Goodreads Book Review: We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow. This is the first time in awhile that a book ending has genuinely shocked me.

We Were Liars is billed as a young adult suspense novel, but it goes beyond the typical young adult novel in theme and tone, and it cannot be pinned down to "suspense": it borrows from family drama, classic tragedies like "Wuthering Heights," and fairy tales in addition to more typical thrillers like "Gone Girl" (that twist ending!). There are some elements that to some might be considered pretentious, but I thought they made E. Lockhart's novel unique in a sea of cookie-cutter young adult lit.

At it's most basic, We Were Liars is the story of four wealthy teens who summer with their families on a private island off the coast of Massachusetts. Cadence, Johnny, and Mirren are cousins and the grandchildren of the distinguished Harris Sinclair, the owner of the island. Gat is a step-cousin, and his Indian heritage makes him the family outsider in the eyes of prejudiced patriarch Sinclair. Nevertheless, the four teens form an inseparable connection.

The novel is narrated from Cadence's perspective and shifted between the present, where Cadence is 17 years old, and flashbacks to her 15th summer on the island. Cadence suffers from migraines, which result, she has been told, from a swimming accident that happened that 15th summer. In addition to her migraines, she has lost most of her memories of the time surrounding that accident. She only knows that she was discovered injured on the beach.

Memory loss has been used in a lot of suspense novels (the central protagonist in The Girl on the Train suffered from alcoholic blackouts), and it can come across as a too-easy, gimmicky set-up. However, We Were Liars explores more than just the mystery behind Cadence's accident and her missing memories. As it unfolds, we are drawn into the hidden dysfunctions in Cadence's family, where the appearance of normalcy is exalted above all else.

The novel also revolves around the bonds of friendship between Cadence and her cousins, and her budding romance with Gat. I found the whole "step-cousin" angle to be a little icky, honestly, even though the two are not biologically related (Gat is Cadence's aunt's boyfriend's child). And I felt that instead of developing the connection between Cadence and Gat, Lockhart relied a bit too much on the forbidden-love with a family outsider angle. Indead, Gat references Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights in describing Grandpa Sinclair's disdain for him. Nevertheless, this theme is timeless, and it is interesting to see a modern spin on it.

Lockhart also uses the symbolism of fairy tales to depict the Sinclair family. After her accident, Cadence begins to write these fairy stories, all variations on a king with three daughters. The parallels to her own family, where her grandfather has three daughters, are obvious, but each short story (no more than a few paragraphs) contributes to the reader's understanding of the Sinclair family and their secrets and lies.

I won't spoil the ending. Suffice it to say that here is where the novel departs from strict realism, and while I didn't find the ending 100% plausible, it makes up for that in its emotional impact and its shocking twist.

We Were Liars is a book that can't be put in a box. Readers expecting a typical young adult novel or a typical suspense novel may be disappointed, but those with an open mind will find a book they won't soon forget.


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