Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - We Were Liars

Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

186 reviews

serotonone's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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abbyycadabbyy's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

1.0

I don't really know to begin with this book. I don't regret reading this book. I wanted to see what the hype was about surrounding this book, and now I can give my opinion about it.

The writing style made this book super hard for me to read. It was choppy. A lot of sentences were spilt into two different sentences, like they were incomplete thoughts. (For example: Gat and I. Rode on the boat) For me it was hard to understand what was going on. For the first like 50 pages, I couldn't even comprehend what I was reading.

For a little context so you understand, cady has 2 cousins her age, Johnny and Mirren. Johnny has a best friend named Gat. Thay all go to an Island their grandpa owns every summer. Also, this book is split up into parts. Just so you can get an idea this is how long each part was. Part one is pages 1-44. Part two is pages 47-64. Part three is pages 67-164. Part four is pages 167-219. Part five is pages 223-250.

So, I felt parts 1-3 were a little confusing. You go through each summer with Cady until you get to summer 15, Cady's accident. Then it gets pretty confusing after that. Cady doesn't remember what happened on summer 15. She doesn't go to the Island until summer 17. All the time in between summer 15 and 17 were jumpy and I didn't really understand what was going on.

Part 4 and 5 talk about the accident. What happened and how it happened. I think these Parts saved the book, if there wasn't those Parts the book would have been a one star for me.

There is only 250 pages and if a book takes 170 pages to even just get interesting, I would say that it isn't a good book. I read a few different reviews saying like part 5 gets super good. But I feel like yes part 5 is good, but it defiantly doesn't redeem the whole book.

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yotsuba's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

I read this book in one evening, I didn’t mind the writing style as I saw some people complaining. The end was really emotional, I didn’t predict that at all and it hit me hard.

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guivx5's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Lockhart must be laughing at my face from her couch right now, drinking wine while she watches me trying to review this without ruining it for new readers.

Well done, Lockhart.
This is going to be
a hell
of
a mess.
Are you happy?

Don't worry, I'll cover the spoilers.

This is one son of a b***h of a pretentious book. God, it really is. I can see why people will love it or hate it, no in between. Because the whole narrative doesn't seem like it works during the first half. You start to question yourself if this is really clever or very badly written. And then it starts to hit you with a baseball bat on the forehead. Lockhart PURPOSEFULLY gets you the most vulnerable by making everything so confusing that you'll have no idea of what hit you. And she does it beautifully. When things start to get clear, it's too late for you. You've been taken.

Ok, now for some spoilers, and I BEG you to not read this before reading the book. Get yourself a copy, read the trigger warnings if necessary, and jump in.

GOD, THAT ENDING. That. Ending. What in the actual f**k, Lockhart? HOW?! No matter how predictable you think it was, it is undeniably well constructed.

Jesus, what was this? Like, how f***ing pretentious you have to be to make something like this? And it actually works! I was so f***ing confused by the writing style, at some points nothing seemed to make sense. But nothing made sense to Cadence until she started to remember the fire. Every line was chopped off and confusing, but then again, so was Cadence's memory for two years. Nothing in this book makes any sense until she starts to realize what happened. Nothing. If you drop this book before the end, you'll hate it. If you finish if, you'll most likely love it.

Dude, even the title, THE F***ING TITLE, makes so much sense after the plot is revealed. "We WERE Liars", not "We ARE". Sure, it's nothing revolutionary, and it doesn't pretend to be. It is a f***ing hell of a twisted story and that's it. Sure, I don't think it's perfect, hence the 4 stars. But it is brilliantly written.

All in all, this has a guaranteed spot in my shelves for future rereads, because I have the impression Lockhart made so the story only gets better on a second run. For now, I can say that "We Were Liars" is undoubtedly one of the best mystery books I've read. THIS is mystery done right.

I still have the sequel to read, and I hope it doesn't suck.

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krystaltyong's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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megalicious2026's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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mattiedancer's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.75

Writing: 5⭐️/5

Hmm. How to discuss this without spoiling it or ruining the fun of reading it? I think, very plainly, I’ll say it’s some of the most technically controlled and interesting writing I’ve read in a YA novel.

Characters: 4.75⭐️/5

Again, I’m going minimal with this review. Don’t expect anything, but do understand that the characters will jump off the page.

Plot: 4.5⭐️/5

No way to talk about this one. Take the mark as it is, but go in expecting nothing.

Post-Reading Rating: 5⭐️/5

Stunning.

Who Should Read This?

Fiction fans
Fans of gossip girl vibes, but looking for more serious themes
Someone looking for a well-balanced book with virtuosic writing control, well-developed characters, and an interesting plot

Final Rating: 4.75⭐️/5

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