We Were Liars – a psychological thriller by E. Lockhart – is about seventeen-year old Candence and how she is struggling to recover from her injury. Something happened two years ago, during her fifteenth summer, that left her with constant migraines and memory loss. Candence doesn’t remember what happened during her injury, and no one seems to want to talk about it, so it’s up to her to figure it out herself.

Personally, I rather enjoyed Lockhart’s writing style. I know there’s a lot of readers out there who find it a little boring, but I think if you stop to think about some of the quotes, there’s more to it than just the story. That’s why I think this novel is like the classic example of “showing, not telling” the reader, because the author put so many layers to the story and in-depth descriptions.

The one major thing that let me down was the plot twist. Okay, well, not the actual plot twist, to be exact. I loved the plot twist, but I didn’t even understand it at the time it was being introduced. I got so confused by what was happening in present time, what had happened two years ago, and whether or not whatever’s being described actually took place or if it’s just something the protagonist is thinking about. I would have liked for that to be more clear, because when the plot twist came, I was still trying to figure out whether or not it was really true. Which kind of sucked, because once I understood it, the plot twist turned out to be pretty good, but by then my mind had already sort of “escaped” from the book and I wasn’t super in to it.

Overall, I think this is a good book to analyze in, say, a book club, and EVEN if you’re reading it on your own, it’s still worth it. Nothing too shocking though, the entire book basically takes you through Candence remembering things from the past, so already the excitement level is pretty low. Since it all already happened, I wouldn’t say this book is too suspenseful, either. Last thing; it was EXTREMELY easy for me to get confused throughout the book, I don’t really know how you’re supposed to separate reality from dreams, or present from past. I’d rate We Were Liars 6/10, so still worth reading!

P.S. I have to say, the first thing that grabbed my attention with this book was the author. I can’t be the only one reminded of Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter, right?!