Review: We Were Liars - E. Lockhart

We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads 

So do you remember like a year ago when everyone was obsessed with this book and then I bought it and then I kept putting off reading it and then like five people personally told me "hey Noor Azeem you should read this book" and then I still did not read it? Well, I finally read it a few months ago and it did not disappoint so if you are as out of the loop as I was, you should go entrench yourself in aforementioned loop because it's for sure worth it.

All I really knew about this book going in was that it was "wild" and had a crazy ending and that I should go into it not reading any reviews or knowing anything. I usually love spoilers because I'm a terrible person but I really did go in blind so I didn't even know what to expect from the basic plot, which turned out to be about Rich White Cousins and the private island they spend summers on. The Liars are the three oldest cousins -- Cadence (who narrates the story), Mirren, and Johnny -- and Gat, Johnny's close friend and the nephew of his mom's boyfriend. Cadence has a bad accident the summer before and comes back with a fractured memory, trying to piece together things she should know and things that have been kept from her and clear up some questions she has. I don't want to say too much else about what happens because, after all, the best way to read this book is to go in blind, but here are a few things I liked:

Cadence's narration was probably my favorite part of the whole book. Please excuse my pun but there was a certain cadence (ha ha ha) to the way she spoke, which was amplified by the way so much of it was done in this inflated metaphor or inflated hyperbole. Like, she took a trip to Europe and wanted to describe that she was having migraines through the trip so she wrote "...my brain liquefied and seeped out my ear, bubbling. Migraines left my blood spreading across unfamiliar hotel sheets, dripping on the floors, oozing into carpets, soaking into leftover croissants and Italian lace cookies." Sometimes it was obviously metaphor, like describing herself as "pure liquid loss" when finding something that belonged to someone who had died and describing herself as melting away, and sometimes the narration was more subtle, and it felt like it was actually happening, until a page later you realized it wasn't. Even the regular parts were well-written and compelling, in this raw and evocative way which, paired with the short length of the book (I think it's around 200 pages?) and the intriguing plot made it a super quick read.

The pacing of the book also held up super nicely. I definitely didn't get bored reading about their island life or feel like too many snippets of information were revealed too soon. The suspense and sense of intrigue really kept strong until the very end and the book finished with such a bang. I don't think the ending is like impossible to guess or anything which is why I feel like it's important to not think about the book too much before you read it or you'll just ruin it for yourself. Like, I'm the type of person who does not trust any human or any book so I'm always always looking out for anything shady so I kinda did figure out the end but like...I also think of wild conspiracy theories for every book I read as I read them so no author can take me by surprise so I don't think I really count as a legitimate "guesser." Anyway, the ending was done SO well and didn't feel like a cheap trick or anything.

If I have any grievances it's mostly just a small one about how I didn't really understand the dubbing of the main group as the "Liars" and I feel like it felt a little off. I still think it was an excellent book and definitely one I recommend you all read!!

What's a lie you've told to get out of trouble?

Let us know in the comments!