we were liars. e. lockhart (245)

i kept on seeing we were liars on must read lists over the summer, but didn't give much thought to it.  i mean everyone was writing about it, but it felt like something i had read before.  i think the title and cover reminded me of justin torres' we the animals.  however, after seeing it listed as one of the best ya novels of 2014, i decided to check it out.

though enjoyable, it was not my cup of tea.  i mean the twist ending though random and unexpected was not that incredible.  also after reading, belzhar, it felt unoriginal.  i guess if i would have read it when it first came out, it would have kind of blown my mind, but the surprise twist of belzhar kind of ruined it for me.

we were liars is the story of four teens, cadence (our main character and whose perspective we read from), her cousins, johnny, mirren, and the nephew of her aunt's boyfriend, gat.  they were called the liars because they hung out together every summer on their families private island.  they had what lykke li once sang about, "the rich kids' blues".  they were super rich, but that doesn't mean they didn't have any problems.  they actually did because though they didn't care about money, their mothers were worried about inheritance (they all had money issues, living off of trusts because they didn't have real jobs, which is a result from having money) so were constantly forcing them to appeal to their grandfather for their share of the inheritance.  they fought over who will inherit want, what homes they have, etc. the kids just wanted to get along.

there is also a love plot, cadence was in love with gat, but the family did not approve based on his race and lack of wealth.

however, cadence suffered an accident that caused the family to change.  her aunts and mother got a long, but the cousins were distant.  she was also kept from the island.  all she remembered is waking up on the beach, in her underwear, and alone.  she was kept away from the island but returned one summer.

when she returned there is a new central estate (the island had multiple houses) which is modern.  the liars all lived off in one of the empty houses and didn't engage with the family like before.  cadence decided to investigate what happen to her.

then it all comes flooding back to her, and it turns out . . . her cousins and gat were ghost!!!! they had died, the summer of her accident.  they had decided to burn down their grandfather's house. but cadence light the fire in her rooms to quickly and ended up trapping everyone in the house!!! talk about a crazy twist.  a surprise but also talk about extreme.

i also want to add that through the novel were fairy tales that she made up based upon her family, which i enjoyed.

i didn't enjoy this book, but i can imagine young adults enjoying it, so i think it deserves to be on the lists for the best of 2014.