We Were Liars: Book Review

OH MY GOODNESS!!!
That pretty much sums up all of my thoughts and feelings for E. Lockhart's incredibly stunning novel, We Were Liars.
I really don't think there is much to say about this book, to be perfectly honest, so I'm not entirely sure why I'm writing this post! But if you haven't read it, you need to.
I'm serious. Pick up this book right now. If you don't own a copy, get on Amazon and do next day delivery. Every single person needs to read this book. It was one of those jaw-dropping novels that creep up on you and make you completely entranced by the story.
If you haven't read the book, the less you know about the story, the better, really. This is one of those books that can be spoiled extremely easily, and it's one of those spoilers that you'll never forget or get over. All that you really know about We Were Liars is that it's about a rich yet dysfunctional family who own an island, which is where the story is set.
And that's really all you need to know. Now go and pick up the book before I spoil anything and ruin your existence... You have been warned!

*****

I went into this book with high expectations. I've read so many amazing reviews for it, but there have also been a lot of bad reviews. It seems people either love it or hate it.
This book is widely known for the 'plot twist' ending. So while I didn't know how the story would end, I knew something big was going to happen, which almost made the ending less significant when I did get to read it. I mean, it definitely shocked me and I hadn't anticipated it, but I'd been waiting for something big so it wasn't as much of a surprise.
I hadn't read any of E. Lockhart's other books before We Were Liars, so I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of the writing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a really short book; only 200 or so pages, so when I began to read about this huge family, I doubted that I would remember who all of the characters were. I don't know how it was pulled off so well, but 50 pages in to the story, it felt like I'd been reading about the characters for weeks and I knew them almost as well as I know my other favourite characters. The book really felt a lot longer than it actually was, but it didn't boringly drag on either, which I loved.
I really liked the use of the fairy tale style stories within the book as it really emphasised what was going on and how Cadence reacted to things. So while some of them were a little strange, they fit in really well with the overall book.
I guess that leads me on to the ending. I'm not going to put down how the book ended because it's really important that you go into the book without knowing how it ends, but those who have read the book will know exactly what I'm talking about. Before the end was revealed, I knew something was strange. I didn't trust Cady's mum and could tell that everyone was hiding something from Cady. It confused me why the Liars only seemed to be in one house all the time, why Cady's Granddad was calling everyone Mirren, why nobody other than Cady seemed to be conversing with the other Liars. But I never even considered the plot twist. My immediate thoughts when the book ended were 'Ugh? What? Wait... What just happened?' But looking back at the story, hints were dropped and I'm amazed I didn't figure out the ending before.
I was desperate to go back to the very beginning and work out how I missed it! The ending made perfect sense yet no sense at all. I really loved it though.

Like all books, We Were Liars did have its faults. I personally thought that metaphors were used too frequently and sometimes it wasn't obvious that they didn't actually happen (like Cadence's dad 'shooting' her at the very beginning). Nevertheless, I gave this book 5 stars. You can't really get better than that. I really loved it and the story fit together so well. I will most definitely be picking up other books by E. Lockhart, in the hope that they are just as spectacular.
I would recommend this book to absolutely everybody. I know some people absolutely hate the book, but I personally think it is such a clever little thing and it has really changed my way of thinking. Please pick it up!!

That's all for now. Goodbye!

Charlotte xxx