REVIEW: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Jasleen
Sep 23, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Nov 16, 2021

Want a great mystery novel with an unpredictable twist that will leave you in ruins? Yeah, you made it to the right post.

BOOK OVERVIEW

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, Romance

Content Warnings: Death, Animal Death, Suicidal Ideation, Memory Loss

Suggested Age Rating: 15+

Published: May 13, 2014, by Delacorte Press

Page Count: 228

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.

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.

Goodreads | Amazon | Indigo

“Silence is a protective coating over pain.”

INITIAL THOUGHTS

Now, I know this book takes place in the summer and yet, here I am, reading it in the fall. Do I care? Not a bit, mainly because this book is a thriller and that's enough for me to say ✨spooky season✨.

MY REVIEW

“There is not even a Scrabble word for how bad I feel.”

I am sobbing. This little book that isn't even 250 pages broke me, and that's what makes it awesome. Now was it happy tears or sad tears? I guess you gotta read this one to find out...

The mystery of this novel truly grips you so hard that you just want to keep on reading and figure out WHY things are happening the way they are.

The intrigue.

The lies upon lies that simply reveal the truth and leave you in pieces.

The quiet, but powerful, message of the consequence of greed, hypocrisy, and racism.

I'm not spoiling anything about the plot because the way Lockhart reveals it all adds to the mystery effect. But I will say this: We Were Liars is about a group of young, passionate individuals who value love, not social or economic power and status that their perfect, beautiful, distinguished Sinclair family imposes on them.

The Sinclairs are white and old-money rich who spend their summers on their private island off the eastern U.S coast. I honestly didn't know how I would relate to the characters, but I still did! The Liars all had their own unique and interesting mindset that I was always curious about. Also, I feel like the story and plot wouldn't have been so effective if the characters were very ethically diverse, so I think that Lockhart chose her main and side characters perfectly.

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

Something I really loved about this book is that it has a map! I haven't read a contemporary with a map before, so this was new for me. There is also an illustrated family tree that I found very useful while reading about the extended Sinclair family.

The unique writing style was very poetic and lyrical. lIt may not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it. Lockhart also uses fairytale-like stories as metaphors to explain the plot from a different perspective, which only adds to the overall message. Honestly, I wish I read this book while I was in school because of the powerful themes and awesome story.

“If you want to live where people are not afraid of mice, you must give up living in palaces.”

The plot is sort of vague, but that's the whole point. Lockhart wants you to wonder and question everything. I KNEW the answers were right in front of me but I seriously could not predict the twist! And when does it happen? Everything just clicked into place and moved me to tears, which is what made it a five-star read and totally binge-worthy.