♥!The Young Adult Book Club!♥ discussion

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart



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.



MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! THIS BOOK ENDS WITH A TWIST THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED BUT SHOULD NOT BE READ ABOUT UNTIL YOU FINISH THE BOOK!

SPOILERS!

WOW! This one left me speechless! It wasn't a completely original twist but I admit I was not expecting it at all. Lots of tears! I felt terrible! I loved Cady and Gat! I was so disappointed!

One of the best versions of "Contemporary Prose," as a friend of mine calls it, that I have read in a while! The style actually heightened the suspense and drove the plot, rather then weakening it. I was very impressed.

I love this book!!!

I read this last month and also found it really moving. I found it a little slow at the start but glad I stuck with it as it really picked up and was ultimately a wonderful read.

I figured out the twist early on (from clues in the story, I was not spoiled) but it was still very enjoyable to see it come together!

I thought it was okay. Brilliant execution of the twist in the end, but I didn't feel much for the characters or the Sinclair family. I liked the writing style though!

Loved this book so much! At first I was disappointing because I didn't like that such a stupid mistake was made, but then I figured that that was the beauty of it. Small, seemingly insignificant decisions can have humongous side effects. What did you all think of the Grandpa calling Cady Mirren? Also, Ghost or Hallucinations?

I took it as ghosts, but I think the publisher had it somewhere where it is intended as hallucinations. But it didn't read that way for me. I still liked it regardless. I predicted the ending too, but when I found out, it was written with great style. The whole book was written beautifully. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

I didn't love this book as much as everyone else seems to have. It was ok, and I did like the story, but it was missing something for me. I figured out the plot twist pretty early on, the what, anyway, but the how kept me reading for more. I would recommend it to others, though. Good book club read.

I was totally shocked that they died!!! When I read the first page of part 5 when they reveal it, I just sat there for 5 minutes re-reading it until it sank in... I thought they didn't reply to the email because they were just mean... I HAD NO IDEA!!!!

I completely agree with Melanie I didn't actually expect it to turn out like that. Looking at the number of pages I expected it to be a really short read that I would eventually get over but while reading it, it felt like a 400 paged book. There was so many stuff you had to notice in the book like as soon as you find out their dead stuff start to make sense and then you notice that the author has been hinting it all along and we never noticed (Well, I didn't). Anyways I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

I didn't think I'd like this book, but so many clubs were reading it that I picked it up. I'm so glad that I did. I thought it was slow in the beginning, and I didn't like the characters at first. Then I fell in love with Gat and Cady. I expected the story to be a Romeo-and-Juliet kind of ending because of the class/race issue. I was completely surprised. I loved it and cried my way to the final pages.

This is book left me pondering about for days. The unanswered emails, the new house, sick Mirren, it all made sense after I finished it. It was cunning, clever, cool, brutal and

While I don't think it's wholly original (Come on, we've seen that whole plot twist before), I thought it was executed REALLY well and made for a really great story! I loved We Were Liars. <3

I thought this book was okay. The surprise ending is what saved the stoty for me. I just couldn't get with Cady, she was too annoying for me.

I agree that Cady wasn't an especially sympathetic character, but I guess I gave her a break because I always suspected something bad had happened to her on the beach that she was suppressing.

WOW. It's midnight and I just Finished this book. Am I the only one who didn't see the plot twist in the end coming????

I HAD NO IDEA THE OTHER THREE LIARS DIED IN THE FIRE LIKE wowwwwwww I was speechless and started spazzing and texting my friend.

I originally thought that something happened to her in the water, and when Mirren was screaming and sobbing for Cady to not jump from that big rock I thought maybe she was feeling guilty about something? Like when it first explains the accident how she could see the base of the island (correct me if I'm wrong I literally can't remember anything) Cady also mentions that when she jumps she sees the base of the island so I thought maybe it was night and they were messing with Cady and having fun and she jumped off but ended up hitting her head???? I don't know.

BUT WOW THE ENDING IT WAS SERIOUSLY SOMEHOW BEAUTIFUL THIS BOOK MESSED WITH MY BRAIN IN A GOOD WAY and it was kind of interesting to read about a really prestige family and how they think.

The only thing I thought was confusing was how dramatic Cady was? For example in the beginning I thought her dad actually shot her and so I had to re read that part a couple of times because I was so confused.

This book really was confusing and such a huge twist and literally... I just... I am speechless. I'm still not entirely sure why they were called the Liars though??? I knew they lied here and there but I can't remember anything big enough to have someone to refer to them as "the liars".

Just starting....so can't stay long....I might look at the spoilers.

I just finished this book and overall I enjoyed it. I read it so fast! Also I didn't put two and two together until Part Five... What a crazy ending.

I just had a question on what everyone thought when Cady would say "she would bleed" and Gat would cover her wounds or whatever. I couldn't tell if the author was metaphorically referring to something else or Cady was self-harming because they make her out to be kind of crazy....Thoughts?

Paige wrote: "I just finished this book and overall I enjoyed it. I read it so fast! Also I didn't put two and two together until Part Five... What a crazy ending.

I just had a question on what everyone though..."

I took it metaphorically since at one part she talks about when her dad left he shot her in the chest and she bled. I figured all of those descriptions were metaphorical but with the crazy writing who knows for sure?! I think a lot is open to interpretation. I've been seeing some theories that Cady even planned all this on purpose to become the sole heir. I don't know if I completely believe that. It was a really stupid thing though. To light the house when there were people in the basement and top floor. Just a crazy read!

I thought this book moved super slow...
I wasn't a fan! Sorry!

At the end of the book, Cady calls burning the house a "foolish deluded crime". Do you think she still would have felt that way if the liars and dogs hadn't died in the fire?
Is she failing to separate the tragedy from the crime of arson or do you think she separately regrets the idea of burning the mansion?

The twist at the end raised my rating one star, but overall I wasn't huge on this book. I think it's because mystery is my favourite genre and when this was called a mystery book so many times, I expected a mystery. We didn't even KNOW there was a mystery going on until they told us at the end. I think calling this book a mystery just sets people up for disappointment that went into it wanting a mystery book.

I love books about spoiled rich kids. If someone had told me that's what this whole book was about, I would have jumped right in but instead of I heard about the ""mystery"" and it just wasn't to me.

Overall, I can see why it gets 5 stars and I can see why it gets 1 star ratings. I gave it three stars even though I would have given it two if it weren't for the twist.

I over looked this book on the shelf so many times but I may just have to go out and get it

I totally agree with Beth, was kinda a boring book most of the time. I really liked the part when she express her felling is a really strange way and the lost her memory thing ans the twist was the best, was good not great.

This book had some beautiful lines but i didnt like the plot or the characters much, so i didnt really like the book as a whole. I actually liked Johnny the best, followed by Mirren, and I didnt like Cadence and Gat at all.

This was… very disappointing. I heard so much about it from online/ social media that I may have had too high of expectations. Because I’ve read books like this with almost the exact plot, I somewhat predicted the ending. That was totally my fault though, so please give this a chance. Lockhart wrote some amazing parts and I liked the descriptions of what Cady was feeling helped me understand her character. However, some chapters felt lacking and I though unnecessary. I would rate this a solid 3/5.