Will I love We Were Liars?

It completely wrecked me in the best way. I thought I knew what kind of story it was—and then it shattered me. The writing is haunting and poetic, and the twist left me sitting in stunned silence. It's the kind of book you keep thinking about long after you've finished it.

I had to include the OG twisty friendship story on this list. Even though I read this novel a decade ago, that final twist stays with me. However, the twist wouldn’t have worked if I hadn’t been invested in the relationships.

What really struck me is that the “friends,” in this case, are actually cousins. As someone who considers my cousins to be my best friends, this was the aspect of the novel that resonated the most with me. Also, reading about a vacation home near Martha’s Vineyard didn’t hurt matters.

E. Lockhart's book is a really stunning blend of tragedy and mystery, set against the backdrop of a seemingly perfect, affluent family.

The story revolves around Cadence Sinclair, a young woman who spends her summers on her family's private island. After suffering a traumatic head injury, she struggles with amnesia and is desperate to piece together what happened during the summer of her accident.

The narrative is both haunting and beautifully poetic. It makes the shocking truths that slowly unravel feel even more impactful. What I love most about this book is its deep dive into themes of family, privilege,… show more.

I wasn’t sure what to think of this novel. I picked it up in a bookstore after reading the back cover with no recommendations from anyone. I should do that more often.

This book pulled me in quickly with its well-crafted mystery and buildup of suspense. I thought I knew what was happening, who to suspect, who to love, and who to despise. I didn’t want to put it down. Then, in the end, the author turned everything upside down and broke my heart.

It left me questioning the validity of my perceptions and my own reality for a long… show more.

This novel is told in first-person, following the story of Cadence, who suffers an event that leaves her with scattered memories of her fifteenth summer at her family’s prized island.

My daughter loved we were liars because of the mystery, family, and friend relationships, and plot twists. She told me that it fills its readers with contentment and sadness. Lockhart paints such a scene that she felt as though she was watching the story unfold before her. 

I found this book interesting because life was so different from anything I had ever experienced. 

E. Lockhart spun a tale of how bonds are built among children. How to a child it is the parents who build the social walls. How it doesn’t matter what material your clothes are woven from, lies are lies. Privilege doesn’t mean anything when a crime is committed, or a marriage is destroyed.

Children are dragged around the dirt of the secrets and soon become their own secrets and lies. Every turn was a building block of different social aspects and the lives it… show more.

We Were Liars follows Cadence Sinclair of the picture-perfect Sinclair family as she returns to her family’s island off the coast of New England for the first time since her tragic accident a few summers before. Because her memory is faulty post head wound, she doesn’t remember her accident. As Cady puts together the pieces, so do we. Read if you love unreliable narrators, prose so strange and lovely you’ll want to frame it for you wall, and old money families with secrets.

OK, I admit, I’m cheating a little with this one because the plot doesn’t technically mess with time, but the storytelling itself does since the narrator is remembering events that happened in the past. This is one of those Big Ending Plot Twist stories so I can’t say too much, but the thing that happened in the past has everything to do with the present in a way that completely blew me away. Wildly clever plotting (something I find super hard to do well). I loved this book. 

This novel’s ending is everything! But it wouldn’t be as powerful without Lockhart’s lyrical build-up. It’s best to go into this one without knowing too much. But, without spoiling anything, the novel involves privileged teens who take matters into their own hands to stop their mothers from fighting over the family assets. Unfortunately, the consequences of their plan are devastating and far-reaching.

Speaking of normal-seeming families that aren't, in Emily Lockhart's beautifully written young adult novel, every member of the wealthy Sinclair family is made to repress any unhappiness for image's sake.  Cadence suffered a head injury in her fifteenth summer and has only just returned to the family's summer estate in her seventeenth. Still recovering, she finds piecing together various secrets and lies even harder than usual... This is a great one to read if you're being gaslit by family members who are more afraid of word getting out than of you getting sick from secret keeping! (Always know that your… show more.