“We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart

“We Were Liars” marked my soul irreparably. This novel changed forever the person I am. I learned through it the most precious lessons life could ever teach me. It is and will always be my comfort reading. There are a few books we read and lock inside our hearts. They are the key to understanding us, to loving us.

Title: “We Were Liars”

Author: E. Lockhart

Genre: Thriller

Number of pages: 256

Trope: Lost memory

Recommended age: +15

Star Rating: 5/5 ⭐

I feel like “We Were Liars” has a remarkable part of my soul. It is the novel that still makes my heart tremble. All of this is unchanged after almost 5 years. Some books simply mold on our heart shape. It is part of your soul, your essence of its pages.

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆?”

“𝑊𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑠”, 𝐸. 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘h𝑎𝑟𝑡

For a reader, it is the most sacred bond that ever exists. It is beyond words or existence. You would never be able to find a word-meaning…. but you do not need to. That bond is one of the intangible moments we experience in life.

A Sneak Peek into “We Were Liars”

Candice is the first granddaughter of the Sinclair family. Cold. Electrifying beauty. Distant. Perfect. Every year, the summer is the one thing that truly matters. Just her and her Liars.

       The fifteenth summer is the decisive element. The island changes. She can feel it in the air. The Liars change reasonless too. Cadence’s world is splitting in halves. Is it because of the changes or of her migraines?

       The only thing she still knows is that something horrible happened. Will this finding be enough to satisfy her curiosity? What happened to The Liars on the fifteenth summer? Their time is on the edge to have an unexpected turn. Try not to dig too deep, Cadence!

Deeper into “We Were Liars”

The Sinclairs’ hope

Claire is the unique hope of the Sinclair family. The first granddaughter. One of the four “Liars”. Her personality is defined by the Sinclair beliefs. Grown to be as expected. Taught to please the oldest. Reprimanded to show no emotion. She is a Sinclair. Brutally cold. Distant. Emotionless. Perfect.

       My favorite thing about the protagonist is her dramatic nature. Every unexpected turn life gets; she is there to add a metaphor. I have felt so close to Candice. She sees beyond images and sounds. Candice feels beyond taste and smell. She romanticizes summer, The Liars and the island.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒈𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒊𝒃 𝒄𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒅. 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒉𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅,

𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔,

𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔,

𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉.

𝑰𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒉. 𝑴𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒕.”

“𝑊𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑠”, 𝐸. 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘h𝑎𝑟𝑡

The girl remembers inside her soul each of her talks with Gat. Deep into her spirit. She does not summarize the moments in times and colors. Candice wants to drown herself into what the island has to give her. Into what The Liars are. They are her only true family. The Liars. The only ones who understand what is like to be a Sinclair.

“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒅. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏.”

“𝑊𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑠”, 𝐸. 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘h𝑎𝑟𝑡

“We Were Liars”

As teenagers, it is impossible to handle perfectly your emotions. Scream. Laugh. Live. Love.  The Liars completed Candice as no one else could ever. She felt more like herself being with them than at home. The Sinclairs needed to handle and hide their feelings. But the four were desperate to feel. To live. The Liars wanted to get lost in emotion.

       For once, a rebellious behavior gave them courage. They dared to speak. To finally act. They are young. The Liars are infinite. All the lies bound them so tightly only death would break them apart.

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.”

“𝑊𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑠”, 𝐸. 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘h𝑎𝑟𝑡

The Fifteenth Summer

Candice finds herself lost in the middle. After the fifteenth summer, she lives in a delusional world. She relives the events of that summer. Her body remembers every bit of time. There is a gap only in her mind. Candice finds difficult making the difference between present and past. This element is always the most frightening. The unknown.

       On this stage of the reading, you feel confused. You do not truly know what is going on. The narration and the lack of truth give you goosebumps. She is constantly asked what she is talking about when mentioning moments. Candice seems to be the only one to remember… last night? 🙂 There are many missing pieces of the Sinclair’s puzzle.

       The family and their selfishness pushed The Liars into their monumental misstep. They are teenagers. Deep ones. Who believe in justice and infinite moments. They do not burn down a material thing, but a symbol of their family. Of their snobbism and selfishness. The symbol of their lack of humanity. The Sinclairs always highlighted the appearance of everything. They should have cared about the rotten roots of the family instead. They tried to break them apart, so The Liars reacted.

𝑾𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒚𝒎𝒃𝒐𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅.”

“𝑊𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑠”, 𝐸. 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘h𝑎𝑟𝑡

The Sinclairs

Candice hides in her stories. She writes and day dreams. But are those simple stories for children? She takes the good-night stories of our childhood and imprints them. Candice changes them to be about her, about her family. All the dark endings. The moral of the story is the one that matters in the end. Will the Sinclairs ever learn?

Straight to The Point

“We Were Liars” is a very dear novel for me. I recommend it for all those readers who want to find themselves. It is a symbolic reading. You cannot read the book one time and completely understand it. I can assure you. You will be a different person at the end of this novel.

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