A perfect read: Emily Lockhart’s We Were Liars

I have never been much of a reader, even when I was younger I much preferred making up my own stories and alternate realities than using the ones books had to offer. It only occurred to me recently just how little I have read, and I must admit that this made me more than a little sad.

 

I have wasted so much of my time staring blankly at an old television watching endless re runs of How I Met Your Mother rather than attempting to expand my horizons.

 

 

So, I have decided to set myself a challenge of reading 20 books this summer, I’m currently 5 down and a whole lot more left to go. Being a slow reader definitely does not help. It is on this mission that I came across We Were Liars by Emily Lockhart. I was browsing my local Waterstones just yesterday when I stumbled across the title. 

 

Intrigued, I discovered no blurb on the book which  fuelled my curiosity further. I have since completed said book in exactly two hours and twenty-three minutes which, for a self-confessed sluggish reader, is record speed. And to be incredibly cliché – yes, I really couldn’t put it down!

 

 

We Were Liars is centred round The Sinclair Family. Rich, beautiful and privileged they appear to have it all. To top things off they even own their own private island where they holiday every year as a family.

 

The Sinclair family consists of the grandparents, their three daughters and their respective children and partners. The book focuses on each of the daughter’s eldest children and one of their children’s best friend: Cadence, who is the protagonist, Gat, Mirren and Johnny. These four children are known together as “The Liars.”

 

The book is written as the thoughts of eighteen year old Cadence whom, after suffering injuries to her head, attempts to piece together the events leading up to her accident which occurred on the island when she was fifteen years old. As the truth begins to unfold so do the shocking truths and revelations, leading Cadence to never be the same again.  

 

 

Whilst the storyline sounds rather simple, the book is anything but, as this is more than just a tale of revenge, greed and lies. Nothing is as it seems, from the characters to the plot. To put it simply, this book will ruin you. Since reading it I have been unable to think of anything else, desperate to share its secrets with anyone who will listen.

 

I have virtually no criticisms for the novel as well. The only sticking point being that with a large family tree, initially the various names of characters appears a little daunting.

 

However, a story which starts off slow and confusing (as the ramblings of an 18 year old girl are in general pretty incoherent) turns into a devilishly sophisticated and shocking read.

 

Trust me, you will not regret starting this book, that is, until you have completed it!