We Were Liars, by E Lockhart

Cadence comes from a moneyed New England family who own an island near Martha's Vineyard, and spend each summer there. She and her cousins - plus a friend called Gat - refer to themselves as "The Liars". One summer, Cadence is involved in an accident, which leaves her suffering from migraine and memory loss. Exactly what happened is unclear, and people seem reluctant to tell her...

This was recommended somewhere and it's a "young adult" book so I thought it might be suitable for Ella. Given the title, and what I'd picked up from reviews, I was expecting unreliable narration (it's written from Cadence's point of view) and a bit of tricksy plot twisting.

I read the book very fast and enjoyed it - didn't see the twist coming, and thought it worked reasonably well. The main thing I liked was the atmosphere that was evoked of New England summers, with the kids lazing on the island and playing games, and talking to each other about how they saw the world as they approached adulthood. Early on Cadence has a crush on Gat which seems to be reciprocated; I liked the poem he wrote for her:

better than chocolate, being with you last night.
Silly me, I thought nothing was better than chocolate

I did find some of the names a bit hard to keep track of (both adults and children are referred to by forenames) but there is a family tree and map of the island (indicating who lived in which house) at the front of the book which helped.

I'm not sure Ella would like this. There's at least one other Lockhart book that sounds OK so I think I may give that a go.

Completed : 19-Oct-2014

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