IRP 8

[Kaleb]

The Sinclairs are a wealthy family who travel to Massachusetts every summer to stay on their private island. Cadence is the main character in all of this and, like her cousins, adores the island. At fifteen and despite her parents’ divorce, she still goes to Beechwood Island for a place of peace and freedom. Here, she spends her time with her cousins Mirren and Johnny, and a family friend who doubles as Cady’s romantic interest, Gat. “The family calls us four the Liars… Most years on the island, we’ve been trouble.”(pg7) Summer Fifteen, as Cady calls it, wasn’t any different. Unfortunately, she can’t remember the trouble she caused and none of her family, Liars included, will tell her about it. All she remembers is a fire and waking up on the beach with a serious head injury “she will be unable to piece together a coherent story of the trauma”(pg48).
After this accident instead of going to the Island she spends Summer Sixteen with her father in Europe. Deciding to do this was the mothers idea, after the head injury her depression and migraines grew. Seeing her family on the Island was thought to be too much, which led to the Europe trip. With this time away from the family she constantly tries to contact the Liars in hope of discovering what happened the previous summer.
Summer Seventeen, Cadence and her mother return to the same island, but everything is different. Clairmont, the house her grandparents lived in, has been rebuilt? Her cousins and Gat stick together in another house separate from the rest of the family. Cadence herself, who has sold most of her possessions, suffers severe migraines, and has dyed her hair in an attempt to distinguish herself from her snobby, blonde family, has changed as well. Her goal is to find out why.
Emotions fly in all directions when finishing the book. But for the start of the story it was nothing I took a liking to. You grow annoyed of the snobby selfish attitude of the rich characters in the book. The story is something you must pay attention to or you can get easily lost. When the truth is out and everything is flowing back to her is where I actually felt the book. Those same characters you never connected to hit you in the worst way possible. It is a different book than what I usually read, luckily I read it and it is something I am glad I experienced. The only reason I chose this book was to read something different. I would describe this book as more of a movie on paper. Short but the story and how it is captured and written hits you as if you can picture the whole plot in your head. You get to feel for the characters. I recommend this book to those willing to put up with the beginning to get to the end which is worth the wait.