We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Book Review

Welcome back everyone! This past week I’ve had more free time on my hands now that the semester is winding down which means I’ve had time to read books that haven’t been assigned to me. The book I want to talk about is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I started this book towards the end of summer with every intention of finishing it before the school year started but…that didn’t happen. Now that I have been able to finish it, I have some thoughts about it that I’d like to share.

As always, I have seen this book on the shelves every time I go to the book store. Everyone praises it and says that its so good. For some reason, I just never picked it up. It wasn’t until my friend, Erin, sent me a TikTok of books that will make you cry that I decided to grab it. I don’t know what about the TikTok convinced me, but for whatever reason it did.

I’ve never read any books by E. Lockhart before, so I had no idea what to expect. The back of the book doesn’t give a summary, so there is no way to tell what the book is about unless you look a synopsis up of it online. I didn’t do that; I just decided to dive right in. But for a quick summary, the book is about the Sinclair family, who is a really rich family that owns a private island off the coast of Massachusetts. The island is owned by the grandfather, and all of his daughters have their own cabin on the island that their family stays at during the summers. Every summer, for the whole summer, all the aunts and cousins come to spend time together. The book is centered around Cady, who gets into a terrible accident one summer there. She can’t remember anything. When she finally comes back to the island, 2-3 years after her accident, she tries to remember what happened. No one will talk to her about it not even her mother. So basically, you’re on the ride to find out what happened to Cady on the island years ago.

If I’m being honest, the first half of the book is pretty dry. It’s just the same thing over and over again with not a lot of development with the characters or plot. Those things happen all at once towards the end. When I stopped reading it at the beginning of the school year, I was around page 140, and I just remember not a lot of action happening. I am someone that needs to be hooked by the fifty-page mark. Sometimes, I’ll go a little over, but if I don’t like it by then I usually put it down. There were things happening in the book here and there but nothing substantial or noteworthy. It wasn’t until after that 140 mark that things started to unravel and the truth about the accident comes out.

I know I said I got this from a TikTok about books that will make you cry, but I didn’t cry. It was sad, don’t get me wrong, but more of an, “oh my god, I can’t believe that’s what happened” kind of way. It was more of a shockingly sad twist than anything else. I still recommend this book; it was good, and I am glad that I read it. The ending sort of makes up for the rest of it.

Overall, I would give it a 7/10. I’ve read better and I’ve definitely read worse. I just feel like there could’ve been more action. There could’ve been more hints about the accident leading up to the reveal of it, and there couldn’t been more character development since the book centers around so many different and interesting characters. The twist definitely makes the book worth the read, but that’s really all, in my opinion. I would also still read other books by this author because I like how she structures the writing; I know she has other ones out too, but this is the one that really got her name out there. If you have read this book, let me know what you think of it! I’d love to hear your opinion!