Privileged youths enjoy summer OR Angst, angst, ANGST

I kept hearing about We Were Liars by E. Lockhart from the various book reviewers on YouTube that I obsessively follow so I finally caved and checked it out from the library. I'm very glad that I did. It was marketed as a young adult novel with a twist ending so shocking that you'd feel compelled to lie about it to all of your friends (after enthusiastically recommending it to them). I'd have to agree with that. (Note: I'm not usually the type of person that can suss out the ending of a book or film from clues at the beginning.) It wasn't until page 196 (out of 225 pages) that I figured out the big WHOA moment (and lost my mind completely). The book focuses on a group of teenagers who are living the kind of privileged life that you only see in books and films. They spend their summers on a little island owned by their grandfather. (I must point out one of the main characters is just a friend who is lucky enough to be included. This is important to the plot.) We are seeing everything through the eyes of Cadence who is the oldest of the grandchildren and the story starts when she is 17. However, the narrative keeps folding back upon itself to the summer when they were all fifteen. I found it somewhat difficult living inside of her head as she wasn't the most likable character...those were few and far between actually. The world that they inhabit is bizarrely fantastical but the storyline is believable. That strange dichotomy is what makes this book so excellent. I found myself turning the pages hoping that the unreality would somehow resolve itself into something understandable. My biggest issue was that the ending was rather abrupt and I feel it didn't do justice to the rest of the book. BUT if you're looking for drama x1000 with a super surprise ending then you can't go wrong with We Were Liars.


**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **