Book Review: We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Published by Delacorte Press on May 13, 2014

Series: n/a

Genre(s): fiction, contemporary, mystery, young adult

Format & Length: e-book, 228

Source: library

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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 New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Wow. What a story.

I had heard that it was best to go into this book not knowing anything about it. Now having read it, I have to agree. So, just a few points.

The writing is choppy and erratic, but oddly beautiful. It takes some getting used to, but it creates an atmosphere and really puts you in the main character’s head.

The story itself was brilliant. I literally could not put it down. I HAD to know what happened. The short chapters helped – it’s so easy to say, “Just one more chapter,” when they’re only a few pages long.

I particularly loved the variations of the fairy tales interspersed between the narrative. The stories themselves and the way they are metaphors for what is really going on really spoke to me.

Overall, this is an intense book with a powerful message. The writing style won’t be for everyone, but if you can tolerate it, it’s worth it.