We Were Liars ~ E. Lockhart

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.

Book Review:

This may be an unpopular opinion but I was kind of disappointed with this book. I started out thinking that I was really going to enjoy it. I mean, it is full of angst and frustration and mental illness, so I just assumed that it was going to be right up my ally. And it was, until it wasn't anymore. I think that if it had ended sooner or much differently, I might have liked it more, but the ending just left me with too many questions. I wouldn't say that it was a thriller-like ending but it certainly wasn't contemporary either. Maybe the point of the ending was to leave you feeling confused, conflicted, and frustrated, and if so... good job Lockhart, but it's not something that I want to read again. 

I really enjoyed it in the beginning. I thoroughly felt for the main character. I felt her confusion and frustration in the pit of my gut and I was seriously irritated with the other characters, just as she was. But I couldn't identify the true climax. It was very slow in getting to any form of a resolution and there were many times where I was ready to put it down. I certainly didn't expect that because it is such a small novel, but nevertheless, there I was. When it finally did explain the situation, it made sense, it really did. I understood why her family was confused about her not spending any time with them, they thought she was alone, but in her mind, she wasn't.

It was a valid depiction of PTSD but the entire back story of the tragedy that led to the main character's delusions, I felt that it was a bit chaotic and kind of just thrown together, not really thought through. Now, I could see the connections and hidden explanations throughout the novel, but at the same time, it felt like it should have been something different. 

Pages: 227                                                                                                                          Rate: 2/5