We Were Liars
Author: e. lockhart
Expected Publication: May 13th, 2014 by Delacorte
Summary: 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.
Review: I can’t tell you anything about this book without giving anything way, and I would never do that to you, so let me just say this—this is a book that I will remember forever. It is haunting and sent chills up my spine. I was sucked into the story of this beautifully screwed up family with too much money for its own good.
Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This would bridge beautifully with The Great Gatsby. There are so many parallels, and I can’t write them here, or I will give away too much of the plot. The figurative language in this title is also stunning. English teachers will go gaga over the pages upon pages of text that can be used for close reading. It made me want to go back to teaching English!
Discussion Questions: What does this story teach us about humanity?; What drives each of the family members?; What does Gat’s character add to the story?; How does lockhart unravel the plot? What makes her an effective writer?; What is the message of this complex text?
We Flagged: “If you want to live where people are not afraid of mice, you must give up living in palaces” (Chapter 40).
Please note: The above quote is from the Advanced Reader Copy. The chapter numbers is included instead of page numbers because the e-reader did not provide page numbers. The quotes may change when the book is published.
Read This If You Loved: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I Will Save You by Matt de la Peña, If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Recommended For:
Wow, Ricki, now I really want to read this book. Great review!
Let me know if you read it! 🙂
Of course, I will see it on your blog!
Absolutely ravishing, this novel had such a twist that it left it’s audience gasping for more.
I agree, Leeza. “Ravishing” is an excellent word to describe the book. It was difficult to review without revealing anything!
I am reading this book as suggested by the Conant Library book group read and it is similarly to the Great Gatsby in some since with the rich and not measuring up; Gatsby is that he is ‘nouveau rich’ and the Sinclairs=liars are old money and rightly so with the one exception to not accepting of Gat. Education, good breeding, money, does not a character make. There is that theme in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where the monster wants to go North when he should go South ; eloquence is not for all by society’s standards.
I am lesser than a Gat, so who can say.
I hope you enjoyed the book group read! I agree that there are excellent parallels with Shelley’s classic. Thank you for sharing!