Name: We Were Liars
ISBN: 9781471403996

E. Lockhart

A New York Times Bestseller. A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends-the Liars-whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honouree E. Lockhart. Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Hardback gift edition

We Were Liars

Aurora White

ashwitherow

Beyza

maryamahmed

Better than chocolate, being with you last night. Silly me, I thought nothing was better than chocolate. In a profound, symbolic gesture, I am giving you this bar of Vosges I got when we all went to Edgartown. You can eat it, or you can just sit next to it and feel superior.

Isobel cusack

Silence is a protective coating over pain.

Maria M

Is that not one of the most romantic lines you’ve ever read 

Jess

Someone once wrote that a novel should deliver a series of small astonishments. I get the same thing spending an hour with you.

High Fidelity

Arantxa Puyana

Lente Tromp

Ipshita Kanungo

Michella Borup Norrahammar

Book nerd 

Natalie Christopoulou

Eva-Maria Haller

Hill

Allyssa Fritz

ariah 

Really hard to get through with the way it’s written, not a big fan of it and only reason it took me longer to finish. Only finished because I went with the audio book. 

Unfortunately the plot twist of the book was spoiled a bit but I was still hooked to read who were the ones involved with the issue.

I give it points for character development? And because it was really sad 

lily

Really hard to get through with the way it’s written, not a big fan of it and only reason it took me longer to finish. Only finished because I went with the audio book. 

Unfortunately the plot twist of the book was spoiled a bit but I was still hooked to read who were the ones involved with the issue.

I give it points for character development? And because it was really sad 

Amelia

A family full of lies and mystery. I love reading about complicated characters and characters that reflect me in some ways. The daughters who are always chasing after family heirloom and a generation of trauma, that they'd forgotten how to treat their children as their kids and not as an accessory to being a successor. How they'd recognize the faults in the whole family, how they feel trapped in their father's games, and yet they feel compulsive about chasing something that is not even promised to them. 

The Liars, who are chained up in the family trauma; who are kids who just want to escape the roles instilled by their mothers; who are just bunch of teenagers who wants to just be children despite the countless attempts of their parents to get their name written down on their grandfather's last will... The Liars who recognized the faults in the family and tried to destroy it, only to suffer the biggest consequences of their lives. 

Gat, who loved the island despite knowing that the highest person there doesn't like him. That there never was a space for them in the made up castle, yet he loved the people he became family with. And he endured everything for them, maybe so he can have that kind of life too.

It scratches my brain how granddad is the embodiment of a smart evil man. He was too caught up in the empire he built that he submitted his own bloodline into believing that their dystopian land is everything they could ever have and be.

I love how everyone is just coping in their own way. Pretending to be strong, pretending to be perfect, pretending to be the best or the one that doesn't care. Everyone is just pretending, that's why the Liars aren't just Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat. The liars are every single person in their bloodline. 

And they buried too many dead skeletons, unknowingly building a fort for their own grave. In the end, everybody paid the price for their own fault. Everybody suffered the consequences they all built together. 

A family full of lies and mystery. I love reading about complicated characters and characters that reflect me in some ways. The daughters who are always chasing after family heirloom and a generation of trauma, that they'd forgotten how to treat their children as their kids and not as an accessory to being a successor. How they'd recognize the faults in the whole family, how they feel trapped in their father's games, and yet they feel compulsive about chasing something that is not even promised to them. 

The Liars, who are chained up in the family trauma; who are kids who just want to escape the roles instilled by their mothers; who are just bunch of teenagers who wants to just be children despite the countless attempts of their parents to get their name written down on their grandfather's last will... The Liars who recognized the faults in the family and tried to destroy it, only to suffer the biggest consequences of their lives. 

Gat, who loved the island despite knowing that the highest person there doesn't like him. That there never was a space for them in the made up castle, yet he loved the people he became family with. And he endured everything for them, maybe so he can have that kind of life too.

It scratches my brain how granddad is the embodiment of a smart evil man. He was too caught up in the empire he built that he submitted his own bloodline into believing that their dystopian land is everything they could ever have and be.

I love how everyone is just coping in their own way. Pretending to be strong, pretending to be perfect, pretending to be the best or the one that doesn't care. Everyone is just pretending, that's why the Liars aren't just Cadence, Johnny, Mirren, and Gat. The liars are every single person in their bloodline. 

And they buried too many dead skeletons, unknowingly building a fort for their own grave. In the end, everybody paid the price for their own fault. Everybody suffered the consequences they all built together. 

Alyssa Weaver

Keila Rico 

I watched the series first then read the book. 

First of all, I had a hard time reading the book. I don't know if its the writing style or the lack of "world building". However, the plot was nice, the pacing was nice. It was good for a hundred-ish paged book. I feel like it could be better though, there was something missing. Whether it was the poor build up to that tragic moment or the execution of the tragic moment. However, I'm glad I read it and thank you to the author for giving us such a book. Might not be safe to say but I liked the series much more than the book. There were details in the book that I wished they also included in the series. But how the series was laid out, for me was already perfect. 

Penelope Sanchez

I watched the series first then read the book. 

First of all, I had a hard time reading the book. I don't know if its the writing style or the lack of "world building". However, the plot was nice, the pacing was nice. It was good for a hundred-ish paged book. I feel like it could be better though, there was something missing. Whether it was the poor build up to that tragic moment or the execution of the tragic moment. However, I'm glad I read it and thank you to the author for giving us such a book. Might not be safe to say but I liked the series much more than the book. There were details in the book that I wished they also included in the series. But how the series was laid out, for me was already perfect. 

That was funky!Best part of the book was the last 2 parts - plot twist was good, wasn’t expecting that!

Why did they call themselves the Liars though, I thought that was going to be part of the twist or am I being thick??

Ella Williams

That was funky!Best part of the book was the last 2 parts - plot twist was good, wasn’t expecting that!

Why did they call themselves the Liars though, I thought that was going to be part of the twist or am I being thick??

The ending took it from 3 stars to 3.5. Such a random book, I don’t know how anyone read this and made an 8 episode series out of it

Nicole Mills

Ariadne Meyers

 started off pretty slow for me—it didn’t really pick up until Part Four. Most of the events felt uneventful or just didn’t grab me. And honestly, I blame BookTok for hyping it up so much. I 

 cry, but only because I felt like I’d been gaslit the entire time.

The chapters with the metaphorical “king and three princesses” stories were a bit confusing. Maybe it’s one of those “the girls who get it, get it” moments, but I was mostly just trying to make sense of it.

Every character felt two-dimensional. I couldn’t connect with any of them—they were mostly just annoying. The only ones I genuinely cared about were the dogs (and they deserved better).

I considered giving it 4 stars just for the plot twist and the emotional gaslighting packed into 200 pages. But since it never really made me 

 to keep reading, I’m settling on a solid 3.

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

📖 First Impressions
We Were Liars started off pretty slow for me—it didn’t really pick up until Part Four. Most of the events felt uneventful or just didn’t grab me. And honestly, I blame BookTok for hyping it up so much. I did cry, but only because I felt like I’d been gaslit the entire time.



🧩 The Fairy Tale Chapters
The chapters with the metaphorical “king and three princesses” stories were a bit confusing. Maybe it’s one of those “the girls who get it, get it” moments, but I was mostly just trying to make sense of it.



👤 Characters
Every character felt two-dimensional. I couldn’t connect with any of them—they were mostly just annoying. The only ones I genuinely cared about were the dogs (and they deserved better).



🔀 Plot Twist & Overall Feel
I considered giving it 4 stars just for the plot twist and the emotional gaslighting packed into 200 pages. But since it never really made me eager to keep reading, I’m settling on a solid 3.



⭐ Final Rating
3 stars/5

Annabella

only thing i loved was how dramatic cadence was and how gat's sweet qualities reminded me of my boyfriend's. other things though? first world problems. all that for nothing??? such a big fuss over teeny tiny issues. they want to be oppressed sooooooo bad like shut up

chloe

This is the second YA book in a row I've read where a protag's loved ones were painfully obvious to be dead. When I was told of people's reactions to the twist, and their genuine gaggery, I was expecting to be another element on top of that once I deciphered that in the text. But alas, not really.

I only read this when I found out Emily Lind would star in the upcoming tv series and I wanted to read it before it came out. The writing style lowkey pissed me off. It really was giving wattpad fanfic writer (derogatory) the way it would switch to some weird stanza vibe. The fairytales were cute tho! Loved them <3

bellamy-hill

i tried to like this so hard y'all. 

This is the second YA book in a row I've read where a protag's loved ones were painfully obvious to be dead. When I was told of people's reactions to the twist, and their genuine gaggery, I was expecting to be another element on top of that once I deciphered that in the text. But alas, not really.

I only read this when I found out Emily Lind would star in the upcoming tv series and I wanted to read it before it came out. The writing style lowkey pissed me off. It really was giving wattpad fanfic writer (derogatory) the way it would switch to some weird stanza vibe. The fairytales were cute tho! Loved them <3

I was thinking of naming it something like *We Were Snobs, but after the twist, I ended up liking it—plot twist: the real snob was me."

Jehan Chawla

Holy SHIZZLES what the freak I cried a lil bit at the end finished it in a few hours 

1 star deducted because I kept reading Gat as gyatt

Jafe

Holy SHIZZLES what the freak I cried a lil bit at the end finished it in a few hours 

1 star deducted because I kept reading Gat as gyatt

Honestly an easy read with the unique writing! I love short chapters haha. The ending hurt the heart a little bit (a lot) I love a twist. 

Kass

It’s was a little bit boring to begin with but the last half of the book made up for it. The plot twits were good. 

Isabell McMann

Yanna Alghamdi

** spoiler alert **
           2 words: Plot Twist

I like how some of the chapters are excerpts and variations from different folk talkes. It somehow gives much more life to the plot. Would love to read more books by E. Lockhart.


(Should have finished this book by the time it was recommended to me by a close friend.)

Maureen

Mind-boggling. I'm still at loss for words. I'm not sure if I should praise it or not. YOU DECIDE. still a must read!

this book sucked tbh😭😭
the writing style irked me, it was pretty boring and felt bland overall!! a lot of people enjoy this book, and i have zero idea why😭 i dnf it then went back to reading it and the ending made me regret everything.

not worth it, go read something else😭

Svetlana 

i don’t know what i expected but it wasn’t this. overhyped and predictable af. also messy and chaotic, constantly some names and details, i was pretty much always lost

Jennifer Gosnell

** spoiler alert **
           I think to an extent this just wasn’t for me. Although, I do really gravitate towards summer/cottage/new england/YA reads. But the writing style and plot was just not for me. 

This was a paaaaainful read. Wow. I read about a third of the book before coming to check the Goodreads reviews to see if it would get better. Then skipped to about 2/3 of the way through (didn’t seem to miss anything), and got the ending. 

Goodness. So this book was about… privileged, obnoxious, whiny, racist, pretentious white people fighting about real estate amongst each other. With a tiny little splash of manslaughter that no one talks about?!?! 

Kay.

Linara K.S

It was cleverly written and the ending left me in tears. Definitely worth a read.

Anna 

moje první přečtená kniha v angličtině. já vím, je to trošku pozdě, hlavně když vím, že anglicky umím dobře. holt jsem se čtení v aj bála a teď toho lituji, protože bych anglicky mohla číst už dobré tři čtyři roky. ale teď už k samotné recenzi.
tohle bylo něco úplně jiného, než čtu normálně. není to romantická fantasy ani klasika pojednávající o politice nebo společnosti. we were liars vypráví cadence, dívka, která pochází z bohaté rodiny a tato rodina se každé léto sejde na soukromém ostrově a bydlí zde několik měsíců. cadence se však jednou bouchne do hlavy v moři a má z toho fyzické následky. hlavně si nic z toho léta, kdy se jí nehoda stala, nepamatuje. a nikdo jí nechce nic vysvětlit. 
od čtení jsem se v podstatě nemohla odtrhnout, četlo se to úplně samo, i když se tam toho až tak moc nedělo. rodina sinclairů byla vykreslená neskutečně dobře, každá postava byla něčím jedinečná a kniha mě do děje dokázala bez problémů přenést, což se stává málokdy. úplně jsem z ní cítila moře, pečenou zeleninu a borůvkové koláče.
má takový detektivní nádech, protože společně s cady nevíme, co se vlastně stalo, zato víme, že se něco důležitého tají. během čtení jsem měla několik nápadů, co se tak mohlo stát, ale musím tedy říct, že jsem se pořádně spletla. autorka vymyslela takový plot twist, na který nepřijde snad vůbec nikdo. we were liars mě nejednou rozplakala, ale zároveň jsem se u ní i culila a smála, což je opět něco, co se mi nestává u každé knížky.
.
tento příběh jsem hodnotila 4,5*/5*. recenzi píšu až pár týdnů po dočtení a na hodnocení se dívám už trošku jinak, možná bych půl hvězdy až hvězdu ubrala, protože ten plot twist byl přece jen trochu přetažený za vlasy, ale jelikož to byla moje první anglicky přečtená kniha, asi se na ní budu vždycky dívat trošku jinak, v lepším světle.
pokud jste ještě nečetli nic v angličtině a chtěli byste začít, we were liars vám vřele doporučuji, ta angličtina je opravdu jednoduchá!

We Were Liars Hardback gift edition