We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Pages: 225
Publish date: August 1st 2014 (Australia), May 13th 2014 (US)
Publisher: Allen and Unwin (Aus), Delacorte Press (US)
ISBN: 1760111066
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

We Were Liars:

First line: WELCOME TO THE beautiful Sinclair family.

I received We Were Liars from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my thoughts on the book.

This book. Wow. I have a lot to say about this book and you have probably heard this from review after review, but it really was an amazing read.

Firstly, E. Lockhart’s writing is beautiful, the metaphors, the stories in the book. I cannot get enough of her writing. I haven’t read any other of E. Lockhart’s books, but her writing in We Were Liars is hauntingly beautiful.

“The universe is seeming really huge right now. I need something to hold on to.”

I think my favourite part about this book is the writing. It just adds so much depth and beauty and sophistication.

Another pretty awesome thing that this book has is at the start. A Map. What contemporary book has a map? We Were Liars also has a family tree, which I find totally awesome. I love how the whole book is set up It’s hard to explain, but when you pick it up you will know. The setup is so different to any other book that I have ever seen. It’s refreshing, just like the book.

Cadence is the main protagonist of We Were Liars. As it’s from her perceptive you really are captured by the emotions, her thoughts, everything that she thinks and feels. It’s beautiful at the start, but as the story goes on it gets harder and harder for her and it’s just so tragic but beautiful at the same time.

I really liked the ‘Liars’ as their parents’ call them, but I think that just doesn’t seem right. Throughout the book they are lying to their parents about how they feel. Their parents don’t know they lie. I think that if it was just changed to ‘we call ourselves the liars.’ It would have made the story flow better. But maybe Lockhart wanted it that way.

The liars are Johnny, Mirren, Gat and Cadence and I really did enjoy all of them. But I wish we got to see more of Johnny and Mirren. I felt that they lacked characterisation and I just could not connect with them. In saying that, I felt that all the characters lacked characterisation and I just could not connect with them the way that I would have liked to.

I think that Gat was my favourite character because he brought a light to the Sinclairs family. Well the ‘liars’ at least. He isn’t part of the family, but I felt that at least to the kids he was. The Sinclairs in my eyes are a very old fashion type of family. They are not good with change and Gat brought that in We Were Liars.

What if we could stop being different colors, different backgrounds, and just be in love?

I really didn’t like the adults of the Sinclair family. They just didn’t care about anyone else. They didn’t work for money and they brought that ideal onto their kids. The mum’s of the family just made me so angry and frustrated. They expect everything to be on a silver platter for them. The grandfather, man, he is a piece of work. I have nothing much to say about him than that I did very much dislike him.

The ending…you all knew that this was coming. I think that this ending surprised a lot of people and even though it was devastating I thought it was so good in an ending sense. You are not really sure as to what really happened but throughout the whole book you are left with clues here and there. I think that if you go and re-read it after you know the ending it will all make sense. I don’t want to go too much into this as I don’t want to spoil those who haven’t read it. All I have to say is what they did was stupid. I know that they were trying to prove something, but it was stupid.

Another thing that I really liked about We Were Liars is the little stories about the King, his daughters, and the mouse. It was different and really intriguing. It really added depth to the whole book and after the ending you really understand it a lot more.

Overall, I really enjoyed We Were Liars. It was a hauntingly beautiful, breathtakingly tragic read that you will not want to put down. The gorgeous writing from E. Lockhart and structure of the novel adds for much more to the novel. We Were Liars is thrilling, smart and completely unforgettable.

For those who have read We Were Liars without spoiling what did you think it? For the people that haven’t read it do you want to?