Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

685 reviews

fanni_b22's review against another edition

2.75

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

---

I didn’t really enjoy this one, although I can understand why others might. The story follows a group of very rich teenagers who spend their summers on their family’s private island — and while the twist at the end was powerful, it felt like the book relied too heavily on shock value rather than depth.

The writing style didn’t work for me. The narrator’s language was overly poetic and emotionally intense, which didn’t feel believable for a teenager. At times it pulled me out of the story completely. The emotional scenes — especially the dogs — felt manipulative rather than earned. I felt affected, but also a bit violated by how the book achieved that effect.

That said, I would still recommend it to younger or newer readers who enjoy emotional, twisty YA. I think I might have appreciated it more if I’d read it 10–15 years ago, before reading more classics and literary fiction.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism

islablair88's review against another edition

4.5

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death

Minor: Mental illness, Racism

megkmc's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

This was fun to read again- the plot twist is pretty obvious in hindsight. I enjoyed the characters and the way the story was told.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Alcohol

am_i_lee's review against another edition

2.5

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death

Moderate: Chronic illness

carterlovestowrite's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcohol

Minor: Cursing

jc_021301's review against another edition

5.0

sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Dementia, Alcohol

kw99's review against another edition

2.5

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

Honestly quite boring and none of the characters are particularly likeable but the twist was unexpected which made me like it more, def could have done more with it though

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury

hardcover_hazel's review against another edition

5.0

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

I read this book, sobbed, and immediately picked it up again (the next day) just so it could break my heart more as I picked up on all the clues.

Side note: why did they make the tv series so drama-filled? I was angry at Jonnys character, he’s such a silly bean in the books.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury

izzy_reads_books's review against another edition

2.5

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury

hannah737's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death

Minor: Alcoholism