Tolog Review: We Were Liars

We Were Liars
by E. Lockhart
reviewed by Paris Davis

“No one here is a criminal. No one is an addict. No one is a failure.” This is how Cadence Sinclair describes her perfectly imperfect family in E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars. Everyday, the Sinclair’s are supposed to put on a mask of their exemplary best, while their flaws swiftly break through the cracks of their perfection.

This novel takes place on the Sinclair’s private island, just off the coast of Massachusetts. Every summer, the three Sinclair cousins, Johnny, Mirren, and Cadence spend their time on the island playing tennis, going to the beach, and always trying to be flawless. But they’re not, and neither are their parents. When money becomes tight, the cousins mothers begin feuding over the family fortune. This causes them to begin drinking and fighting day after day. The cousins witness this and launch into a plan that results in them burning down of one of the houses on the island.

Mixed in with the three cousins is Gat Patil. Gat is an intelligent boy of Indian descent, who Cadence falls for during summer 15. She admires the way he writes on his hands and how he always has his nose in a book. They end up constantly finding themselves in each other’s arms and take frequent trips to the beach. Unfortunately for them, Cadence’s mother and grandfather disapprove of this relationship because Gat is though of as an “outsider,” because of his ethnicity and his background.

Cadence goes from being the ideal first granddaughter, to an impaired girl when she hits her head on a rock one summer and ends up with minor amnesia and appalling migraines. After this happens, she leaves the island, but continues to persistently reach out to Gat.

This novel leaves the tips of your fingers with a hunger to constantly turn the page. If you like romance and mystery, this book if filled with it! Just flip to the first page and you’ll find yourself never wanting to put it down.