5.23k reviews for:

Family of Liars

E. Lockhart

3.69 AVERAGE

emotional mysterious
challenging dark 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: Complicated
dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 The Sinclair's' have to be one of the worst families in existence. Not one of them is likeable - with the exception of Yardley who was a cousin of the main group. Somehow she managed to be an actual person. But yeah, I seriously hate this family.

If I'm being honestly, I mostly read this book because after watching the show, people commented how they incorporated bits of this book into the series and that intrigued me. I didn't know anything about it going in - I didn't even read the blurb - I just knew it was a prequel. Told from the POV of the eldest Sinclair daughter, Carrie, she's telling her story to her son after he asks if she's ever done anything horrible. There are a lot of spoilers for the first book in this one so I highly recommend reading We Were Liars first.

It was definitely interesting to see how The Sinclair girls grew up. But it was also sad. Their relationships have always been strained mainly in part to their parents and how it felt like their parents pitted them against each other. The demand for perfection was high and you could see the toll it took on each of them. But I also feel like that didn't excuse the attitudes. Penny especially. She 100% had the "poor little rich girl" persona and when something didn't go her way or when she felt ignored, she lashed out at those around her and then expected people to just forgive her. The privilege her was just gross.

Carrie was also a hard one to really get behind because while we were in her head and able to feel her feelings, I didn't really feel bad for her because a lot of what she was going through was her own making. She did find out some horrible truths which definitely messed with her and I think amplified the emotions throughout the book. But it also doesn't excuse what they did and how they tried to cover it up. But hey, if this book proves anything it's that being white and rich can get you out of anything. 
dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I had to read this after reading we were liars and felt like it was okay. I thought it followed the same type of trajectory and had many parallels to we were liars, just with the previous generation of Sinclairs. I think I liked Carrie’s POV better than the narration of we were liars, although both characters had their flaws and issues.
emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes