When I started We Were Liars, I had no idea what it was about. I thought that was going to be a good idea, as sometimes that is better for the experience. It was not. So I’m going to summarize what I can, without spoilers, what this is about. Then, I’ll give my rating and a spoiler-y review.
We Were Liars is about Cadence, a rich girl who’s father has just left her family for another woman. They vacation in Martha’s Vineyard every summer and one year there’s an “accident” that leaves her with amnesia about one of the summers. She comes back two summers after the accident to try to remember what happened to her.
I give it 1.5/5 stars, .5 of that for effort. I do not recommend this book for pretty much anyone, but especially if you don’t like rich people problems. The rest of this review will contain spoilers.
Okay so can we just address the elephant in the proverbial room of the internet. SHE KILLED ALL OF THEM. WTF! This entire time there is barely any indication that these people are ghosts and then you come to find out that Cady killed all of her friends??? I mean, this is seriously just the tip of the iceberg for me. I hated all the characters. Cady is definitely not the narrator anyone wants or needs. She needs to get over the fact that Gat loves her, but won’t ever be with her. What happens during their summers stays in the summer. She doesn’t seem to understand this. “My Gat.” is repeated more times that I care to count. I also listened to the audiobook of this and hearing the narrator repeat “My Gat.” was more than annoying.
I don’t know what Gat was hoping to get out of hanging out with a rich, entitled family like the Sinclairs. He knew what he was getting into. Come on, man. You’re on Martha’s Vineyard and you’re pissed that no one knows the names of the servants they hired? Either you need to get out of there and stop coming back, or you need to suck it up and stop trying to understand it. He spends most of the book talking about how terrible these people are, but he never once says that maybe he shouldn’t come back.
I spent most of the time during the scenes where they were actually on Martha’s Vineyard wondering if the author had ever been there. Sure, the places they went were real. Those restaurants and fudge shops actually exist. However, the descriptions were all off somehow. It wasn’t like what I experienced on Martha’s Vineyard. And maybe I’m just off in my assessment because I was in Oak Bluffs instead of where Cady went on the island, but it really just seemed like the author had never been there.
So the thing that bothers me most about the entirety of the book is the description of the “accident”. IT WAS ONE FREAKING PAGE LONG. ONLY ONE. The “accident” is the whole point of the book. The plot is driven solely by the fact that Cady can’t remember what happened to her. But the place where she actually describes the accident as it happens is only one page long. I wanted to throw the book and never come back to it.
I think the biggest thing is the book was too extra about everything and a major letdown to boot. Everything about it was a letdown. The characters, the plot, the morbid plot twist, the descriptions… just everything. And I wasn’t exactly hyped up about this book either. I had no idea what it was about. I hadn’t seen a raving or bashing review of it anywhere. I more or less wasted a few days reading something that wasn’t worth my time. I apologize that I don’t have anything good to say about this book, but it really just wasn’t good. I can tell the author really tried, but it just didn’t work for me. Thanks for reading and be sure to check out our next book of the month.
Confessions of a Ravenclaw 