Title: 
We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Genre: YA contemporary/mystery/thriller
Length: 240 pages
Published by: Allen and Unwin
Source: received for review (thanks, Allen and Unwin!!)
Blurb:
A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE
Despite what I’m going to say in this review, there is no doubt that you should definitely read this book.
Basically, I was VERY, VERY excited for this book, for many reasons.
1) Unreliable narrator
I love unreliable narrators. I don’t know why. I think I just like figuring out what actually happened.
2) Writing style
I’d read the first few chapters beforehand and I loved the style of writing – the descriptions and the utterly unique way of telling the story.
3) THE ENDING.
I wanted to know the ending!!! Everyone on Goodreads/Twitter was being so evasive and every. single. person was mind-blown by this ending.
4) Everyone else loved it
Almost all of my fellow Australian YA bloggers gave this book 4 or 5 stars. That is a VERY high standard, peoples!
I wanted to love this book so much
But alas, I am a black sheep. There were some parts I loved. I loved the writing style, which was very literary and very smart. Kind of detached in a way, but a…good way. I suppose.
I just had a lot of trouble connecting with the characters. The relationship Cadence had with Gat didn’t mean anything to me, whereas other reviewers have said how amazing that romance was. The style of writing, even though I loved it, made me feel distanced from the characters and the story.
Then there was the ending. Let me tell you about it.
Everyone lived happily ever after!
Well, not quite. But see? I lied! I did my duty! Um, yeah, I can’t say much about the ending, but it’s true what everyone says – there’s no way I saw that coming. At the same time, I was a little underwhelmed by it for some reason – it didn’t affect me the way it should have. I think I may be broken.
(or maybe I just have different reading tastes!)
This is a classic example of Black Sheep Syndrome. And that’s not the author’s fault, or the book’s fault. It’s that darn subjectivity again. Despite not loving it, I think it’s one I will reread someday just to see if my feelings have changed.
My rating: 3/5 Wonderkitties
Oh, and guess what? Allen and Unwin very kindly sent me two copies, so I have one to give away!!
Sorry international peeps, but this giveaway is for Aussies only (because postage is expensive, you know).
Conditions of entry:
– You must live in Australia (not Narnia or wherever you people come from)
– You must be over 13 (I’m not sure why, but everyone else seems to put this one on, so I might as well. If you know why, let me know in the comments!)
– Winners will be picked at random by my nifty little rafflecopter app.
– I am not responsible for the item being lost in the post or damaged (neither is Allen and Unwin)
– You must not cheat…because you will be disqualified (and I will be sad)
– Entries close on the 14th August
Enter using the link below!
^^^ That one!
Good luck with the giveaway everyone, and tell me…
The Loony Teen Writer 
I really enjoyed We Were Liars, it’s been really interesting reading different people’s reviews. I know you’re not the only one who wasn’t completely wowed! Also, that Princess Diaries gif made me very happy 🙂
It IS interesting reading everyone’s reviews…and seeing how people review it without spoiling anything haha. And yes, Princess Diary gifs in general are awesome 😛
Sadly, I’m a black sheep on this one too. I agree with everything you mentioned about not connecting, and the twist and lack of character growth left me feeling unsatisfied. Just not for me, I guess. I can see why others enjoyed it though. For recent twisty reads, I really enjoyed Gone Girl and Dangerous Girls.
Welcome to the Black Sheep Club 🙂 It wasn’t for me, either, but yeah, objectively I can see why people would love it. Curse subjectivity (I WANTED to like it, if that counts). Oooh, I’ve heard a whole lot about Dangerous Girls, I’ll have to have a search for it 🙂
More Than This by Patrick Ness is basically one giant twist the entire way through. Almost everything about that book surprised me… I highly recommend it!
I agree! More Than This managed to do what I feel like this book failed to do for me with the twist ending. Great recommendation.
Oh, yes, I loved More Than This! Complete mind-blown-ness ALL the way through the book. It’s one I might read again because it was just such a great ride 🙂
Have you read Ness’s other series, the Chaos Walking trilogy? I thought it was even better than More Than This.
I literally just picked We Were Liars up from the library after having it on hold for weeks. I can not wait to read it! I would have started it tonight, but my parents have designated Monday, Wednesday and Friday as nonfiction only days, so I couldn’t start reading it. I will gobble it up as soon as I wake up tomorrow morning. I’ll be interrupted by cross country practice, though, because that’s in the morning. Oh well.
And Then There Were None is the book that pops into my mind as having the biggest plot twist ending that I’ve ever read. The ending seemed a little bit unreasonable and unrealistic to me, but it was still quite mind blowing.
I hope you like it! It’s quite a short read so it shouldn’t take you too long – less than 250 pages, haha. And Then There Were None is a book I almost read for English – others told me how great it was. I’m going to add it to the list of WTF-books 🙂
Totally agree with you. I really wanted to like the book but there were to many problems and then the ending ruined it for me. My review is on my blog but I can’t link to it here because I’m on my phone app and let’s be honest in lazy.
Yeah, exactly. I was soooo excited for this crazy ending, but I was completely unsatisfied for whatever reason.
I prefer to read book when have no idea what’s going to happen, so I do it quite often.
I was tempted to buy this book last time I was at the shop, but I’m on a book buying ban, so I didn’t, and the library doesn’t have it, so thanks for the giveaway 🙂
That’s definitely an interesting way to go about it – I do that too when people recommend books to me 🙂 Oooh, excellent that you waited! Good luck with the giveaway. If you want another chance to win you can also go over to Happy Indulgence where another comp is running 🙂
Wait… I live in Narnia. Does that mean I can’t enter this?? Damn. There aren’t enough giveaways for us Narnians! 😉
I am soooo excited for this book. And I love, love, love unpredictable books, so this one sounds right up my alley. Thanks for the giveaway, Emily. 🙂
Oh, and: I generally never know what books are about before I read them. But that’s generally because I’m too lazy to read blurbs and am a cover snob.
Yep, sorry Kara. No Narnians 🙂 I HOPE YOU LOVE THIS BOOK LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES. I’m sure you will. Fingers crossed for you. Hahahahhaa high five for a fellow cover snob and lazy person *high fives you* I’m in the same boat there. I let other people recommend me books 😛
Oyy, I’m so joining this Black Sheep Syndrome Fan Club. Can I? 😀 Like you, I appreciate and love unreliable narrators and the writing was actually my cup of tea until I realized it was so effective in being so detached that I, as a reader, became so detached too. It was predictable for me and I know I’m in the minority with this brain problem of mine: I figured out everything even before the reveal. My brain usually do this with books so I don’t entirely blame it on We Were Liar. Moving on, my detachment plus the plot’s predictability really killed the impact this book might have on me. I did feel something in the end but that’s for the poor, poor dog. *sniffs*
The book with the biggest plot twist I’ve ever read would be…*looks at shelves* *can’t think of anything* *looks some more* Ugh, nothing’s popping up so I would totally give you a cop-out answer, which is HP and the Deathly Hallows because Snape’s character mindblows me every time I reread that series.
Excellent, welcome to the club! I am the official president (joking…although I do seem to dislike a lot of popular books). I liked the writing style too, for a while, but it got dreary pretty quickly. I didn’t figure out the ending, but I can see how that would ruin this book! It’s pretty much the biggest thing going for it. Oh yes, the dogs. That was quite sad 😦
Ohhhhhh Harry Potter is a great example – I totally get why J K Rowling is writing suspense now, because those plot twists are amazing. I still don’t like Snape, though.
Is it weird that I’m replying here? I’ve never done this before but I was surprisingly subscribed to the comments in this particular post. The blogging fairy has done something I didn’t ask for again. *swats at the air*
Anywho, I know right! The ending was everything for this book and I still couldn’t believe my brain cheated me out of fully experiencing it. Gaahd. Was it dogs? It’s not only one dog??! Ok, my mind might have totally blotted out that one detail.
Why don’t you like Snape? Is it because he’s oily or he’s snivelly? I liked his character development best. JKR needs to write for kids again. I have her Casual Vacancy book but I can’t even make myself read it.
I AM SAD THAT YOU DID NOT LIKE IT. But I also forgive you, so there there, don’t feel bad. And seriously! Not everyone likes every book. We’re all black sheep occasionally! (And where the heck did that saying come from?! Black sheep…sheesh, what did the black sheep every do, little minority.) *ahem* Ok, my sheep rant is also over.
I AM SO SAD AS WELL, CAIT. *weeps with you* I’m not sure where the black sheep came from. Poor things – they’re so cute.
Oh Emily, I totally know what you feel with the black sheep syndrome! Maybe your expectations were too high from everyone’s reviews. Alas, I hope you enjoy your next book better!
That is very true. Although it seemed to live up to everyone else’s expectations?? Haha, I can’t love every book, I suppose.
Aww…I’m sorry you didn’t like this one as much as you hoped you would Emily, but I’m glad you still found it enjoyable all the same. It’s always difficult when there’s so much hype surrounding a book, and it ultimitely ends up disappointing you. I’m sorry that you weren’t able to connect to Candace as much as you would have liked too. At least you enjoyed the ending and the writing though, right? 😉
Thanks for sharing and, as always, BRILLIANT review! ❤
~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf
I KNOW, hype can be a bad thing so often. And I wanted to love it so badly, since everyone said how good it was. But yes, I just couldn’t connect with the characters, which is SO necessary for me in a book.
Aww, too bad the giveaway is only for Aussies 🙂 Even though you sort of disliked the book, you made me want to read it anyway. It definitely sounds very mysterious…
I know, right? But don’t worry, I’ll be doing an international one for my blog anniversary, for sure! Oh, I love it when I convince people to want to read books despite not liking them…I do try to present both sides 🙂
Hello! i really enjoyed reading your blog! i especially like how the back round moves and the little worm on the side goes down and down and down……
And i am now following your blog via e-mail. I was also hoping you could take a look at my blog! and spread the word about it!
http://estrellastrendyteenbyateen.blogspot.com/
thanks again!
-Daisy Blogger
I love the little wormy. Very entertaining for me as well! 🙂 thanks for following and I’ll make sure to check out your blog.
I am so glad I am not alone in this. There were a lot of great things about the book, and I read it in like three hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. But afterward, it felt… hollow. The characters were thinly developed IMO. Their doing [the thing they all did] made no sense whatsoever–like, REALLY, what sane person thinks that would solve anything? And I was expecting something literary, but it was like the bare minimum to pass as literary. So when I finished, I didn’t feel like I had anything to think on/question, which is what I love about books. They present questions. This one did, sort of, but barely.
Have you read Dangerous Girls? That is an amazing (and dark) YA thriller. I think you’d like it.
Oh, yay, I’m not the only one! I read a book by E Lockhart earlier this year and didn’t enjoy the writing style, so maybe I should have been more guarded with this one…but the hype still got to me! I didn’t relate to the characters at all, and that was a real barrier to how much I cared about the ending.
I keep hearing about Dangerous Girls! I must find it at a library somewhere 🙂
Awww, Emily! Don’t feel too bad, I’m a black sheep too! I was so disappointed that I didn’t love this book as much as everyone else! I rated it 3.5 stars in the end. I loved reading your thoughts on this book – thank you for sharing! As for a book that left me completely mind-blown, I am completely blank-minded about thinking of one right now.
Baaaaa. See, 3.5 stars is a pretty good rating – but then so many people are rating it 5 stars!! Aww, you need more mind-blowing books in your life hahaha.
The over 13 thing is probably because a lot of the time, the books that you’re giving away have content that’s not really suitable for young’uns! There’s also the whole parental permission thing for under 18s, so sometimes people will say “you must have your parents’ permission if you’re under 18” as well.
Anyway, aww so disappointing that you had trouble connecting with the characters! I have to admit, I didn’t think much of the romance either- although I did love “suboptimal” and “here is a toothbrush. It expresses my feelings inadequately” haha
As for your giveaway question: I pretty much always go into books blind. I don’t even read blurbs! Which is probably weird, but ya know. It’s the way I roll 😛 (plus, sometimes blurbs will spoil things and that’s just super annoying.) I usually go read the blurb after I’ve read about half the book, or after I’ve finished the book 🙂
Ahhhhhhh okay that does make sense. Although I don’t like the under 18 thing because I’m 17 and hosting a giveaway…we’re totally old enough 😛
Romances in general don’t do much for me, so I’m in the minority there (and when almost every YA seems to involve a romance sub-plot, or major plot, that can be frustrating).
I don’t OFTEN read blurbs, especially now – I mostly just read what people have recommended. But if I’m requesting a book for review I often do read what it’s about haha. Oh, I HATE when blurbs have spoilers!!! That’s a whole other rant!
I think the under 18 is more so a legal thing- like, it’s not legal for you to get mailing details off someone who’s underage without their parents’ permission or sth? Not really too sure to be honest haha
Awww damn. Bummer you didn’t like it as much as everyone else (including myself) did. Maybe it was because you were expecting it to be a mind blowing book from what we all have said about it, and how good it was to us. I’m glad that you still enjoyed the book!
I KNOW. Stupid brain. I don’t blame the book in the slightest, though, and I CAN see why everyone has loved it so much 🙂
Aww you’re not being a black sheep! I know other people who didn’t love this all that much and I even have a friend that kind of guessed the ending! You’re not all on your lonesome!
I am still not completely sold on this novel though. I mean I want to know how it’ll end (since I have my own… guesses and want to see whether I was right or not even though I haven’t read the book) and I am curious about Gat but that’s about it.
I love the writing style in this book (I have an idea from an excerpt I read) and I love unreliable characters but for some reason, this book just doesn’t scream ‘me’. 😦
Lovely review, Emily and I am sorry you didn’t enjoy this as much as you had hoped 😦
I don’t know HOW these magical people guessed the ending but…well, they are magical because it still really surprised me 🙂
You should read it just for your sanity’s sake, really, otherwise you’ll just be wondering about it for a million years…or maybe not. I know what you mean, though, and it’s another example of hype influencing me to have ridiculous expectations of a book that didn’t sound up my alley to begin with.
It’s a shame you didn’t love this as much (it’s always disappointing when it’s a book you’re REALLY excited for too!). Great review though 🙂 I was blown away by this! And totally did not see that ending coming!
Hmmm, this has got to be one of the book with the best twists I’ve ever read, but apart from that I’d say Jodi Picoult. And out of all her novels, I’d say The Storyteller was the one I was talking about/thinking about for the longest time afterwards (although this may just be because that’s the one I read last haha).
It IS, isn’t it? I don’t mind so much when it’s a book I didn’t have many expectations for.
I LOVE Jodi Picoult. The Storyteller was one I didn’t like as much as some others (the ending of My Sister’s Keeper was so sad, oh my goodness) but it made me think a lot as well 🙂
Aww, it sucks that you didn’t like it! I haven’t read it yet, but I’m still kind of looking forward to it because A) other people have given it great reviews and B) I’ve read nearly everything E. Lockhart has written and the rest of it has been FANTASTIC. So. I will still try this, I think… but maybe I won’t go into it with quite so many high expectations?
I’m so intrigued! Everyone loved it but you? I really wanna see what the fuss is about ^_^
As for the most mindblowing book ever… I can’t quite pick one off the top of my head. I know Shift by Em Bailey had an awesome twist, but that was in the middle, and it sort of… faded out. Still loved it though 🙂 Um, I remember reading My Sister’s Keeper for the first time o_o And my first ever Harlan Coben book – The Woods. Oh. Damn. I know which ones affected me, but at the same time, I don’t think anyone else was as impressed. One was Dirty Magic by Carol Hughes, and the other was Siege by Sarah Mussi. Heck, I just started going through my favourites list…. I’ll spare you 😛
As for your giveaway, am I supposed to do the post-a-comment thing here? If so… How often do I read books I know nothing about? In terms of not reading the blurb, quite often, actually x) If someone hands me a book and says ‘read it’, I’ll do just that 😛
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I recently read How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer where its like devil wear prada set in disney land. I randomly picked it up in bookstores with no knowledge of the book (but that it has a cute cover) and love it to bits!