938 ratings (3.80 avg)
500 reviews
Goodreads librarian
more photos (2)

Stacey (prettybooks)

https://www.goodreads.com/prettybooks

Stacey’s Bookshelves

read‎ (1064)
currently-reading‎ (2)
to-read‎ (388)
ebooks-to-read‎ (415)
wishlist‎ (73)
tbr-at-work‎ (43)
tbr-at-home‎ (26)

audiobooks-to-read‎ (21)
young-adult-fiction‎ (816)
adult-fiction‎ (635)
read-in-my-twenties‎ (606)
childrens-fiction‎ (361)
read-after-university‎ (199)
read-in-my-thirties‎ (176)

tbr-bought‎ (168)
audiobooks‎ (156)
non-fiction‎ (145)
read-in-secondary-school‎ (133)
classics‎ (124)
read-in-primary-school‎ (80)
halloween-cosy-autumn‎ (67)

read-in-university‎ (61)
christmas‎ (60)
classics-challenge‎ (49)
read-in-sixth-form-college‎ (40)
tbr-now‎ (26)
to-buy‎ (8)

Stats | More…

Stacey is Currently Reading

Stacey (prettybooks) is currently reading

We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: young-adult-fiction, read-in-my-twenties, currently-reading, audiobooks, read-in-my-thirties

Reading for the 2nd time

read in March, 2014

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Stacey (prettybooks) said: " When I found out that E. Lockhart was writing a new book, I was all over it, not because I had read any of her novels – they were all on my wishlist – but because I knew that she was hailed to be one of the most impressive writers of YA contemporary. When I found out that E. Lockhart was writing a new book, I was all over it, not because I had read any of her novels – they were all on my wishlist – but because I knew that she was hailed to be one of the most impressive writers of YA contemporary. And then when I found out that We Were Liars was a YA contemporary mystery story, I was sold.

You have probably already heard about We Were Liars. You've seen the praise, seen people raving about and gasping over the ending, and have been unable to avoid the hype; it's everywhere. But I'd like you to forget about that for a few minutes, as someone whose reading experience can be greatly affected by hype, as it was in this case. I originally added We Were Liars to my wishlist because it just sounded like my sort of book – and there are things to love about it aside from the reveal. If a good book rests on purely having a good ending, it isn't really a good book at all. Do not try to guess the truth as you're reading; just enjoy being taken away to a private island to bask in the heat of the sun, the sound of the waves, and the privilege of wealth and aristocracy. Meet the Sinclairs.

We Were Liars is beautifully and poetically written. I am not familiar with E. Lockhart's style, but I thought it was incredibly unique. It's simple, but each sentence doesn't have one meaning, but possibly two or three. It really makes you think about what you have just read, constantly questioning. We Were Liars is the sort of book I love to read if I want to be taken away from London to somewhere so very different, where I can imaging sitting on a beach in the warmth, watching the sea, eating vats of homemade ice cream and drinking fresh lemonade. It's not my life, but it's real for 17-year old Cadence Sinclair Eastman – also known as Cady – whose family lives, in the summer at least, on an island on the coast of Massachusetts – my favourite kind of setting for young adult contemporary. Cady plays with her fellow Liars, cousins Mirren and Johnny plus romantic interest, Gat, and grows up alongside them. We Were Liars is fuelled by complex relationships that lean on as much as what's unsaid as is said, yet it's sometimes hard to feel sorry for these rich, beautiful, privileged people who let old traditions govern their way of life. But you're unable to stop reading, wanting to spend more time with the family even though you cannot imagine what it's like to be any one of them.

E. Lockhart keeps you drawn in and hooked on the story with her vivid yet dreamy prose, not unlike Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca or Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides , sometimes a little Gothic and often very literary. It plays with notions of class and racism among fraught family and romantic relationships, accidents and the truth. We Were Liars is beautiful, smart and will leave you questioning whether privilege itself is an illusion. But as I said, don't read it just for the mystery and the ending, but the impressive writing, intangible characters and the joy of imagining yourself getting lost in one of the four beautiful homes. I wish I'd read it before the hype, but it's still one of the most impressive novels I've read so far this year.

Thank you to the publishing for providing this book for review!

I also reviewed this book over on Pretty Books. ...more "

progress:

(0%)
"I'm re-reading this via audiobook, and finally reading the prequel!" — Jan 30, 2023 06:12AM

Sep 03, 2016 07:21PM · see review

Stacey (prettybooks) is currently reading

A Snowfall of Silver

by Laura Wood (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: young-adult-fiction, christmas, currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jan 19, 2023 02:37PM

Stacey’s Quotes

“We read to know we're not alone.”
― William Nicholson, Shadowlands

tags: misattributed-to-c-s-lewis, reading

26914 likes

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”
― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

tags: books, reading

27476 likes

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
― Elie Wiesel

tags: activism, apathy, hate, indifference, inspirational, love, opposite, philosophy

41059 likes

“Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.”
― C.S. Lewis

tags: eating-reading

8518 likes

“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.”
― C.S. Lewis

tags: age, books, re-reading, reading

6013 likes

More of Stacey’s quotes…