This review might not capture the exact way I felt when I finished reading this novel. It felt surreal, like I was having an intense literary experience not many people are opportuned to have.
I loved the plot, the narrating style, the short chapters, the characters, and the way this book drew me into the world of imagination and delusion.
Let's start with the most obvious compelling part of this book: the cover.
I'm all for not judging a book by its cover, but you wouldn't deny the fact that books with beautiful cover pages draw you in faster than the ones without.
When I first read" We Were Liars", I didn't think much about the novel, other than the fact that it focused on a wealthy family, The Sinclairs, and that the expensive cars, and high mansions that are always so closed off hide more than we can ever imagine.
However, when I saw that Waterstones was releasing a deluxe edition, I decided to give it a try again. So best believe, this review is coming after reading this book twice, thoroughly I might add.
The deluxe edition was really special to me, because it included a lot of things I like to see in novel apart from the storyline. It includes:
A behind-the-scenes look at the author’s writing process, which in some way, connects readers to her thought process,
the author’s hand-drawn map of Beechwood Island and the Sinclair family tree, and most specially, an excerpt from E. Lockhart’s upcoming novel "Genuine Fraud".
The first chapter is surprisingly very short. With just approximately approximately 1.5 pages, the manner in which the author introduces it, is quite unusual and changes frequently; some sentences are set out almost like the author was writing poetry and others are very brief, almost staccato-like statements, which are fired at the reader in quick succession, one after the other.
“No one is an addict.
No one is a criminal.
No one is a failure.”
In this short introduction the sardonic voice of the narrator (17 year old Cadence Sinclair) gives you the immediate impression that something is not right with The Sinclairs.
You would assume that they have the usual problems that rich people have, but it is so much more.
In the first paragraph the author beautifully brings to light the desperation tugging at the heart of the Sinclair family; you understand that the bright shiny veneer papering over the cracks of the family relationships,that seems almost so invisible is wearing deeply thin from these few short phrases.
It is a well thought out and brilliant opening. Almost so beautiful.
"We Were Liars" is a young adult mystery thriller novel.
The story follows Cadence Eastman, a teenage girl who is part of a wealthy and widely influential family, the Sinclairs.
She spends every summer on Beechwood Island, privately owned by the Sinclair family and situated near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where her grandfather built homes for himself, all of his daughters, and their families to reside.
She would spend the major part of these summers with her cousins Johnny and Mirren and Johnny’s best friend Gat, who they invite to come along every year.
Together, the four of them are known as the “Liars.”
The summer of her fifteenth year, Cady has a whirlwind romance with Gat, to dull the pain of her parents’ divorce.
However, that’s all Cady remembers of that summer. She gets into an accident, though she doesn’t remember the cause, that leaves her suffering from crippling migraines and amnesia.
Gat, her brief summer fling was nowhere to be seen as she recovered in hospital, none of her family wants to talk to her about what happened, and it’s been two years since she last visited the island.
Relishing the chance to reconnect with her cousins and her beloved Gat, despite the pain of him ghsoting her, she is determined to find out what happened to her that fateful summer, and finding out might mean exposing a lot of things which should ordinarily be kept hidden.
Quite frankly, I would say this author has mastered the ability to keep readers addicted.
From the characters, to everything that made up this novel, this was a very addicting read.
I didn't have any favorite characters however, because while I am a huge fan of character flaw, seeing that it forms a major part of the characters disposition, the characters in this novel had too many character flaws that it was just hard to ignore.
I relish the nostalgic experience the author made me feel by capturing the intensity of adult experiences.
When it comes down to it, you wouldn't deny the fact that the twists, suspense and turns were totally unexpected and quite enjoyable.
It is honestly difficult to give a review without giving away major spoilers, which is why I'll love you to give this novel a try.
Do I recommend? Yes I do. Both for teenagers, and adults who wants to relish nostalgic experiences of their teenage years.
