Review: We Were Liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Release Date ~May 13, 2014
Delacorte Press ~ Random House
ISBN13: 9780385741262
Review copy received from Random House Canada for review

Goodreads Synopsis:
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 National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

I have heard so much about We Were Liars from other bloggers, such that I was dying of curiousity! People were raving about the twist, and so I began hunting for this book in bookstores... only to realize that it hadn't even been released yet.

Having now read We Were Liars, I can readily confirm that it is a thrilling read, a story absolutely brimming with secrets.

1. An emotional narrative:
   
   E Lockhart tells a brilliant story, although while not quite as shocking as I anticipated, of the tragic events to befall the main character's family (Cady). The writing style is poignant, and every mixed emotion felt by Cady is likewise experienced by the reader. As a reader, you are
   
2. A Shakespearean-esque tragedy:
   
   The day after having finished We Were Liars I saw a performance of King Lear, and it struck me how similar the two were in some ways. Let me emphasize that they are not the same story; but there are some characteristics the two share, such as the family dynamics. We Were Liars clearly evokes some of the feelings and themes from classical literature.
   
3. An unreliable narrator:
   
   I absolutely love reading books with an unreliable narrator, because I'm left guessing and gradually putting together all the clues and hints as to what actually happened. Cady is particularly effective as an unreliable narrator because even she isn't sure about the truth of what happened.

After hearing so much about how the ending was truly shocking and surprising, I was a tad disappointed when I finished and discovered that my initial prediction was mostly correct (but not entirely). Then again, I think this was the ideal ending for the book and I don't think there could have been an ending that worked better with the story than this one. I won't say anything else because this is a story that must not be spoiled!

This is the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish reading it. I'll have to find time to reread it, because I feel like I have more questions after having read it than I did before I started!