We Were Liars

“Always do what you're afraid to do. I will prove myself strong when they think I am sick. I will prove myself brave when they think I am weak.”

2.5 STARS

We were liars...but what did you lie about? About your premise? About your ending? This book didn't really do it for me, I'm sad to say. Though I wasn't expecting the ending, and I'm still not exactly sure what to think of it, I couldn't get past the character's one-dimensional ideas and simply their utter stupidity. I'm sorry but if you're going to light a house on fire, please at least have a damn PLAN that won't get everyone killed. The Writing The writing was average, and though I liked that they were broken into separate books, it felt mildly choppy throughout. Also, we know that Cadence has migraines because of the accident, and the flip between reality and imagination is overwhelming and dizzying, though that could be its point. It took me a couple headaches to figure out that she wasn't actually being shot, or having her heart roll out of her chest, or someone beating her over the head repeatedly. The Characters And this is where it all went downhill. I don't like reading in the rich girl, popular, given-everything-on-a-silver-platter kind of story. Now, granted, this did not exactly fit that mold, but it did fit the girl who boo-hoo lost all that and now is trying to get it back. We Were Stupid. The Liars (which we are never actually told why they are called that, or maybe I just missed it?) did have a good reason to do what they did, and I like the whole metaphor of it, but I just...could you PLEASE just think for ONE second. I UNDERSTAND that you are slightly drunk and you're 15, but could you PLEASE, PLEASE think for just one second? I just...ugh. Additionally, I felt no relationship to any of the characters. They were distant (though in hindsight, there could be reason for that), uptight, and the only one I really felt anything at all for was maybe Gat, but even then he wasn't very well developed - none of them were - and I didn't really feel the progression of Gat and Cadence's love. Maybe that's because it was told through memory, or because it was mixed between past and present, but I just felt no connection. The Story The story did feel longer than the 212 pages that were given, I grant that. But it just didn't really captivate me as much as I hoped it would. There were several holes throughout the plot, but maybe they were there on purpose to make the reader wonder or because of Candace's memory loss, but it felt a little too obvious for comfort. I think my biggest issue is that the book didn't really end. I mean, we found out what happened, but not everything. We still don't know if Gat, Johnny, and Mirren are ghosts or if Cadence just has schizophrenia, and maybe that's to be left up to the reader, but I'm not sure. And there were several more questions about the poor little rich girl, but at this point, I don't really care that much. Share your thoughts!