Book Review: “We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart
It was absolutely divine timing that I finished the book the day the show came out on Prime! I briefly talked about my thoughts on the show in this weekly report, but I want to share how I felt about the book.
Warning: this post is filled with SPOILERS
Starting off, I loved the overall plot of this big sort of mystery around Cadence's accident with the background of Beechwood Island and an insane family dynamic thriving off of secrecy and grudges. I think the author does a decent job of characterizing the cousins, Cadence, Johnny and Mirren, and their relationship with Gat, who is Johnny’s mom’s boyfriend’s nephew (confusing, I know). At first, I found it difficult to keep track of the three different sisters, Penny, Carrie and Bess, and their children. However, in the beginning of the book is a family tree and a drawn image of Beechwood Island, both of which I referenced frequently and thought were a great addition to the aid in worldbuilding.
Even though Cadence is the protagonist in the novel, I found her deeply hard to root for. She just came off as wildly insufferable towards both her mom, Penny, who she had a tumultuous relationship with, and towards Gat, who was supposedly the “love of her life”. In the book, I wasn’t really invested in their romance, and in the show, I was even less invested. My favorite character in both the book and show was Johnny, who I found to be complex and more multifaceted than the other cousins and Gat (although Mirren in the show is more fleshed out). I think Joseph Zada did a phenomenal job portraying him as the shitty, wealthy white boy who has a softer side that makes you want to root for him. I also loved the relationship between Johnny and Mirren. In the book, I could tell that they had a closer relationship to each other than they did to Cadence, and I’m glad that dynamic reigned true in the show adaptation. They seemed to really understand each other in a way Gat and Cadence failed to.
My biggest qualm about the book is the writing style. The book is through Cadence’s point of view, who I consider an unreliable narrator. Of course, these characters are sixteen, so the emotional maturity (or lack thereof) is often aligned with that of pretentious and privileged high schoolers. However, there were points where the writing felt too juvenile and underdeveloped. It was frustrating to wade through Cadence’s inner monologue to understand what was really going on. I also found some of the chapters hard to follow because of the constant flipping from past to present. Sometimes, I couldn’t tell if a scene was taking place in summer 15 or summer 17. This lack of clear storytelling coupled with the unnecessarily frilly language made the book quite annoying to get through.
Despite all of this, I found it deeply heartbreaking to learn that Cadence had been imagining Johnny, Mirren and Gat during summer 17 because they had died in the Clairmont fire. It’s emotional to digest the level of grief and guilt she would be feeling, not just because they’re dead but also because she was the one who proposed the idea to set new Clairmont on fire to “cleanse” the family. I think the revelation also contextualizes the dynamic around the aunts because you realize they’re operating in summer 17 with the massive pain of grief around losing their daughter/sons/nieces & nephews. The foreshadowing of the kids’ deaths makes the realization all the more harrowing. Apparently the second book titled Family of Liars is better written and even more compelling, because it breaks down the history between Penny, Cadence and Bess, and their upbringing with Harris and Tipper. I’m slightly interested to read it, but it’s not an immediate priority on my reading list. If you’ve watched the show, I can’t necessarily say that you need to read the book. Overall, I rate the book a 2.5/5.
