Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (eARC)

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Delacorte Press, 240 Pages
Expected US Release Date: May 13, 2014
Format/Source: eGalley via NetGalley - thank you!

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.
-----------------------Goodreads Summary

Notable Quote

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

There are so many ways I want to write this review, so many things I want to say and feel need to be said. The first and only things I’ve ever heard about We Were Liars is how brilliant, how amazing it is—and when you open up the eGalley, there’s a whole page about how moving it is but you can’t say much without giving away things.

And that’s the easiest and hardest part.

You really can’t say much about this book without giving away what’s inside. I can tell you the characters are memorable—some not in a good way, but that’s how they are meant to be so it is ok—and I can tell you that the story moves at this fantastically poetic pace. But I can’t tell you how they are Liars, what makes them the Liars, what moves them through the novel, what creates them.

I can tell you that there is an island, and they are a family. Some by blood, others by love. I can tell you that you are reading with mystery, with a cloud over you because you can feel in every word, every sentence, that there is more to the story and that you may not like it. But I can’t tell you who they are, really. I can’t tell you how the bond can go deeper than blood, deeper than love. I can’t tell you what makes her sick, what makes her tick, what causes her headaches.

But I can tell you that I read this book with bated breath. That I suffered and loved through every page, every single moment. I can tell you that this book will grip you, and shake you, and reach out to you and into you and you will know, with a  certainty, that this is a meaningful book.

I can tell you that while I didn’t cry (since it seems every other person who read this did), I felt it. I felt why, I knew why, I probably should have cried. I can tell you that even though I actually am not as huge a fan as a lot of others are with this book, there is an undeniable attachment and brilliance to it. The lyricism of the words, how they are strung and hung and linked together, make it an experience to read.

And I can’t give you concrete reasons why, but I can ask you to trust me, to trust that this is a worthwhile journey to go on, that you will never regret meeting the Liars and getting inside her head.

4 stars