book report / we were liars

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (4/5 stars)

This story was beautiful, haunting and suspenseful. It was a quick read, perfect for a day at the beach.
I had goosebumps when the twist was revealed and also felt sadness. Maybe I will go back and re-read in the future….just to figure out if there were any clues early on of what was happening.

I’m glad I went into this book not knowing anything (except that I knew it was Young Adult genre and that it showed up on everyone’s reading recommendations last summer). I skimmed reviews quickly prior to picking up the book and most of them said that it’s better to read it without knowing anything. Fair enough. I would recommend the same thing.

*******Skip the paragraph below if you don’t want the synopsis******:

This is a story about how money and inheritance and greed warp family relationships. It’s about inseparable best-friend cousins who summer together on their family’s private island off of Cape Cod, and what happens as their mothers (all sisters) are pitted against each other in vying for the top spot in the inheritance. The story comes from Cadence’s perspective as she remembers the past summers and tries to figure out what exactly happened in the 15th summer, the summer of her “accident” that she has no memory of, and suffers debilitating illness and estrangement from the family because of it.

Memorable Quotes:

“They know that tragedy is not glamorous. They know it doesn’t play out in life as it does on a stage or between the pages of a book. It is neither a punishment meted out nor a lesson conferred. Its horrors are not attributable to one single person. Tragedy is ugly and tangled, stupid and confusing.”

“Be a little kinder than you have to.”

“We are liars. We are beautiful and privileged. We are cracked and broken.”