We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart – 5 stars

Note: I will start by warning all readers that there will be spoilers in this review! I will begin with a light synopsis, so as not to spoil the review for anyone who has yet to pick up this book, and then I will move into a more detailed review. Don't worry, I'll let you know when the spoilers are coming.

SPOILER-FREE 

Have you ever read a book, that you considered a borderline masterpiece, for reasons foreign to even yourself, but for some reason, you deemed it to be so? That is exactly how We Were Liars made me feel. Now, if you haven't read this book, it is recommended you go into the story without knowing anything other than this: You are about to meet a cast of characters that go to an Island every summer. They are the Liars. 

I know, I know. Cheap and simple synopsis. But believe me, it's best not knowing what you're getting yourself into. With most books, I understand the desire to seek out the plot before delving head-first into a potentially horrid story. But PLEASE refrain from doing so if you have any interest in picking this book up. It is just over 200 pages and a quick read, so even if you (for some strange, and ungodly reason) end up hating it, you can look back on the book knowing you didn't invest much. 

That being said, I too went into this book without knowing anything of the plot, characters, or the synopsis. And I wouldn't have had it any other way. All I can say in this spoiler-free section, is this: take a chance and read this book. It's mysterious and intriguing, and that's reason enough to give it a shot. 

SPOILERS AHEAD 

SYNOPSIS:

I'm trusting that if you scrolled past the spoiler warning, you've read this book. So let's just dive in at full speed. We Were Liars was a thrilling mystery, that you weren't even aware was a mystery, right? There's something about the name, the vague description, and the cover that just scream "contemporary summer read!" But then, about halfway through the book, you realize something's off. The side characters act strangely--walking around in the middle of the night, claiming one of the houses is haunted. And as a reader, you probably start feeling uneasy. This book focused on a group of friends, named "The Liars" who, despite school and outside life, re-connected on their family's island every summer. Our narrator is Cadence, who is going through what can only be described as a life-changing few years. The book brushes over a lengthy amount of time before we are able to get to the crux of the actual story, which was Cadence returning to her family's island after missing a summer and feeling disconnected and forgotten by her family friends. But when Cadence returns to the island, nothing is as it seems. Mirren, Johnny, and Gat are all acting differently, as though they don't want her to partake in their summer shenanigans, like cliff diving. The whole time, Cadence cannot figure out why they are being distant, or what has changed. All she can make sense of is that she has strong feelings for Gat, despite her grandfather's disapproval. Through the summer, her family fights over the estate, and essentially deals with what I've aptly defined as "rich people problems." It isn't until the other Liars start hinting to her that she needs to remember something, that we are introduced to the real story and the real conflict. We then follow Cadence on a journey to discover the tragedy that happened on the island, leaving Mirren, Johnny, Gat, and the family dogs dead in a fire. 

THE GOOD:

Mystery. I didn't even know I was picking up a contemporary novel riddled in mystery and intrigue! This was borderline shocking to me, because I went into this book with zero preconceived notions. The actual mystery was so masterfully constructed, it's almost hard to put into words what made it so perfect. While reading through the first hundred pages or so, I was thinking to myself, "Wow, this family is messed up, her friends are being less-than-kind, and there's no real plot here, just a lot of anecdotes about this money mongering clan." And I could see how many people would feel this way prior to about the halfway mark. Once you realize the mystery, and the revelation comes that Cadence is responsible for plotting a fire that killed The Liars, you are suddenly capable of looking back and noting that every little story and detail in the first half of the book was relevant--everything was a clue for what was to come. This was completely jarring to me, but in the best way possible.

Characters. E. Lockhart did an amazing job writing every character to near perfection. I absolutely hated every single person in this family, which was the point. After the mystery is solved, it becomes clear that we were absolutely meant to abhor every member of this wretched family. We were meant to find them awful and self-absorbed. We were meant to like the Liars and appreciate their own little world they built away from their otherwise horrid family. If the readers did not have a foundation for such feelings, there would have been no way to get the readers on Cadence's side when the fire plot was revealed. As readers, we needed to hate this family so that we could side with the Liars and understand why their revenge plot was necessary, even if poorly-planned. Upon completing the book, it becomes clear that all of this negative character-building was necessary. E. Lockhart did this masterfully.

THE BAD:

A minor plot hole. Overall, the book was pretty much devoid of anything that would seriously compromise my five-star rating. However, there were small plot holes that made me reflect and think, "Huh?" When the Liars made a mess around the house they were staying in, was it really there? One of the adults walked in and noted it, which makes me think the mess was indeed real. Which makes me wonder if Cadence made it on her own, a side effect of her clear mental illness. This was the only thing that bothered me when reflecting on my reading experience, because all I could think about was how the mess was there when Cadence walked in. Which leads me to question whether the Liars were real, or just a figment of her imagination. But then again, maybe this was Lockhart's intent?

Liars(?). This was such a minor detail that was never explained, which peeved me only slightly. We were never told why the group was called "The Liars," only that the adults had aptly named them that. Once I got to the end of the book, my first thought was that the term "Liars" made sense because they were all living a lie the whole summer. Maybe it was intended to be a foreshadowing term to describe their later actions? Or again, maybe all of this was Cadence's imagination. There's so much room for interpretation on this. 

OVERALL:

So far, this has been the best book I've read in 2015. To me, the mark of a good book is whether the characters and story have the ability to haunt you. If you can look back, months later, after reading numerous other books, and still remember the story, and still feel just as affected by it as you did the moment you closed the book--that's a good book. For me, this story was almost unbearably haunting. I wasn't expecting such a dark read when I picked this up. I was in the mood for light-hearted contemporary, and basically something that would just make me go, "Aww." While this book was none of those things, it was an amazing read. It was short, mysterious, dark, and haunting. I can honestly say I've never read anything like it. Because of all the mysterious details in the first half of the book, I am tempted to go back and re-read this story, so that I may be able to pick up on little bits of foreshadowing that I missed during my initial read. This was such a haunting read that I couldn't get out of my head even if I wanted to.

END VOTE:

5 stars

★★★★★