Book number 28 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge (and book number 9 of the summer holiday where it has been confirmed that I was unreasonably unsociable) was We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.
‘We are the Liars.
We are beautiful, privileged and live a life of carefree luxury.
We are cracked and broken.
A story of love and romance.
A tale of tragedy.
Which are lies?
Which is truth?’ (Amazon, thanks)
Firstly, I had no idea what to expect when I started this novel. I genuinely had no idea what the book was about, and I did not know how it would end. I don’t want to give too much away, but the novel focuses on Cadence Sinclair Eastman, a member of the wealthy Sinclair family. Over the course of the novel she talks of her summers on Beechwood Island, her families island where she and her cousins spend the warm days living their privileged lives during their teens.
It is clear that Cadence had a horrible accident, as she tells us of stories from before and after her accident, but does not give much information about the accident itself as she can not remember. She hopes that returning to Beechwood Island and spending the summer with her cousins and friends will jog her memory so that she can finally come to terms with why she suffers from such terrible migraines.
I am not going to talk about this novel anymore than this. We Were Liars is a clever, poignant novel that deals with love, privilege and tragedy. This is a young adult novel, but I would recommend it to anyone to read. I can’t actually say that I loved it – however it raised a number of issues and was so thought-provoking that I must recommend it.
Rating: 3 and a half out of 5 stars