We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Lyrical and dreamy, We Were Liars tells the story of a summer that change the lives of four teenagers forever.

Genres: YA, Mystery
Published: 13th May, 2014
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon UK
Series: N/A
Rating: 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.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

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“My full name is Cadence Sinclair Eastman.
…
I used to be blond, but now my hair is black.
I used to be strong, but now I am weak.
I used to be pretty, but now I look sick.
It is true I suffer migraines since my accident.
It is true I do not suffer fools.”

Oh you, guys! My brain is a mush. Like a soggy sponge being squeezed, its contents slowly dripping out of my ears, splattering all over the shiny tiles… ahem… No, I haven’t gone soft in the head. This is merely my take on this book whose protagonist is Cadence, a seventeen year old girl who experiences everything in a very dramatic, and slightly poetic way. I’m with you, Cady! At that age everything was the end of the world for me as well. Reality blends with absurd in most unexpected ways in this young lady’s mind.

“Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,
then from my eyes,
my ears,
my mouth.”

The writing flows like beautiful poetry, and with skillful use of the majestic English language, E. Lockhart transports the reader into the world of folks who spend whole summers on their private islands. I’m for one green with envy. The Sinclairs are your typical stuck up rich people, who can’t even appreciate their good fortune most of us just dreams about. I mean, private island? Not having to work the whole summer? Bitch, please.

Cousins Cady, Johnny and Mirren only meet during the summer breaks. They call themselves The Liars since they were eight years old. Summer eight. When Gat, Johnny’s new stepbrother, joins the liars he upsets the balance of the group right away. Not rich. Not white. Cares too much about things none of the liars do.

During summer fifteen Cady falls for him, and Gat falls for her. Sweet summer romance, ruined by the accident that robs Cady of her memories of the incident, and forces her to spend summer sixteen away from Beechwood Island without her beloved cousins, without the liars.

Fragmented sentences.
Like Cady’s broken, scattered memories.
Summer seventeen.

“I don’t know what is between us. He is such an ass.
“Give me your hand,” Gat says.
I am not sure I want to.
But then of course I do want to.
His skin is warm and sandy. We intertwine our fingers and close our eyes against the sun.
We just lie there. Holding hands. He rubs my palm with his thumb like he did two summers ago beneath the stars.
And I melt.”

A heart warming story of first love, We Were Liars is out there to catch you by surprise and wring your emotions out like water from a soaked beach towel. Or is it? I might have lied.