"Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my ribcage and down into a flowerbed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,


then from my eyes,


my ears,


my mouth.

It tasted like salt and failure. The bright red shame of being unloved soaked the grass in front of our house, the bricks of the path, the steps of the porch. My heart spasmed among the peonies like a trout.

Mummy snapped. She said to get ahold of myself.

Be normal, she said. Right now, she said."


This kind of writing is why I loved We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Her writing is so descriptive that she can literally convince you that the main character, Cady, has been shot in the chest! Cady, or Cadence, is part of an old-money family in the northeast, the Sinclairs. Each summer she goes to Beechwood, a small private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her family: her grandfather, mother, aunts, cousins, and, of course, the Liars- her cousins Mirren and Johnny and a friend of the family, Gat. In summer 15, or the summer when the Liars are 15, something wonderful happens to Cady. And something terrible. Cadence is left to pick up the pieces from an accident she can't remember. In summer 17, Cadence goes back to Beechwood, hoping to figure out what happened to her 2 years ago. But can she handle the truth?

This book is great for teens because of its lyrical prose, complex characters, and suspense. It was a pretty quick read and was very enjoyable.

The book opens with Cadence "welcoming" you to her family. She describes her family as tall, athletic, and never wrong. She then introduces herself, saying, "It is true I suffer migraines since my accident. It is true I do not suffer fools." I thought this was very unlike the way characters usually introduce themselves. She then proceeds to tell you about her life, including the fact that her father left Cady and her mother at the beginning of summer 15. Everyone at Beechwood seems to pretend that he never existed, except for Gat.

Gat was the nephew of Cadence's Aunt Carrie's boyfriend. He came to Beechwood for the first time when the Liars were 8. The Liars view Gat, a very opinionated and political boy, as incredibly smart. I, however, thought he was even more ignorant and naïve than the others, though I really did like him sometimes. Harris, Cady's grandfather, was always wary of Gat and his uncle, Ed, due to their Indian heritage. Harris's racism comes back into play in summer 15 when he threatens to disown Carrie if she marries Ed. This causes extra conflict when Cadence and Gat fall in love. Harris also causes trouble by making his daughters fight over their inheritance. This was the main conflict because it basically caused the initial conflict (Cady's memory loss) to occur, though I can't get into that without giving the entire story away.

Now, it's summer 17. Cadence is going back to Beechwood after a year away- a year in which none of the liars answered her emails. She's afraid that Gat will no longer love her and Mirren and Johnny have forgotten about her. When Cadence gets to the island, she sees that the Liars have far from forgotten her, though Gat will hardly look her in the eyes. They inform her that they will be staying in Cuddledown, one of the houses, and refuse to spend any time with the rest of the family. Cady, however, must stay with her mother, due to her illness.

After a short time on the island, Cadence notices that her family is acting strange. Her grandfather is going senile. Her Aunt Carrie is wandering the island at night. No one will tell her about the accident. Most of all, the Liars seem to be excluding her, though that’s nothing a little cliff diving can’t fix! Soon, Gat has re-pronounced his love for Cady, and the Liars are back to normal. Piece by piece, Cadence puts together what she and the Liars did in summer 15 to rebel against Harris and everything he stood for. But she didn’t remember everything that happened the night of their revolution. As it all came together, I was racing to turn each page. The ending came on with such spontaneity that I had to start the book all over again. That is something that rarely happens.

I recommend We Were Liars to teen readers. It had a pretty basic vocabulary, though it was written very well. There was some language, though nothing too offensive, and no overtly adult themes. It left some intriguing questions and actually made you think, something a lot of current teen books don’t do.

The author had a very distinctive and constant voice throughout the novel. Like I said before, she could manipulate the words to make you think Cady had been shot in the chest or had fallen into the ocean. Also woven throughout the novel were variations of fairytales that Cadence wrote about her experiences. I thought this was very interesting and unique. It helped you learn more about Cady.

E. Lockhart spun a conflicting character in Cadence. On one hand, she was darkly funny and witty, but on the other hand, she was naïve and immature. This made me have mixed feelings about Cady, as a character, but left me intrigued, as she was very complex. All in all, I liked Lockhart’s voice but wasn’t always pleased with Cadence.

We Were Liars was a very interesting and quick paced summer read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s great for teens and has smart, lyrical writing that keeps you hanging on to every word. The complete twist ending is perhaps the best one I’ve ever encountered. E. Lockhart has written an absolutely wonderful book.