We were liars, written by E.Lockhart, is about Cascade Sinclair Eastman who used to be a pretty, strong young girl with a good life filled with privilege and fun summers on a private island with her three close friends Johnny, Mirren and Gat, they called themselves ‘The liars’. Each summer seemed like a beautiful dream until a late night swim caused a bump to the head resulting in her forgetting the tragic events of one summer when they were fifteen and changing Cascade into a sickly and weak girl. The liars in the story hang out all summer every year at beechwood island but they don't talk while not on the island. Mirren and Johnny are Cascade’s cousins, and Gat is Johnny's friend that has been coming to the island since they were eight. The Sinclair family is one of wealth and pride, and in this bloodline ‘No one is a criminal, no one is an addict, no one is a failure.’
‘A revolution, an accident, a secret.’ This quote is important as it describes what may happen to Cascade and the liars in this fast paced, gripping page turner. From the start you are sucked into the story and throughout the book the writer has you guessing and questioning what happened during the tragic summer 15. You fill in the gaps with Cascade along the way during summer 17 and are left speechless at the end with the draw dropper of a plot twist. You get to know the seemingly perfect Sinclair family. The only flaw this book has is that the characters weren't very relatable or interesting and the family was quite complex. However, by the end of the book I felt I had a better understanding and the plot twist was certainly worth a read. Overall, I believe the book is worthy of a four out of five stars and if you're looking for a good young adult mystery for the summer, this is the book for you.
By Ella Derrig 2023
