“We Were Liars” is a young adult psychological thriller written by E. Lockhart. She is known for her children’s book “Upside Down Magic.” The book “We Were Liars” follows a girl named Cadence Sinclair and her wealthy, seemingly perfect family. Each summer, the Sinclair family goes to their private island for a summer getaway. Cadence usually ends up spending her summer with “the liars,” aka her cousins and Gat, a family friend and dream boy that she has been in love with since they were kids. During her 16th summer on the island, the situation feels different. Cadence has a hard time remembering the summer before—the book ventures into Cadence’s past and the present struggle of uncovering the summer’s past moments. 

The “We Were Liars” book definitely kept me wondering and pondering the ending every step of the way. The dynamic of how the family acts around one another and their past family history creates tension between every character in the book. None of the characters were too little of a part because they all had moments that showed why some of these characters were acting the way they did. The building of the story really created a full circle moment while the reader tries to uncover truly what happened to Cadence the summer before. The little details that the author subtly gave the reader help disclose the end were extremely exciting to analyze and finally understand what these details meant in the end. All in all, this book was excellent and truly had an ending that shocked me as a reader and made every piece come together in the end. 

If you enjoyed the book, check out the prequel to “We Were Liars,” called “Family of Liars,” and “We Fell Apart: A We Were Liars Novel.” The book has now also been adapted into a TV series on Amazon Prime starring Emily Alyn Lind and Joseph Zada.