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effimuffin's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sssaaarrraaahhh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
hellolucia's review against another edition
3.0
So glad I finally decided to get this book... I was eying it for the longest time!
I honestly thought I will not like this book... but once again, I had poor judgement and was proven wrong. What an amazing book! I fully agree with John Green's review, "Thrilling, beautiful, and blisteringly smart, We Were Liars is utterly unforgettable." I definitely did not expect the ending... Or anything actually... I would definitely recommend this!
I honestly thought I will not like this book... but once again, I had poor judgement and was proven wrong. What an amazing book! I fully agree with John Green's review, "Thrilling, beautiful, and blisteringly smart, We Were Liars is utterly unforgettable." I definitely did not expect the ending... Or anything actually... I would definitely recommend this!
jcsay's review against another edition
3.0
3/5 [1/30/22] after many months of putting this book on hold, i finally finished it and i gotta say i now understand why people love this book. i don’t necessarily do but i understand why.
we were liars takes you on an insiders look of the beautiful, rich and enigmatic sinclair family. and tho i didn’t really like it at first and was spoiled of the ending, i can’t deny that the story still held some intrigue nevertheless.
tho many people might argue with me on this, one of the reason why i gave this book 3 stars is honestly because i liked how different the writing style was. it was def fun to annotate and i thought it was fitting for the plot. i also really enjoyed how this book wasn’t quite like anything i’ve read before. i guess i would have to give props to e. lockhart for we were liars was really something not cliche. it had twists and turns and the plot was just overall original.
my feelings for this book is honestly just in between. i liked it. i didn’t hate it nor did i love it but i appreciated it. we were liars was quite an interesting read overall.
we were liars takes you on an insiders look of the beautiful, rich and enigmatic sinclair family. and tho i didn’t really like it at first and was spoiled of the ending, i can’t deny that the story still held some intrigue nevertheless.
tho many people might argue with me on this, one of the reason why i gave this book 3 stars is honestly because i liked how different the writing style was. it was def fun to annotate and i thought it was fitting for the plot. i also really enjoyed how this book wasn’t quite like anything i’ve read before. i guess i would have to give props to e. lockhart for we were liars was really something not cliche. it had twists and turns and the plot was just overall original.
my feelings for this book is honestly just in between. i liked it. i didn’t hate it nor did i love it but i appreciated it. we were liars was quite an interesting read overall.
leannaham's review against another edition
3.0
I thought the writing was beautiful. The chapters were easy to get through
But I didn’t understand what was going on 3/4 of the time.
But I didn’t understand what was going on 3/4 of the time.
trishgeee's review against another edition
3.0
i'm still processing... not sure what i think. the writing style made reading this super fast but i'm not sure i liked it? it's possible this will go up to 4 stars...
nell_397's review against another edition
2.0
It was ok. Really wasn't expecting the twist at the end though.
bailyb's review against another edition
3.0
Possible spoilers?
I liked this book but hated it at the same time. I hadn’t really heard anything about this book prior to reading minus the title. The twist was unexpected and like really kinda ruined the book for me
I liked this book but hated it at the same time. I hadn’t really heard anything about this book prior to reading minus the title. The twist was unexpected and like really kinda ruined the book for me
unabridged_reader's review against another edition
1.0
"There is not even a scrabble word for how bad I feel" .
Yeah, sort of describes how I feel about this book right now too. I slowly lowered my rating from a 3 to a 1 over the course of a couple of hours because now that I actually think about how I feel about We Were Liars , the worse my thoughts become. The entire premise of the book is built on this privileged Caucasian family that has their own little island and everyone is supposed to pretend to be perfect, pretend to care, pretend to be okay. I was waiting for there to be some kind of resolution to end this awful ideology or at least something to tear the inheritance away but most characters were static and they remained a privileged family though battered with tragedies. The protagonist along with the "Liars" were all archetypes of rich rebellious kids that did not agree with their parents but never actually made strides to correcting their mistakes or setting their own precedents. Everyone in this book just basked in financial security. Everyone except Gat.
I liked Gat, he was one of the only relatable characters in my opinion especially because he was a person of color. One of the few POCs in the novel in fact. However, I felt that readers never had a chance to fall in love with him as Cadence had. She just kept referring to him as "my Gat". It was so clear that she loved him but Lockhart never gives readers a reason to love him. Their romance was so bland, in fact the interactions between the Liars were pretty dull in general. Lockhart never established a connection between readers and the characters she invented and so honestly, I could care less about their fates.
Unfortunately I was also disappointed in the writing. As others have mentioned, the book sometimes consists of
random choppy sentences
lacking punctuation for no
reason at all
and in that format as well, just hanging on the page. I also couldn't tell between flashbacks and times in the present frequently. The only attempts to distinguish those chapters were phrases like "Summer of Fifteen".. "Summer Sixteen". So perhaps I just got lazy and completely glossed over those sentences. However, my least favorite aspect of Lockhart's writing style was the overdramatic metaphors. She wrote:
Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,
then from my eyes,
my ears,
my mouth.
I stared at that paragraph for a good 30 seconds, my thoughts went from utter shock, to confusion, and finally to annoyance. Yeah, Cadence actually didn't get shot and after that I sort of wished she did. Probably would have made the plot more interesting in all honesty.
Yeah, sort of describes how I feel about this book right now too. I slowly lowered my rating from a 3 to a 1 over the course of a couple of hours because now that I actually think about how I feel about We Were Liars , the worse my thoughts become. The entire premise of the book is built on this privileged Caucasian family that has their own little island and everyone is supposed to pretend to be perfect, pretend to care, pretend to be okay. I was waiting for there to be some kind of resolution to end this awful ideology or at least something to tear the inheritance away but most characters were static and they remained a privileged family though battered with tragedies. The protagonist along with the "Liars" were all archetypes of rich rebellious kids that did not agree with their parents but never actually made strides to correcting their mistakes or setting their own precedents. Everyone in this book just basked in financial security. Everyone except Gat.
I liked Gat, he was one of the only relatable characters in my opinion especially because he was a person of color. One of the few POCs in the novel in fact. However, I felt that readers never had a chance to fall in love with him as Cadence had. She just kept referring to him as "my Gat". It was so clear that she loved him but Lockhart never gives readers a reason to love him. Their romance was so bland, in fact the interactions between the Liars were pretty dull in general. Lockhart never established a connection between readers and the characters she invented and so honestly, I could care less about their fates.
Unfortunately I was also disappointed in the writing. As others have mentioned, the book sometimes consists of
random choppy sentences
lacking punctuation for no
reason at all
and in that format as well, just hanging on the page. I also couldn't tell between flashbacks and times in the present frequently. The only attempts to distinguish those chapters were phrases like "Summer of Fifteen".. "Summer Sixteen". So perhaps I just got lazy and completely glossed over those sentences. However, my least favorite aspect of Lockhart's writing style was the overdramatic metaphors. She wrote:
Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed rhythmically from my open wound,
then from my eyes,
my ears,
my mouth.
I stared at that paragraph for a good 30 seconds, my thoughts went from utter shock, to confusion, and finally to annoyance. Yeah, Cadence actually didn't get shot and after that I sort of wished she did. Probably would have made the plot more interesting in all honesty.