We Were Liars

Locations
Call Number: Teen Fiction / Lockhart, E., Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	Due 05-23-2024
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	Due 04-30-2024
Malletts Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	Due 04-23-2024
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	Due 05-08-2024
Traverwood Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / General / Lockhart, E.	4-week checkout	Due 05-16-2024

Spending the summers on her family's private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

We Were Liars submitted by emjane on June 18, 2014, 10:11pm Suspenseful, disturbing, and suddenly moving. Though different in tone from most of E. Lockhart's books, the engaging story and characters remain. Though occasionally frustratingly slow in the middle, it's worth continuing for the unexpected ending...that changes the way the whole book reads.

Nope submitted by emessenger922 on June 19, 2014, 1:50pm Definitely not a favorite of mine. The title says it all... I felt lied to at the end. An M. Night Shyamalan kind of twist that never really roped me in.

Good book submitted by amym on August 29, 2014, 1:55pm Beautifully written book. I have read other books with the same basic premise, but it still seems fresh. At first I wasn't sure if I liked it, but the more I think about it, the more I like the characters and the story.

great teen novel submitted by manz on July 5, 2015, 2:00pm I really enjoyed this book. I like E. Lockhart's writing. There is a twist in this story that I didn't see coming, so make sure you don't read any spoilers! Quality YA title.

Okay submitted by kelleyc on June 29, 2017, 7:09am The book was decent, but the twist at the end makes you hate the main character.

Twist submitted by cmegane on August 30, 2017, 9:41am An interesting twist that still leaves me wondering whether I liked the book or not. I would have appreciated a little more character development but it was interesting to read about a lifestyle so different than my own.

Middling summer read submitted by EJZ on June 24, 2018, 9:48am Probably 3.5 stars. A very quick read, a few hours at most really. Not engrossing so much as thrilling, but it does the job well. This book is obvious Hollywood fodder - if you like books that read like a blockbuster (who doesn't at times?) then get this one from the Library.

"Be a little kinder than you have to" submitted by kerstinrh on August 22, 2018, 2:04pm A wealthy family owns an island on the east coast where the grandparents, their 3 daughters and their children spend their summers. The main character, Cadence, suffers from horrible migraines and spends the book reflecting on past summers and trying to remember what lead to her being found at the small beach without her clothes on during her 15th summer.

Don't Waste Your Time submitted by sseaver on June 19, 2019, 2:55pm This book was very slow, the ending was amazing but the rest was a waste of your time. In the beginning you had to keep track of all the characters, but in the story there was no point for them. I'm in a bookclub of 8-10 people and they also all thought it was terrible besides the ending and that none of them would encourage people to read it.

ummmmmmm submitted by zora on July 14, 2019, 11:56pm So this book is kinda what you would think. It's a ya thriller and you can not expect too much. The ending is great. However, getting to the ending is like running a marathon but you are carrying all the other competitors. SLOW BORING and PAINFULL. If you really want to waste your time for a good ending I am not going to stop you. The only reason I give it the rating I did is because of the ending. I have to give it credit I did not see it coming. However, I hated pretty much every character. Not because they were morally grey or anything I just found them extremely bland and boring.

Good book submitted by jasonc1177 on July 31, 2019, 7:58pm this book is great. Very interesting &&

Easy read but disappointing submitted by dntanzer on August 18, 2020, 8:25pm This was a very quick read with a lot of typical teenage mystery/drama. But the ending was very disappointing to me so much so that I can't recommend this book

Great. Ending submitted by Sa05k on August 28, 2020, 4:57pm This book is worth it for the twist at the end. While it was a little slow, it wasn’t boring.

Wow submitted by ann arbor air on June 12, 2021, 6:19pm Wow this was incredible great to see a great thing for this summer! I needed this thanks for making it 10/10 P

Relies too much on a twist submitted by laursanc6 on June 24, 2021, 5:25pm I read "We Were Liars" in about two and half hours partly because I was trying to get through it quickly, partly because I wanted to know this end everyone was talking about, and partly because I was tired of the prose. It's not that I didn't enjoy this book but it literally felt pointless until the end. The had to push through the first 100 pages because I felt like nothing important was happening... like what was the point. Also, I just wasn't the biggest fan of the prose and it felt like it was running meaningless circles inside my head if that makes sense. It also just felt a tad pretentious and poor rich people. I didn't even really like any of the characters so it felt hard to connect until the very end when we saw some of the good in them.

Even though I gave it 3/5 stars I still recommend this book as I do think it's quite a good story but just not something I would read again especially now that the shock factor is gone. There were many aspects I didn't like which is why I only gave it three stars but I didn't do two stars because at the end of the day there were many enjoyable parts. The last 100 or so pages of the book were riveting as I was trying to piece together what was actually happening. Anyway, give it a try. What have you got to lose?

Easy but Interesting submitted by CarolSeidl on June 29, 2021, 8:59pm This book is quite famous for the twist at the end. It is quite hard to predict, and did leave me quite dumbfounded. However, I do not think the quality of the rest of the book is all that high. It is a pretty quick read, so if you are looking for a fast, teen novel with a twist, I’d say it is worthwhile. Although, there are so many wonderful books out there and I don’t think this is a must-read.

Suspenseful and jawdropping submitted by comet on July 16, 2021, 3:27pm If you like a quick and easy read as well as a good plot twist, I'd say give this book a go. The writing is terrific, simple but moving. The dialogue that proliferates throughout the book allows you to envision the characters' interactions and empathize with their emotions. While the pacing is slow in the beginning, the book captured my heart in the end and left me mesmerized for days.

Fast read submitted by nmrhoads on July 24, 2021, 10:45pm I liked the plot and the twist. But I didn’t like the fake poetry style of writing. Definitely a ya novel

Quick but disappointing submitted by Bethybeth07 on August 1, 2022, 12:04am Had high hopes for this book but it just left me feeling down. Not sure what the purpose of this book is

Great for it's intended audience submitted by Jadie on June 12, 2023, 10:50am This book gets a lot of push back for not living to the hype, but I think it does live up to the hype for teen readers. This is a great plot twist and easy read for teens.

Fun to listen to while camping submitted by denbyt on July 29, 2023, 6:09pm My teenage son and I listened to the audiobook version of this book while camping. Sure, we missed out on the style of the prose. It didn't translate into the audiobook. But it made for an engrossing story that was perfect for listening while relaxing by the campfire. Bonus: it inspired my son, not a pleasure reader, to listen to other audiobooks.