We Were Liars by E. Lockhart tells a suspenseful story about a girl named Cadence Sinclair. Every summer she and her mom go to Beachwood Island on the coast of Massachusetts and visit her family. Her cousins Mirren, Johnny, and her friend Gat are all very important to her and play a major part in the story. Together they are called the four liars. During one summer Cadence had an accident. She does not know what happened to her but as a result of the incident, Cadence struggles with drugs, migraines, and memory loss. Her family is told to let her remember the event on her own. Since the accident, Cadence has been out of touch with Mirren, Johnny, and Gat. Cadence had skipped a summer since she was healing from the incident. Though one summer she is finally able to go. Cadence hopes to regain the old feelings she had when she visited last time but something about the island is different. During her stay, Cadence slowly begins to remember little parts and pieces. She writes them down on sticky notes and sticks them on her wall so she does not forget. Slowly, she too comes to a devastating realization, and to her horror, she becomes aware of her delusion. My favorite part of this book is the ending because it was so out of the ordinary. While I enjoyed reading this book by the pool, there were some dull moments. The story made me think about how family pressures can create chaos and cause a group of kids to end up in deep water. I enjoyed the way the author wrote the novel because as I read, I could feel something was off which made me think about the book more deeply and question what was happening to Cadence. I recommend that the readers look at the acknowledgments at the end of the book because there is a map of the island which is helpful when Cadence is describing the estate. It is really important to remember the character's names and the house's names. The last thing I would like to mention is that throughout the book as Cadence remembers things, she lists the things she recalls on a piece of paper. It is important to remember what she is writing down because it plays a huge part in the story.
Emmi W.
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