Book Summary & Spoilers)

By e. lockhart.

Book review, full book summary and synopsis for We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, a mystery involving a four teenagers set on a private island.

In We Were Liars , Cadence Sinclair is the eldest granddaughter in the wealthy and attractive Sinclair family. All athletic and blond, the Sinclairs live off of Grandfather Harris's fortune and spend their summers vacationing on his private island.

Cadence and her friends are nicknamed the Liars and are a tightly-knit group until one summer when Cadence ends up in a serious accident. As Cadence pieces together the circumstances of her accident, she will discover the truth about herself and her family.

(The Full Plot Summary is also available, below)

Full Plot Summary

One paragraph version: Cadence Sinclair comes from a family of wealthy and beautiful people. They spend their summers on their private island. The summer she is 15, she has an accident that leaves her with a brain injury, with migraines and gaps in her memory. Two years later, she returns to the private island determined to figure out what happened that summer. She slowly recalls her bits pieces of fights between her mother and aunts over inheritances and assets, fueled by her grandfather pitting them against one another. Finally, in the end, Cadence remembers that she and the other teenage grandchildren had decided to burn down their grandfather's house when it was empty in anger over being dragged into their parents' fights over money. However, it went poorly and the other teens died in the fire. The migraines and memory loss were a result of her guilt and inability to face the truth.

In Part I , the book introduces Cadence Sinclair , who is the eldest granddaughter in the wealthy and beautiful Sinclair family. Everyone in the Sinclair family is blond and athletic, and their patriarch is Cadence's grandfather Harris , who is the one who made the family fortune that they all live off of.

The Sinclair family spends each summer on Beechwood Island , a small private island where Harris has built four summer homes, one for him and his wife Tipper and other three for each of their three daughters ( Penny, Bess and Cassie ).

There are two other grandchildren who are Cadence's age -- Johnny and Mirren . Johnny's mother also dates an man named Ed, whose nephew Gat Patil is their age as well. Together, these four (Cadence, Johnny, Mirren and Gat) hang out together during the summer and have been nicknamed the Liars by the family.

The summer the Liars are all 14 (" summer 14 "), Cadence and Gat starts developing feelings for each other. The following year, Tipper passes away and Cadence's parents divorce. When Cadence returns to the island the next summer (" summer 15 "), Gat has a girlfriend back home. Still, Cadence and Gat continue to flirt and occasionally kiss.

That summer, Cadence has a swimming accident resulting an un-diagnosable brain injury, which causes her to have gaps in her memory and gives her migraines afterwards. She stops hearing from Gat. The following year, she flunks her classes, dyes her hair black, loses her friends and drops all her school activities. The next summer, summer 16 , Cadence goes to Europe with her father, and she's hurt that she doesn't hear from the other Liars at all.

In Part II , that year, Cadence embarks on a project of giving away all her stuff, since she wants to be less materialistic. Cadence also insists on going back to Beechwood for summer 17 , and her mother arranges for her to go to the island for four weeks.

In Part III , Cadence arrives at Beechwood determined to figure out what happened during summer 15. However, everyone says that the doctors want her to recall it on her own. As she recalls bits and pieces, she remembers her mother and her siblings fighting over their inheritances and Granddad's assets, though they seem to be getting along well in present day. Cadence also notices how her Granddad's house has now been remodeled and is missing all of Tipper's old things.

In Part IV , Cadence finally recalls that there was a fire during summer 15. The Liars had set it on purpose. During summer 15, without Tipper to keep them at bay, their mothers' fighting had gotten much worse, spurred on by Granddad them against each other in order to regain his sense of control. In turn, their mothers started demanding that the kids get involved in their fight as well. Granddad had also become hostile toward Gat once he saw that Gat and Cadence were involved.

The Liars had gotten the idea to burn down Granddad's house when everyone was gone in order to destroy what they viewed as a "symbol" of everything that was wrong in their family (this is why all Tipper's things are gone now). Upon remembering all this, Cadence initially feels triumphant, thinking that their plan worked since their mothers aren't fighting anymore. H

In Part V, Cadence finally remembers the last bit, that not only did Granddad's dogs died in the fire, so did the rest of the Liars. Johnny, Mirren and Gat weren't able to get out of the house in time after Cadence lit the first match. Instead, only Cadence was able to get out. The book ends with Cadence finally facing her guilt and knowing that she will endure.

For more detail, see the full Section-by-Section Summary .

If this summary was useful to you, please consider supporting this site by leaving a tip ( $2 , $3 , or $5 ) or joining the Patreon !

Book Review

We Were Liars , by E. Lockhart, is one of those books I’ve been meaning to read for a long time. It’s considered a young adult novel, but most seem to recommend it for the older end of that bracket.

It’s also a great beach read for those looking for some summer reading and it’s the pick for one of my book clubs this month! So, I thought I’d review it here even though the book was published back in 2014. It’s one of those books that has managed to keep cropping up many years after it’s release.

We Were Liars is a YA mystery involving a group of teenagers who vacation with their family on a private island during the summers. When summering on the island, one of the teenagers, Cadence, ends up with a brain injury as the result of a swimming accident when she’s 15. Two years later, she returns to the island to piece together what really happened.

It’s a family drama that also offers a surprisingly incisive look at the corrosive effect of wealth on familial relationships. Despite this being a YA novel, I think it handles the topic more effectively than many adult novels.

The construction of the story itself is very solid. I’ve read a lot of mysteries that rely on a lot of nonsensical things (people acting in completely irrational or outlandish ways, ridiculous plot twists, etc.) and this is not one of those books. From beginning to end, you can tell how carefully thought-out and plotted the book is.

When the ending was revealed, I was surprised by it, but it also made total sense. Though I should mention that a large portion of my book club guessed the ending so perhaps your mileage will differ.

Some Criticisms

That all said, while I felt the story was very well-constructed and a good mystery, but I’m a little on the fence on how much I actually enjoyed the process of reading it. The writing style made sense for the story being told, but didn’t really appeal to me. I also felt like the middle part of the book where Cadence (and therefore you as the reader) have no hint of what’s really going on drags on for a little too long.

Stylistically, the writing comes across as a little angsty and indulgent. I wouldn’t like this style for most books, but it seems to make sense for a narrative told in the perspective of a disillusioned 17-year-old girl. I personally didn’t particularly enjoy the writing style, but I think it works for this particular story.

Read it or Skip it?

If you like mysteries, I think this one is worth a read, though opinions tend to be mixed on this novel. It does make for good summer reading, since it’s an easy read that’s set on summers on a private beach.

My book club chose this book, though I think it’s just okay as a book club read. There’s a decent amount of substance there involving how wealth impacts their family dynamics, but it’s less layered of a story that I’d ideally like for a book club read since I typically recommend books that have more “stuff” to discuss.

Have you read We Were Liars before? What did you think? See We Were Liars on Amazon.

We Were Liars Audiobook

Narrated by : Ariadne Meyers Length : 6 hours 26 minutes

Hear a sample of the We Were Liars audiobook on Libro.fm.

Book Excerpt

Read the first pages of We Were Liars

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I’m a teacher and was required to read this book with seniors. The book was a good story about cousins growing up on an island during the Summer months. .I like the references to “King Lear,” and that there was a story in a story being told. Cadence falls in love with Gat and the parents fight over their father’s estate. I was hoping more would develop, for example, the cousins find a buried treasure. The students were confused about the mixed-up sequence of the story with the twist at the end, they didn’t understand that Cadence had psychosis. They thought at least one cousin would tell Cadence about her accident. It was a good story for a Summer read, but I think more of my students would relate better to a story like, “The Outsiders,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” or “Speak.”

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Friday, February 21, 2020

"we were liars," by e. lockhart--fiction review.

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We Were Liars by Emily Lockhart

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No spoilers, I promise!

A few months ago, I bought the electronic version of We Were Liars without knowing anything at all about the author or the book. All I knew was that it had been suggested to me on Goodreads and the summary had intrigued me. I had no idea what I was in for!

Description of We Were Liars

Cadence is a 19 year old girl who is vacationing on an island with her mother and family. She used to spend every summer there but missed the past two years because of an accident that took place there and that sent her to the hospital for a few months.

But here’s the rub: Cadence can’t remember anything about the accident, and the reader knows nothing about it either. She was so traumatised by what happened that she blocked out the memory. Curioser and curioser…

I really liked Emily Lockhart’s style that painted the main character’s most intimate thoughts beautifully. Cadence remembers more and more as the novel progresses: a sweet and gentle love story, strong but surly family relations, stories of money and violence and youthful errors with terrible consequences.

If you’re looking for a feel good novel, this is not for you!

The reader moves through the book feeling as confused as Cadence (or at least I did!) as well as feeling very apprehensive about what will happen next. The emotions depicted in this novel are strong and bittersweet at the same time: as Cadence remembers more and more happy and unhappy memories of her childhood, she senses that she is approaching the truth about her accident. Cadence wants to remember so much that she becomes obsessed, but as the reader, you want to protect her from the truth that you can tell is going to be heart-breaking.

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COMMENTS

We Were Liars No Spoiler Book Review
Book: We Were Liars Author: E. Lockhart Pages: 242 Publisher: Delacorte Press Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ Synopsis: 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.
Book Review: We Were Liars (Spoiler Free)
E. Lockhart, We Were Liars. Overall, We Were Liars is a decent read, although it is a forgettable one. The plot twist, however, is what saves it from being completely flat. This isn't your typical young adult mystery thriller. I have mixed feelings about it; I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Book Review)
We Were Liars Spoiler-Free Book Review. We Were Liars is about the Sinclair family who lives on a private island. The family is filthy rich. Except for the grandad character, nobody works. We Were Liars is partly a drama about the family and partly a mystery because the main character, Cadence, suffers from memory problems. The book is all ...
(No Spoilers) Book Review: We Were Liars
This review will contain no spoilers. So I finished reading We Were Liars today, and it was quite the experience. Now, I don't read very fast, but I finished this book in about three to four reading sessions. Two of those reading sessions were over one hour long, so in total it might have taken me five or six hours.
We Were Liars ~ Non-Spoiler Review
We Were Liars ~ Non-Spoiler Review. Hi Readers! I read this book over year ago and posted this review on my old blog, now I've updated it and hopefully improved it, (by getting rid of a few thousand exclamation points) so I thought I would repost it onto this blog. Release Date: May 13th 2014Genre: ContemporaryLength: 242 PagesMy Rating: 4/5 A…
Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart, is one of those books I've been meaning to read for a long time.It's considered a young adult novel, but most seem to recommend it for the older end of that bracket. It's also a great beach read for those looking for some summer reading and it's the pick for one of my book clubs this month! So, I thought I'd review it here even though the book was ...
"We Were Liars," by E. Lockhart--Fiction Review
"We Were Liars," by E. Lockhart--Fiction Review This Friday, my dear internet strangers, we're in for a sad one titled, "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart. It's a teen/YA book about family, love gained and lost, and death…and rainbows—well, not that last part, but I thought I should inject some levity here.
We Were Liars by Emily Lockhart: my book review
No spoilers, I promise! A few months ago, I bought the electronic version of We Were Liars without knowing anything at all about the author or the book.All I knew was that it had been suggested to me on Goodreads and the summary had intrigued me. I had no idea what I was in for!
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart [Book Review]
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE. We Were Liars, Book Description. I'm going to give a very strong warning here that this book review should not be read if you have not read ...
Book Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. Review: I remember We Were Liars coming out and it's crazy to think it's now almost 10 years old. It's even crazier to think it's taken me this long to read it.