We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart

[brokentune]

“WHAT HAPPENED THEN?” I ask Johnny. We are still lying on the floor of Cuddledown, early in the morning. Summer seventeen.
“You don’t remember?” he says.
“No.”

We Were Liars was a book of great promise. A story of friendship, family, and of Cadence Sinclair slowly regaining her memory of the events that changed her life forever - events that present themselves in almost every aspect of her life and that are yet so intangible because Cadence cannot remember.

I really enjoyed the premise of the book but a few pages in I was so strongly reminded of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle that I could not help but compare the two stories and the two main characters. Although, they are entirely different plots and genres, there are some similarities in that Cadence, like Merricat in Jackson's book, did not come across like a person of her age. She seemed so much younger. In hindsight this makes some sense but while reading, this really irritated me.

We Were Liars is based on a well constructed plot leading up to a twist - though, by the time the I got the part where the story is revealed in full, I had already lost patience with the characters, and slow, slow, slow drip feed of the story. So, I guess, I liked the twist not because it resolved Cadence's trauma but because it meant the end of the book was near.

In summary, not a bad story but somewhat tedious to read.

"WELCOME TO THE beautiful Sinclair family.
No one is a criminal.
No one is an addict.
No one is a failure.
The Sinclairs are athletic, tall, and handsome. We are old-money Democrats. Our smiles are wide, our chins square, and our tennis serves aggressive."