Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Byliśmy łgarzami by E. Lockhart

233 reviews

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Grief

Moderate: Medical trauma, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Self harm and Vomit

josie1999's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Based on the fact that all the characters are liars, I found myself questioning whether the author was lying to the reader and whether the information we were given about the accident and what happened was true. In some ways that is accurate, but for the most part the author is not intentionally lying to the readers. The story focuses on the Cadence recovering her memories surrounding the accident during the Summer Fifteen. The jumping back and forth between Summers Fifteen and Seventeen were a little hard to follow. Over the course of the story I found myself jumping ahead and trying to anticipate what had happened. Several of my hypotheses of what led to Cadence's accident were proven false.

I did not expect the twist at the end. After reading the truth, I had to stop for a minute to process whether I actually believed it or not. (I was still in denial and joked that maybe the author was trying to misdirect the reader or that Cadence did not actually remember.) Thinking back, once the twist settled and the accident was explained, I was able to piece together parts of the story that pointed to the twist being what it was. Even after reflecting, the few details were easy to miss and hidden enough in the story that a reader would really need to pay attention to anticipated the ending.

The way the story is laid out with little pieces at a time and uncovering the truth along with Cadence is an enticing way to the keep the reader engaged.

 

One question I have that is still unresolved is whether Penny told Cadence the real truth or the truth that Cadence believed (i.e., she hit her head on a rock while swimming). I assume that is what Penny told her, otherwise it seems she would have known the truth the entire story and was looking for confirmation.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Ableism, and Racism

Minor: Animal death and Fire/Fire injury

vvsmydiamonds's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

3.0

We Were Liars was nothing like I expected. The first huge chunk of the book I fought the urge to skim and skip to the "good part" which I was so sure would come. It did not. There was a surprising twist near the end. Cady came to terms with things and had some character development, but I can't say I liked her, or really any of her family. The vivid descriptions of her headaches were beautiful, the poetry style and the fairytales were a nice touch, so stars for that. I've seen people saying they re-read it to piece together details they missed, and while I was confused for most of the book, it is not good enough to re-read imo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Animal death

lucylynham_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Self harm

irisvdn's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The first half of the book I had no clue what was going on or what the plot was. But around halfway I got it and I couldn't put it down. The ending was unexpected, not sure if I liked it but it was good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Alcoholism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

kayleejanes's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Child death, Racism, and Dementia

Minor: Sexual content and Alcoholism

sophiabooks6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Though the book was very challenging, this is by far one of the greatest things I've ever read. The plot is super captivating and the characters are mostly relatable. I wouldn't recomend the book to anyone who gets confused easily in plots that have very frequent flash backs and often metaphorical writing, but if you can handle those things you'll love this book. It have a very dark tone to it and a plot twist at the end that will completely surprise you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Racism, Classism, Blood, and Animal death

the_3bs's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Drug use, Medical content, Mental illness, and Death

akrafi's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Animal death, and Grief