"We Were Liars" (2014) by E. Lockhart REVIEW

Don't judge me. I only read this because it was the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Novel of 2014. However, I have to disagree.

Meet the Sinclairs: A perfect family. No one is poor. No one is starving. No one is a criminal. When seventeen-year-old Cadance Sinclair returns to the family summer island of Beechwood after her accident that caused amnesia, she notices things have changed since she was last there two years ago. At least, from what she could remember and what her mother told her. Cadence tries to have a fun summer, with her cousins: eccentric Johny and soft Mirren. She wants to get back together with a long ago love, Gat. However, Cadence knows that information is being kept from her about what happened on the summer she can barely remember.
Something big.
So big,
in fact,
it might just
blow your mind.*

I'm not in the target audience, but I'll try to make my review as unbiased as possible. However, I really enjoyed the main plot (the part of the story where Cadence is trying to solve her mystery). It was the only part of the book that kept me hooked and led me to finishing it. The writing is also great for the most part. The narration is beautiful in most areas, but the dialogue feels flat nearly all the time. The dialogue in John Green's The Fault in our Stars is more realistic than the dialogue in here, but it is still readable.

Then there's the 40% of the book I couldn't care less about: the romance. Now, don't get me wrong, I try to keep an open mind with everything I read and watch. In fact, I find romances I actually enjoy (The Fault in our Stars and Looking for Alaska for example). Although, the romance in this book is so sappy and cliche, it was worth multiple eye-rolls and audible groans. Thankfully, it was only 40% of the book.

"It's Gat. My Gat. But is he still my Gat?"

Though well-written, the focus of We Were Liars is unbalanced. I wanted more of the main plot than anything else, which was absolutely great with an amazing twist I didn't see coming, but that 40% really bogged down my enjoyment. Twist of the year? Maybe. Best young adult book of the year? No. If you want another one close to the same synopsis, I highly recommend The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno instead.

2/5 Stars

You can order your copy of the book from Amazon right here!

*If you did not like the style of how the synopsis ended, you may not like the book.

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