We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Much like Cadence, I really can't be bothered to care about this.

We Were Liars was insanely predictable. I had it more or less figured out only a few chapters in, then confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt less than halfway through. I was bored. The author occasionally liked to use flowery language to describe pain, but it was just annoying. There's a difference between beautiful, romantic prose and just ... being pretentious?

Throw in a basketful of flat, unimpressive characters (who are not "liars", by the way. I feel like to call yourself "liars" you need to lie occasionally) and NO plot and you've got this book. Plus, all the health concerns in this book was portrayed in the flattest stereotypes:
- chronic migraines = drug addict
- OCD = clean all the things
- depression = walking around late at night in a nightgown crying
- dementia = calling people the wrong name and getting mildly annoyed

It was just... disappointing. It felt like one of those quickly written thrillers for a buck. You want to feel for Cadence (her tragedy is genuinely horrifying) but you can't because she's so apathetic and unrelateable. Unless maybe you're the kid of a trust fun baby and your grandpa owns his own island. Who knows.

(It's not unreadable... it's just... there are better books out there to spend your time on.)