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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

משפחה של שקרנים by E. Lockhart, א' לוקהארט

27 reviews

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

This is my third time reading this book, and my rating is still 4 ⭐️.

I love the way that E. Lockhart writes. 🤩 Specifically how she describes characters. 🥰 If I could pick one author to describe me, I’d pick her. 🙃 I also really like the way that her characters aren’t perfect, and the way the characters sometimes call out the other characters. 😅
Like when Penny is being kind of rude to Carrie, but what she’s saying is true. 🥲
Obviously, I’d hate for that to happen to me in real life though, I’d probably cry for hours. 😂

Despite the fact that I’ve read this book three times now,
every time I forget that Harris isn’t Carrie’s real father. 😱
I really like that aspect to the story though. 😌

The only specific thing that I don’t like about this book is how
Carrie explains how she helped her sisters cover up the murder of Pfeff, and says that it was Bess who killed him. 😑 I understand that the author wanted another, bigger plot twist when it was revealed that it was actually Carrie who killed Pfeff, but I feel like it was just unnecessary. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I think I would’ve preferred it if it was just revealed straight away that Carrie was the one who killed him. 🫣


But overall, I really like this book and it’s made me really excited for summer! ☀️ (Despite the fact that it’s February. 🥶)

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I much preferred We Were Liars but this one was alright I guess. All of the like bits I loved in We Were Liars was not in this.

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slow-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

This was garbage, but still not the worst thing I’ve ever read.

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

Wow. Just WOW. I loved it much more than I thought. Maybe more than the 1st one. An eye for an eye. A son for a son.
  Carrie killed Pfeff, causing his mother and father to lose their first born. And years later, she suffered from the same fate. 
I didn’t expect the twist but I spoiled it for myself anyway, it was surprisingly not shocking. She did say she was a liar. Bro and Penny. Ugh, forcing herself to be straight. Wow. The book was heartbreaking, especially considering the people they become. Which isn’t too great, but it makes sense now why they are the way they are.
BRO THE DAD HELPED THEM COVER UP THE MURDER. HE TOOK THE BOARD. Ugh Carrie is also an unreliable narrator just like Candace was. Fuck bro.
And don’t get me started on Rosemary.
She saw her for 5 summers. Her baby sister that drowned.
Ugh. I wish penny could be out. I just want people to be happy in this book, but literally no one is ever.

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous challenging dark lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

such a good book, loved the vibe. didn't love the ending thoughhj

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adventurous mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

 When I reviewed
We Were Liars,
I said:
"I still have the sequel to read, and I hope it doesn't suck."
Well,
I'm glad to say it didn't!

Lockhart had a terribly doomed job here: to write a worthy new story based on the universe of a success she wrote almost ten years ago, a book that was so unique in it's style it would be hard to avenge. Thankfully, the task was accomplished, and now we have more lies to be shocked of.

I see Family of Liars as a great expansion of the first book's universe. The Sinclair family has a twisted charm to their tale that guaranteed my interest here, no matter what. You simply want to know more about them, it's undeniable. But then, what could she write? After the shocking story of Cadence and her friends, the broken family full of intrigue and ambition? We Were Liars was an ambitious story itself. I had to find out what's up with their past. Turns out, it wasn't pretty.

Now, let's talk about reading experience here. This book has less strength than it's older brother, simply because it doesn't benefit of the surprise factor. That was taken away by the first story, so it is an inevitable fragility. But I do think Lockhart handled well with this weakness, and soothed it as much as she could, which made the story still full of surprises. The characters, both old and new, were as intriguing as ever, and the plots involving the long-known family of liars were really good. I feel like the second third of the story could do with a bit more of clues and intrigue, but that's just me. Overall, the story is as well built as the first one in terms of consistency. But I do have a big caveat:
Rosemary
 

This could be just me playing with my frustrated expectations, but I do feel like Rosemary deserved a better plot. I mean, it's The Sinclair Family we are talking about, I don't believe she just died on an accident. Her presence could be more meaningful, specially revolving around her motives to visit Carrie. Even if she just died like that, even if this is really her only motive, to look out for her sister, I feel like this wasn't developed enough. It should be brought up more during the chapters. But sorry Lockhart, the only way to redeem yourself here is to write a third book, a prequel where we learn the origins of Harris and Tipper and how they were the real guilty ones behind Rosemary's death. You just have to do it, or I won't raise my rating on this book on my next reread.


Again, I think Lockhart gives us mystery and suspense done right. And this is a great expansion upon the first novel, maybe with a few hiccups towards the middle and in the need of a little more development here and there. It is, ultimately, worth reading if you liked the first book.

Now, how long do you guys think she'll take before deciding to write another prequel? I don't want to reread this too much before she releases it. 

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