"We Were Liars" by E. LockhartFirst published in 2014
240 pages
My rating: 2 out of 5
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"We Were Liars" was yet another in a line of pretty popular YA books that just didn't do it for me. It was fine, it was alright, but I just cannot see what all the fuss is about.
The few reviews I've read referenced the mind-blowing twist at the end... but I found the twist to be neither huge nor unexpected. I was hoping the big reveal would give some meaning to an otherwise frail plot, but no such luck. In the end, I wasn't quite sure what the point of the book was.
A quick sum-up: Every summer teenager Cadence joins the rest of her blue-blooded family on a private island near Martha's Vineyard. She, two cousins and a friend make up "the liars" (it's never really explained how they earned that nickname) and they spend their days together. But something horrible happens during the summer they're 15; as a coping mechanism, Cadence has developed amnesia and can hardly remember anything about "summer 15" -- and no one will fill her in. Flash forward to summer 17 -- Cadence is back on the island and determined to find answers, and they're even more horrific than she was expecting. (But they were more tame than I was expecting.)
I didn't really like Cadence, with all her whining and naivete. I didn't really like the snobbish, over-dramatic and petty nature of the old-money Sinclair family. I didn't really like the annoying made-up names like Mirren and Taft. I didn't even like Gat, the only down-to-earth character. And I didn't really like the writing when it tried too much to be like Tahereh Mafi, but not as successfully.
Sometimes
it went
something
like
this.
All choppy and
shit.
Trying too hard to be
artistic.
On a positive note, though I was mildly disappointed by the ending, Lockhart kept me turning pages to get there. And overall, the writing was decent for a young adult book. But I didn't like it enough to recommend it; you can find far better reading material in the sea of novels out there. For a far more enthralling twist, try "Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn, or even the somewhat similar to "We Were Liars" novel "Bittersweet" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore. It's got all the rich snobs, private island summers and dark secrets you could want.
I wasn't sure if I'd like this but tried it mainly to see what all the buzz was about- and I kinda liked the cover for some reason, seemed summery. I think I liked it more than you did, but I agree with you the writing style did sometimes irritate me, like she was trying a little too hard. And there were very few likeable characters, I have to agree.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you mention Bittersweet, I remember it looking somewhat similar and I've seen a few good things about that one. May give it a try.
Thanks for commenting, Greg! I liked the cover too -- and it was indeed a good summery read, just like the cover implies.
Delete"Bittersweet" was a better read, but I didn't love that main character either. I think I wrote quite a long rant about her in my review! If you decided to check it out, I hope you like it. I was definitely a page-turner!
I kind of liked this one, but I didn't love it, and I definitely understand criticism for the writing style, which like Greg, I found sometimes irritating.
ReplyDeleteSPOILERS BEFORE FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T READ THE BOOK
I guessed that they might be dead, but the fact that they were (at least I think this was the point?) ghosts really dampened the end impact for me. I really wanted it to be something much better than that, something that I couldn't have thought of.
I agree -- I was hoping to be much more shocked and blown away by whatever big twist was coming. Interesting that you thought they were ghosts -- I actually assumed they were figments of her imagination. I always love hearing other readers' perspectives!
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