We Were Liars in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Jan 22, 2017 Elizabeth rated it it was amazing

It takes a little bit to get going, it really hits speed about 60% through and then I did not want to put it down.

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Apr 05, 2015 Debbie rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery

I spent about three fourths of this book hating the characters and the writing. It's about a family of privileged, bored, white people. The adults spend all of their time jockeying to be the favorites of the old man who uses his money to control their lives. They fight with each other constantly and sabotage each other. I kept thinking, "If this is how rich people really live, then I'm actually glad to be poor." The kids are all blond and beautiful, bored and boring. I hated them all. Gat, the o ...more

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Aug 06, 2018 Anna rated it liked it

This book... the end packs a serious punch. Just wait for it. Was NOT expecting that ending. To be honest I thought the book was ho hum. Until the end. And then it wasn’t.

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Apr 08, 2017 Megan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers-suspense, middle-grade-and-young-adult, american-stories, contemporary, popsugar-reading-challenge-2017, library-loans

When this was selected as the April group read for the 2017 PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge, I decided to check it out and use it for the prompt "a book with an unreliable narrator." Although I don't often read YA books, the premise sounded intriguing to me and I was not disappointed. Despite concerns about the hype about the ending, the twisty plot held my attention throughout. I found that when I got to the final section, I could not put the book down until I finished the last page. The fi When this was selected as the April group read for the 2017 PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge, I decided to check it out and use it for the prompt "a book with an unreliable narrator." Although I don't often read YA books, the premise sounded intriguing to me and I was not disappointed. Despite concerns about the hype about the ending, the twisty plot held my attention throughout. I found that when I got to the final section, I could not put the book down until I finished the last page. The final section made me re-examine everything that I had read up until that point and made me want to talk about the book with others.

This one is set in New England with a plot that centers around a prominent family, a private island, a secret, and a mysterious accident. While some of the elements might seem too familiar (privileged WASP family, star-crossed teen love, etc.), I liked the way the plot was put together and ultimately revealed. The story is told from the perspective of teenager Cady Eastman, one of the so-called Liars (her, two of her teen cousins, and a family friend), who is trying to recall the circumstances of the accident that left her damaged. She cannot remember key components of the events and suffers migraines and partial amnesia as a result of what happened. No one in the family seems willing to talk to her about the accident, so she is left to decipher bits and pieces as they are gradually revealed. Fairy tales mirroring the events in the story are interspersed throughout the novel, and enhanced the overall eerie tone of the story. Unlike other novels that I've read with unreliable narrators such as The Girl on the Train or Gone Girl, I felt some empathy towards Cady, possibly due to her age. I greatly appreciated the family tree at the beginning of the book, as well as the map of the island -- I referred to both of them multiple times as I read this one. While this was marketed as a YA novel, I think this will appeal to adults who enjoy psychological thrillers as well. ...more

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Feb 15, 2015 Gina rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult

Surprising...hmmm...

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Dec 03, 2017 Celeste rated it it was ok

Shelves: around-the-year-challenge-2017

Unreliable narrators aren't my favorite kind of book, and it's obvious from the beginning that the main character doesn't know her own story. I also felt like this was a predictable read and although it was short, it took me awhile to slog through it. (Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge: a book inspired by a work of classic literature-Wuthering Heights) ...more

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