We Were Liars | E. Lockhart | Review

The perfect pick for August's Book Club Theme: A book with water on the cover! 

In We Were Liars, Cadence Sinclair is the eldest granddaughter to a millionaire, and heir to his a private island, where she and her extended family spend every summer. Each year Cady goes to Beachlands; she and The Liars - her cousins Johnny and Merrin, and friend Gat - swim, explore, go in the boats across to the town, play with the younger children, avoid family fights and spend time between the family houses on the island. One year, 'Summer 15' - the summer they were all 15 - Cady awakes on the beach in nothing but her underclothes. The following months, Cady asks her mother just what happened that year- why she was alone on the beach at night, wearing barley anything, why her head hurts so much - and each day her mother tells her, but each day she forgets. Her migraines take over her life, and while the doctors give her medicine for them, they can't find the source, and put it down to head trauma from her accident.  

The following summer, Cady goes on a trip around Europe with her father, missing her time with her friends on the island. 'Summer 17', she returns to the island with her mother, only to find her grandfather's house gone, a huge fancy one in its place. While the Liars comment on her change of hair, and worry about her headaches, they are the same to Cady despite them not returning her emails for the past 2 years. The summer continues, her friends seeming to go off a lot without her while she wallows in her bed, clutching her head in pain.  

I really enjoyed this book.  I feel I can't say too much without giving crucial parts away, but it was full of interesting characters and personalities, first loves and heart aches, full of insanely-rich-family drama, and adventures around what sounds like an amazing island. It was well written (and well read), from the perspective of Cadence, and the only reason I didn't give it a 5 star rating was because I called what happened long before Cady did, and I felt like the end chapters were a bit too drawn out.  

If you're after a story about family, friends, love and adventure, manipulation and lies, complete with a thousand questions about what really happened to Cady the Summer of 15, then grab a copy of this book. Considering it won the Goodreads Choice Aware in 2014, you know it's going to be a good one, right? 

Have you read We Were Liars? 

Photo by Jingda Chen on Unsplash; Book cover from Goodreads