We Were Liars- E. Lockhart BOOK TALK

*****
I can't talk much about this book because I think it's best to go into this book knowing as little as possible. We Were Liars follows the Sinclair family- a rich and proud family. Every summer, the entire family stays at an island that they own and spend time with each other. It's a tale of family, friendship and tragedy.
This book has been extremely hyped up- and my 5 star rating doesn't necessarily contradict that hype- but try going into this book with no expectations- it will be better in the long run.
That's all I can really say, so go read it and then you can come back once you've finished it.



SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
There is not even a Scrabble for how bad I feel.
About the ending...not the book, don't worry.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing style was so incredibly beautiful and poetic that I couldn't help but be pulled in from the start.
It did take a bit of time to get all the characters and family ties sorted in my head but, once I knew who everyone was, I was off like a shot.
E. Lockhart writes so intricately and every word seems to have been thought through perfectly. It's easy to tell that Lockhart is into her metaphors and she executed them in a way that I truly appreciated. The thing with her metaphors is that you don't know that they aren't literal. You have to take a step back and think things through. One, for example, had me so completely shocked until I read on and realised that it was metaphorical.
'Then he pulled out a handgun and shot me in the chest. I was standing on the lawn and I fell. The bullet hole opened wide and my heart rolled out of my rib cage and down into a flower bed. Blood gushed from my open wound,
then from my eyes,
my ears,
my mouth.
It tasted like salt and failure.'
When reading this my eyes nearly popped out of my head, I was so surprised. Only when you read on do you realise that it's just a metaphor for her feelings. Lockhart's writing is so intense, it was a pleasure to read.

The whole book was also so poetic. She structured things at times like a free verse and it was such a refreshing aspect to the story.
Throughout the book, Lockhart explains everything in so much detail yet still manages to create a sort of haze between the reader and the story. Her hints for the ending are so obvious and yet, I didn't figure it out. I'm so annoyed that, before reading this, I was semi-spoiled. I knew that at some point, there was a fire. And I still didn't figure out the whole story... That shows how clever I am.
I loved the fairy tales that were involved throughout the novel. I think they created an almost wistful and fantasy atmosphere to the novel. The also reflected the characters and the events so accurately and beautifully.
The book touched on so many interesting subjects and it baffles me how it did so in such a short amount of time. 10 pages felt like 40 and I'm still shocked at how short the book is. So much happens and Lockhart had a flawless ability to condense her writing.
Trauma, discrimination and equality are beautifully dealt with in this book and the entire story was completely thought-provoking.
The characters were so interesting and unique. I loved Gat and Cadence's relationship. There were so many layers to these characters and relationships that made the book very realistic.
When finding about the twist- finding out that everything you thought was real was actually some sort of hallucination- I just sat in my room and sobbed. I've never cried so much at a book before and I know a lot of people didn't but I couldn't help it. The emotions were so raw and heart-breaking that it just broke me.
When finishing the book, I came straight onto the computer and frantically wrote down my initial thoughts. They're a bit scrambled and incomprehensible but they accurately reflect my emotions upon having finished the book. Enjoy.

I cannot believe what I've just read1! I've been crying for the past half an hour, letting my pain out. I've never cried so much from a book in my life! There are no scrabble words to describe the pain I'm feeling right now. (Now I'm just making myself cry).
I'd heard that it was one of those books where you didn't know what was real and what wasn't but, throughout this book, I thought that this statement was wrong. I understood what was real and not and I could figure out what was happening. I was actually quite proud of myself.
But if you think that, you're wrong.
It's at the very end, when you find out that all you thought is wrong, that your mind is utterly blown. Everything you think happened does not exist and what really happened breaks your heart in two.
I cannot truly explain how deeply agonised I feel right now. I am mourning these characters as if they are my own family, as if I am Cadence. It is a remarkable yet excruciating feeling that is hard to fathom at the moment.
I'm writing this, having finished the book only ten minutes ago (I had a bit of a cry) and so these are my raw thoughts and emotions just jumping down onto the page. I'm having a bit of word vomit. Sorry.
This book was so beautiful and heart-breaking. It gives tragic a whole new meaning and I am gob-smacked at how this ended.
I was not expecting anything like that and the shock is still flooding through my veins as I frantically write all these thoughts down.
I have no clue how E. Lockhart managed to construct this story so beautifully. It was stunning- a work of art.
This book will forever stay with me.
I had high expectations going into this book as it had a lot of- and I mean a lot- of hype surrounding. Yes, I'd been spoiled in terms of the fire but still.... I could not see it happening!
Gat! Johnny! Mirren! E. Lockhart wrote their story beautifully, linking back memories right in to the very end and the whole story just flowed flawlessly.
The agony in the realisation that none of summer seventeen was real... it was all a dream... I want to cry more but I've run out of tears so I'm just in a stunned shock at the moment.
I think I'll stop writing now because my thoughts are probably incoherent and, if I don't stop now, I never will. And no one's gonna read a blog post that long.

(Ps. I know I used the word beautifully about ten times but it's the perfect word to describe this book! Tragically beautiful!)