We Were Liars by E. LockhartPublished by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers on May 13, 2014
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Pages: 240
Source: NetGalley
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Rating: ★★
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.We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.
My thoughts: meh.
More than anything, I was bored for 90% of We Were Liars. Not much happens. It’s just a series of stories about kids on an island.. most of which are just conversations where nothing actually happens. There is kind of a mini romance but I never got into it. I didn’t like the guy much and I didn’t like the two people together. It didn’t excite me at all.
I don’t really know what else to say beyond that. I never got into the book. It never pulled me in, it never excited me, it never took off. I was just indifferent. I didn’t get invested in the characters, I never shed a single tear, I didn’t want to cry and hug the main character.. none of that jazz. It was all just… meh.
When things finally did happen (or, more accurately, “got revealed”), it was a bit more interesting, but it still wasn’t particularly heart-wrenching for me. Yes it was sad and tragic, but it didn’t really move me (probably because I never got invested in the characters). And again, I never shed a tear (which disappointed me because some people said they cried like babies).
On top of that, the writing style wasn’t for me. It wasn’t poorly written or anything, it just isn’t the kind of writing that I enjoy. It’s more lyrical and almost poetic, or like a stream of consciousness. I’m not into that kind of thing. But if you’re into that, you should totally give this book a try! It’s definitely “different”—just not for me.
And on a side note, I still feel like I don’t get why the kids called themselves the Liars. Am I being an idiot? I don’t get it. View Spoiler »
I wouldn’t say that We Were Liars was a bad book; it’s just not for me. I hope it will continue to rock other peoples’ worlds though!
The Verdict
I’m definitely going to check this book out! E. Lockhart is one of my favourite authors, funny how I’ve never heard of this book, though.
I hope you like it!
Aw, I’m sorry you didn’t like it. I’ve read so many great things about this book, though, and I still want to read it, but I’m not going to set my expectations high after reading your review. Thanks for sharing!
Hopefully you’ll enjoy it more than I did. 🙂 Loads of people absolutely ADORED the book.
I just finished this last night and I feel pretty much the same way. I think I liked it a bit more than you, but I wasn’t awed by it either. I was shocked by the ending, didn’t guess it. And I’m so happy that you said that about the writing style! I thought I was the only one who didn’t really like it. Everyone else has been raving about how amazing it is. It wasn’t bad, it’s just didn’t work for me either.
Bummer! I hate it when everyone else is loving a book so I think I’ll love it too, but then I don’t. 🙁
I liked some aspects of it more than others. I loved how she worked to the reveal because I wasn’t expecting that. I think she could’ve done a lot better on characterization though. I didn’t feel like I really got to know the characters.
Yeah, I agree. I felt like I didn’t know the characters at all!
I liked this one only a little bit more than you (I think I gave it 3 stars) It was a fight just to keep reading because it was not compelling, I didn’t give a crap about these characters. The last 30% really saved the book for me, yet I didn’t get super emotional, I teared up but that was it. I didn’t want to hug the book or the MC, nothing like that. As weird as it sounds I am SO glad someone else didn’t enjoy this one much. I was beginning to feel like the black sheep.
Haha I know how you feel! It can be comforting to know that you’re not the only one and there’s someone else who feels similarly.
Oh no! I’ve been reading a few reviews lately where people didn’t enjoy We Were Liars. I personally loved it and cried like a baby at the twist. As far as why they went by We Were Liars, I think it was just one of those pre-teen titles you give to your group of friends. I remember having weird acronyms and whatnot for my friends and I when we were young. At least, that was my take on it. I’m sorry you didn’t like it, that must be a bummer after reading about how wonderful it is.
I agree it was just meh. I kinda used the love interest and what happened to him to get over an unrequited love I’ve had for two years now. I just not care for any f it . I do love the king Lear fairy tale passages but not the writing .
Tnx for the lovely review, Ashley
Aww I always hate meh books because they’re hard to read and hard to review! You can’t really say anything about them in your review and when you’re reading it you can’t even find one reason to keep going 🙁 Sorry this one wasn’t for you, but fantastic review! <33
Oh man, I LOVED this book. I loved the setting, and the family structure (not the dynamic!) of the Sinclairs is much like mine – partying with the maternal grandparents with all my mum’s siblings and cousins. I liked seeing all the manipulations in the family, and how everything changed when the context did.