Hi everyone! Today I'll be reviewing "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart. I finally downloaded Overdrive and read this book in one sitting. Let's just say I'm a bit book-deprived.
I'm warning you now: I didn't like it. "We Were Liars" is one of those books that is always on the best-sellers shelf at Barnes and Noble. Think "The Fault in Our Stars." (I actually didn't notice the John Green quote on the front cover until after I made that comparison.) And because it's popular, it must be amazing, right? Wrong.
For some reason, I always thought this book was a romance. One of those cheesy, feel good, teen books about a gorgeous girl, amazing summer, and perfect boy. Everyone knows the type I'm talking about. And yeah, there's some romance in here. But if you're looking for some airy and light easy reading, set this book down. We're talking straight up family betrayal and dogs dying here.
The main character is Cadence, a rich white girl with rich white girl problems. Yeah, maybe that isn't how she's described in the book, but its true. Every summer, she goes to a private island owned by her grandfather, along with her mother and two aunts. She's part of the "Liars", a group of her two cousins Johnny and Mirren and her aunt's boyfriend's nephew, Gat. Complicated, I know. For the purposes of the book, all you need to remember is that he's not related to Candence and unlike the rest of them, he's not white. Don't ask me why they're called The Liars because the book literally never explains why.
When Candence was 15, she fell in love with Gat, and he fell in love with her. Even though he had a girlfriend who sent him homemade cookies. Cmon man. You know she's a keeper when she sends you cookies.
Anyway, she has a great summer on her private island. Until one day, she has an accident. Although she doesn't remember what happened exactly, she knows she went swimming at night and hit her head on some rocks. She woke up with selective amnesia and there's something her family isn't telling her about the night of the accident.
Cadence's main conflict throughout the book is her splitting headaches. I'm not saying that doesn't suck, but the girl made going on a trip across Europe sound like a nightmare. Gat is the only person on the island with any sense. He realizes the Sinclair family's privilege but they don't care to hear about it. At one point while talking to Cadence, this conversation happens:
“Who are Ginny and Paulo?” Gat hits his fist into his palm. “Ginny is the housekeeper. Paulo is the gardener. You don’t know their names and they’ve worked here summer after summer. That’s part of my point.” My face heats with shame. “I’m sorry.”
Cadence has gone to this island every summer for years, and she didn't take the time to learn the name of the people who work every day for her. Yet of course, her life is the horrible one. Throughout the book, she talks about giving her pillow to a homeless girl or a picture to Goodwill, and then uses this new-found moral superiority to talk down to her family. She doesn't recognize her own privilege, and even when she does, she thinks giving away her pillow is good enough to fix it.
The whole book is written in a poetic and metaphorical way. But not in a good way.
Because the sentences
Are written
Like this
A lot
Its irritating. The metaphors for Cadence's headaches are ridiculous. There's no need to compare your headache to a witch beating your head with an ivory goose. And sometimes, it went to the point of confusion. In the first chapter, she describes her dad shooting her. I was like, "Woah! Plot twist, didn't expect that." But by the next page it turns out, that was a symbolic, original, shocking metaphor. Right.
Another problem I had with the book was the constant switching between Summer 15 and Summer 17. I understand that she's remembering things throughout the book, but it was just confusing. Also, the stereotypical racist grandfather. Gat opens Cadence's eyes to her grandfather's racism, but it almost felt like a cheap add-on to the book. It was like the author forgot to give the couple any sort of drama, so she had to quickly come up with a reason for why they could never be together. So tragic.
And the ending. Oh my. I'm not sure if I was unimpressed with the originality because I've read another book with the exact same twist ending (Vanishing Girls) or because I don't like twist endings that force me to reread the book. Period. The ending wasn't creepy or deep or thought provoking. It was stupid. It felt like a cop-out by an author who tried to write a story about a family torn apart at the seams or maybe a book about a girl who comes to terms with her past but decided to stick a fantasy twist on the end when she couldn't conjure up the creativity to end it the way it started. The ending was confusing, but not in a way that made me think. It was confusing in a way that made me frustrated.
I won't spoil it for those of you who want to read it, against my advice. Just know that it isn't worth your time to read a book about a rich girl with ridiculous problems and even more ridiculous solutions to those problems. It isn't a good use of your day to read about a girl who falls in love with a boy 1000 times more mature than her and a family obsessed with money. And it definitely won't be fun to reach the last page and wonder why you picked it up in the first place.
The only thought-provoking thing about this book was that it reassured me that I care more when animals die than humans. :)
Colleen
For some reason, I always thought this book was a romance. One of those cheesy, feel good, teen books about a gorgeous girl, amazing summer, and perfect boy. Everyone knows the type I'm talking about. And yeah, there's some romance in here. But if you're looking for some airy and light easy reading, set this book down. We're talking straight up family betrayal and dogs dying here.
The main character is Cadence, a rich white girl with rich white girl problems. Yeah, maybe that isn't how she's described in the book, but its true. Every summer, she goes to a private island owned by her grandfather, along with her mother and two aunts. She's part of the "Liars", a group of her two cousins Johnny and Mirren and her aunt's boyfriend's nephew, Gat. Complicated, I know. For the purposes of the book, all you need to remember is that he's not related to Candence and unlike the rest of them, he's not white. Don't ask me why they're called The Liars because the book literally never explains why.
When Candence was 15, she fell in love with Gat, and he fell in love with her. Even though he had a girlfriend who sent him homemade cookies. Cmon man. You know she's a keeper when she sends you cookies.
Anyway, she has a great summer on her private island. Until one day, she has an accident. Although she doesn't remember what happened exactly, she knows she went swimming at night and hit her head on some rocks. She woke up with selective amnesia and there's something her family isn't telling her about the night of the accident.
Cadence's main conflict throughout the book is her splitting headaches. I'm not saying that doesn't suck, but the girl made going on a trip across Europe sound like a nightmare. Gat is the only person on the island with any sense. He realizes the Sinclair family's privilege but they don't care to hear about it. At one point while talking to Cadence, this conversation happens:
“Who are Ginny and Paulo?” Gat hits his fist into his palm. “Ginny is the housekeeper. Paulo is the gardener. You don’t know their names and they’ve worked here summer after summer. That’s part of my point.” My face heats with shame. “I’m sorry.”
Cadence has gone to this island every summer for years, and she didn't take the time to learn the name of the people who work every day for her. Yet of course, her life is the horrible one. Throughout the book, she talks about giving her pillow to a homeless girl or a picture to Goodwill, and then uses this new-found moral superiority to talk down to her family. She doesn't recognize her own privilege, and even when she does, she thinks giving away her pillow is good enough to fix it.
The whole book is written in a poetic and metaphorical way. But not in a good way.
Because the sentences
Are written
Like this
A lot
Its irritating. The metaphors for Cadence's headaches are ridiculous. There's no need to compare your headache to a witch beating your head with an ivory goose. And sometimes, it went to the point of confusion. In the first chapter, she describes her dad shooting her. I was like, "Woah! Plot twist, didn't expect that." But by the next page it turns out, that was a symbolic, original, shocking metaphor. Right.
Another problem I had with the book was the constant switching between Summer 15 and Summer 17. I understand that she's remembering things throughout the book, but it was just confusing. Also, the stereotypical racist grandfather. Gat opens Cadence's eyes to her grandfather's racism, but it almost felt like a cheap add-on to the book. It was like the author forgot to give the couple any sort of drama, so she had to quickly come up with a reason for why they could never be together. So tragic.
And the ending. Oh my. I'm not sure if I was unimpressed with the originality because I've read another book with the exact same twist ending (Vanishing Girls) or because I don't like twist endings that force me to reread the book. Period. The ending wasn't creepy or deep or thought provoking. It was stupid. It felt like a cop-out by an author who tried to write a story about a family torn apart at the seams or maybe a book about a girl who comes to terms with her past but decided to stick a fantasy twist on the end when she couldn't conjure up the creativity to end it the way it started. The ending was confusing, but not in a way that made me think. It was confusing in a way that made me frustrated.
I won't spoil it for those of you who want to read it, against my advice. Just know that it isn't worth your time to read a book about a rich girl with ridiculous problems and even more ridiculous solutions to those problems. It isn't a good use of your day to read about a girl who falls in love with a boy 1000 times more mature than her and a family obsessed with money. And it definitely won't be fun to reach the last page and wonder why you picked it up in the first place.
The only thought-provoking thing about this book was that it reassured me that I care more when animals die than humans. :)
Colleen