Reviews with content warning for Animal death - We Were Liars Deluxe Edition

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Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

We Were Liars Deluxe Edition by E. Lockhart

683 reviews

random_being's review against another edition

1.5

challenging emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

hardcover_hazel's review against another edition

5.0

emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I went in completely blind and damn, I balled my eyes out. 5/5

Content Warnings

nikogatts's review against another edition

1.25

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Absolutely ridiculous. I can't believe this won awards, and I salute the writing team of the upcoming TV adaptation for what must have been a monumental task. For the show to be any good, it will have to:

1. Actually say something substantive about toxic family dynamics and/or classism instead of just using it as a backdrop for teen angst.
2. Demonstrate the characters' personalities instead of having the narrator spell everything out.
3. Make the Bruce-Willis-was-a-ghost-the-whole-time twist less obvious.
4. Create a reasonable justification for why four teens decided that burning down a house would solve all of their family's issues.
5. Explain why the Liars are called the Liars. (The author added the explanation in an afterword in a later edition of the book, but that's too little too late.)

And, most importantly,

6. Make Cadence's guilt convincing, which is absolutely isn't in the book.

That's right, the protagonist of this book killed two of her cousins and her crush and two dogs, but you wouldn't know it by the way she talks about the incident. In the last chapter, Cadence states, "Yes, it's true that I fell in love with someone and that he died, along with the two other people I loved best in this world."

Except no, that's not true. Those people were killed. By Cadence. Who lit a building on fire with them inside of it. And it's implied that the rest of her family knows, but they just don't talk about it or blame her for any reason. Her guilt is only felt subconsciously, through neurological symptoms, which vanish once she remembers the full extent of her actions and hallucinates her (weirdly not-angry) friends saying goodbye to her.

The cherry on top: The afterword of this edition of the book includes the original proposal submitted to the publisher, where the author says the characters acted based on "distorted, juvenile Marxist ideals," demonstrating that 1. the author doesn't know what Marxism is (hint: it's not just politely asking rich people to recognize their immense privilege) and 2. she thinks that Baby's First Critique of Capitalism would be enough to push a group of 15-year-olds into committing arson.

Content Warnings

mdebosier's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I didn’t really like any of the characters but the mysterious vibes and the plot twist were cool.

Content Warnings

realisticreader98's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

✨the vibes were everything!!!! rich, east coast elites with drama galore??? sign me up! only, not for this!!!!!

✨i knew there was going to be a huge twist that I’ve seen for years people say it’s both genius or a cop out. I think it was unexpected for me, but it didn’t necessarily hit hard. I think that had to do with my connection to the characters. I found our core four to be a bit bland and I couldn’t connect. I really wished I knew more about the parents and those dynamics throughout the book, along with how things went in the dark ages (after the accident) not from cadence’s POV… but alas. that’d likely be a completely different book.

Content Warnings

brika8's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

aqtbenz's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

fluffy_bear's review against another edition

5.0

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

lauren_scott's review against another edition

5.0

emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I wish I could read this book again for the first time. It is technically a psychological thriller, but it has so much heart.

Content Warnings

cleoswiftieeee's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book destroyed me. I loved it. The book was wayyyyy better than the show.
If you’re looking for a fun beach read, this is not it. But it is worth the read.

Content Warnings

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