We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Book Review

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.
If John Green says 'Thrilling, Beautiful and blisteringly smart. We Were Liars is utterly unforgettable.' about any novel I will read it. 

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is a novel that is utterly heartbreaking, in both the worst and the best sort of ways. Our main character Cadence (Cady) is going through her parents divorce, but her breaks away to her Grandparents home seeing her relatives and friends she escapes this drama, or so she thinks. 


The Summer while she was the age of fifteen did not go as all of the ones previous. That year her Grandmother had passed away, leaving behind land, homes, and family objects. She arrives at her Grandpa's land to find the house of her childhood had been torn down and rebuilt. Being away with her father for the Summer when she was sixteen she can not remember much of her fifteenth summer, and no one will tell her why. 
With her parents divorce and the mystery that surrounds her loss of memory especially around her fifteenth summer at the beach house but there are somethings that keep her together. 
Mirren, Johnny and the boy she loves, Gat. All these characters have a vital role in Cadys life. 

After the summer which Cady cannot remember, she suffers heavily from migraines and a lot of pain. Almost like PTSD, she knows something has to have happened but she cannot remember and no one will tell her what it is, other than she hit her head.

 But she doesn't believe it.

This book is written beautifully. Some parts in story form others in almost stanza form, like poetry the way it is laid out. E. Lockhart does a very good job of making this story unexpected and heart wrenching. 

The ending of this book is something that I did not expect in any form. But it wasn't as if the twist wasn't believable when it happened, because it was. But it made me incredibly sad for Cady, for the families and especially for those who were involved. 

SPOILERS.


Cady believes she had been swimming late one night and she hit her head on a rock, she endures headaches and mass pain which she accepts for the most part. That is until she goes back to her Grandfathers house when she is seventeen and nothing is the same, nothing feels right. 

Her mother protects her, coddles her almost and is going to 
extremities to make sure that she remembers nothing, only when she is ready and remembers by herself. 


Cady returns when she is seventeen after the house has been reconstructed, everyone and everything is different once she arrives including her friends the Liars. But the reason behind it is still unclear to Cady. 

Cady and Gat's relationship is something that I find rather strange. They love each other, but they only know the person they are when they are on their summer break. They have no idea about one another apart from those three months of the year, sometimes even less. But it is clear that they care for one another. I love the simplicity of their relationship though, although their situations are not always simple, but rather how easy it is for them to get lost in themselves, forget everything around them. 



I really admire the relationship between the Liars, they are always on one anothers side and although their relationship outside of summer is strained and not always constant, they are the best of friends, and most of all Cady knows they are the only true friends she has. 



Now for the heart shattering, twist of the novel. 

MAJOR SPOILER STOP, REALLY STOP IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK! 

The house as burned down by a fire. 

The house that still had the dogs in it. 

A fire that the liars set. 

A fire that not all members of the liars escaped from. 

Mirren is sick.

Johnny is tired.

Gat feels hated. 

Cady has been separated from her family and friends for nearly two years, from the summer of 15 to the 17th summer. She has little contact with her friends and she is very much excited to go back to her Grandfathers in order to get the full story of what had happened in that summer that she has lost from her memory. 

She starts connecting dots, keeping a map and journals in order to remember everything that comes back to her while she stays there. Then when all the dots are connected for her by the Liars one day. 
She accepts the news of the fire and she knows why it had to happen. 
Too much arguing between the aunties and grandfather all over possessions and money.
The Liars are sick of this upheaval within their family home. 
The Liars decide to put an end to it, lighting a fire in the home that causes all of the hassle. That causes all of the hurt, all of the arguments and all of the dispute. 

Cady lights fire to the study, pouring gasoline on the books and wood furniture, then lights the match. 

Cady escapes. 

The rest of the liars do not. 

This twist hit me like a ton of bricks, not the outcome I expected from this novel. The characters always seemed so vibrant, so colourful, so alive. 



But then as it is revealed it all makes sense to me, they never answer her emails, they do not interact with the adults or the littles, everything around Cady seems a little disorientated. She has blocked out the worst experience of her life, and for good reason. Her three best friends perished in a fire that she believes she caused. Her three best friends, her two family pets, her families home, memories of the summers she spent with the Liars. 


I would give this book a 4.5 stars out of 5, mainly because at some points I did find Cady a little flaky at times. But other than that this book was flawless. 

This book gave the afterlife a new voice, her friends stay to help her, to comfort her, to remind her who she is and to just be her friend. They want her to understand it wasn't her fault, they weren't meant long for our world, they don't mind leaving. They stay only long enough to help her see the truth, this to me is the best part of this book. Her friends even though they are no longer with her, spent one last summer with her while she couldn't remember the awful parts, they gave her more good memories. 


While they all jumped off the cliff into the rocky water below they did not want her to jump at all, because well they had already met their demise and didn't want to see her join them. They didn't want her to endure their faith. 
Their friendship is truly beautiful.


Me.



Stars? 4.5

Fave character? The Liars. 

Least favourite character? Maybe their Grandfather... 

Fave quote? 'Someone once wrote that a novel should deliver a series of small astonishment's. I get the same thing spending an hour with you.'“

Fave moment? I liked the writing when the liars were 'passing over'. I really liked all of this book.

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 Keep reading! 

April Wrap-Up & May TBR! :D

 APRIL WRAP UP! 

 April was a rather busy and tiring month for me as I had my last month of college, exams, assignments and essays all due within April but I still managed to read 9 books! Most of them though were on my kindle, under the covers at night time haha! 



 The first book I read this month was a re-read and it was Divergent by Veronica Roth... I forgot how much I loved this book. I read it back in 2012 and with two years between me reading Divergent and Insurgent I wanted to read it again before seeing the movie (Which I also adored, because Shai and Theo do an amazing portrayal of their characters, Tris and Four). I admire this book for one main reason though, there is no love triangle. Dystopian/YA books do not always need a love triangle in order to be successful (Hunger Games, Twilight, Mortal Instruments etc...) I love that they have each other to deal with the craziness of their world and they don't need another man/woman to mess with them because their world and themselves do enough job of that, without any outsiders.
 
(And have a moment of appreciation for Theo James as Four and all his sexiness that comes with it... Kill me) 
Divergent gets 5 stars from me, there world is so simply thought of yet so complex to understand at the same time! Love it! 


My second read was the Jennifer L. Armentrout's latest release; Don't Look Back, which I have a full review of here; http://blogsomebooks.blogspot.ie/2014/04/dont-look-back-by-jennifer-l-armentrout.html 

But to summarise it in one word; Wow. 



My third read was, The Dysfunctional Test by Kelly Moran. This book is about a young woman, Camryn who loses her whole life in one day; her career, her boyfriend, her home. She hits her breaking point. But, she knows that everything will get worse if she returns home and she is single again. So she asks her brothers best friend to pretend to be her boyfriend. Starting out harmless Troy and Cam start their pretend relationship. Both jaded and hurt by things in their pasts they help to restore each others faith. 
This book was exactly what I needed after Don't Look Back as it's a heavy book to read, so I picked this up in the kindle store and read it in about three days, a nice light, contemporary read! 4 stars! 

 (with a cover like this I should have known)
My fourth read was; Her Brothers Best Friend by T.J. Dell. I'm not going to lie, I hated this book. Sloppy writing, the characters are so back and forth that I almost got whiplash, immaturity is an aspect embedded in their characters and at some points I thought it was too dramatic.
 I would have liked to see a little more of the final relationship because as soon as things were starting to get good for the main couple suddenly the book was over. Disappointing read, 2 stars! 


My Fifth Read was With This Heart by R.S. Grey. This came to me in one of the Amazon 'If you like this you should read...' and they were right, I did like it, a lot. Abbey has been given a new chance at life, after suffering for her whole life with congenital heart disease. But with a transplant as months of recovery she wants to live her life, finally free of her disease. She plans a road trip, alone. But then she meets Beck and she decides to take a chance with him and she invites him a long. This book was the right amount of heart-warming sweetness and cringe worthy embarrassment but I did smile a lot during this book which is always a good sign. 4 stars! 

My sixth read was Choose Us by Caylie Marcoe. This book is about best friends, one who is a major celebrity and the other who is his personal assistant. When Travis breaks his leg while racing he is coerced into being part of a dating show and he doesn't want to end up with a complete bitch he asks his best friend and PA to be part of the show, but little do they know they will fall for one another. But Travis acts like the usual YA player and doesn't know if he should go for, Riley the girl who he's known his whole life, who's always there for him and literally bends over backwards to be the best friend she can be or the other kind of girl who wants his fame and glory more than him. This almost tears them apart both as lovers and as best friends. I was on Riley's side the whole of this book! I really enjoyed it and I'll give it 3.5 stars, because sometimes I just hate the stereotypical girls in contemporaries! 

My seventh read was Be With Me, the third novel of the Wait for me Series! My second Jennifer L. Armentrout book of April and I loved it! Teresa and Jase are a really cute couple, both with secrets and drama riddling their life! I don't think I liked it as much as Wait for You because Cam and Avery were just such an amazing duo and I loved them but Tess and Jase are nearly as cute! The only thing that truly bothered me was Jase's incapability of just making up his mind, he leads Teresa on quite a bit and that annoyed me. But there was mentions of Cam and Avery in here as Teresa is Cams little sister so big YES from me!  But Jennifer L. Armentrout's writing style just kept me hooked and I just love her. 4 stars! :D 



My eight read was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This book was so well thought out and I enjoyed this book immensely. Being a 90's girl and I don't really have a lot of knowledge of 80's video games so sometimes the references were lost on me but I did enjoy this book! I thought of it as a spin on Roald Dahl's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory only way more intricate and tech savvy. I also loved the competition in order to win was not only within the world of the OASIS but escalated into the real world, affecting people in very real ways. 
I loved that this was a place people could be who they thought they always wanted to be without anyone knowing who they really were and yet most peoples identities were completely opposite to who they really were. Wade in the end of this book realises that for the first time ever he doesn't want to plug back into the OASIS (The name of this game) which I think is the message of this book, plugging into a made-up reality cannot replace real life experiences. 4 stars for Cline's debut!

 

Now my last read is one I'm considering as part of April as I finished it in the early hours of the 1st of May and I hadn't gone to bed yet! And that book is What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick which I have a full review of here; http://blogsomebooks.blogspot.ie/2014/05/what-i-thought-was-true-by-huntley.html
I'm not completely sure on how I rank this book, definitely not better than My Life Next Door, but nor is it a terrible book. 3.5 stars! :D

May To Be Read (TBR) 

 I've already read 2 books so far (I know it's only the fifth, but they were really short!) And they are; In The Lyrics by Nacole Stayton and Two Way Street by Lauren Bamholout. I will talk more about these two either in a single review or in my May Wrap up! 

The next books I hope to finish this month are; 
1. Easy by Tammara Webber 
2. Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

And I hope to read; 
1. The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
2. Living Again by L.L. Collins
3. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi 
4. If I Stay by Gayle Forman. 

I hope to re-read;
1. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. 

There are the seven books I hope to read this month, and it should happen as my exams finish on the 13th of May and I'm free from then on so YAY! For Summer! :D 

Interested in reading any of these books you can buy them all on Book Depository at http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=Micaela

Until Next Time Readers... :D 

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick Book Review.

What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick is set on a little summer island were there are two types of people, the island people who are there to make sure that the summer business goes off without a hitch and then there's the off island rich people who employ these people. This is what are main characters are, Gwen Castle (Guinevere) the girl from the island who comes from a family of fishermen and cleaners, while Cass Somers (Cassidy) is a rich off island boy who works as a yard boy on the island just for the summer. 

But, these two character do not first meet within the chapters of this book. These characters have a history, which isn't shared with the reader until later in the story, which is a little frustrating at times as without the background it feels like they're being unnecessarily difficult with one another. Although it is clear that Gwen is attracted to Cass, but as a reader I had no reasons why it would be difficult for them to be together. 
Gwen is different to all other female characters in contemporaries in my opinion, she's not a 'good' girl nor is she a 'bad girl' she's just simply a girl. She doesn't give off a pretence of being innocent but she doesn't think she's the baddest bitch in town she is a girl who is striving to be the best version of herself even though she knows she has made some mistakes. I admire this in Gwen's character Huntley does an amazing job of creating a character who is totally relatable as everyone is always trying to become someone who is better than who they once were, to better themselves. 

Cass is a total sweetheart also, coming to Gwen's rescue, helping out with her adorable brother Em, but yet sometimes I think he is a little naive about life. His experiences are not as broad as Gwen's and I don't know how I feel about his tactics while trying to get Gwen to open up to him. 
The progression of this couple was slow, but it needed to be as we only really find out about their past right before they get together. Although it's clear they both care for one another and are attracted to each other. 
Huntley Fitzpatrick's secondary characters always impress me immensely I kind of wanted the book to be about Viv and Nic as I think they had a lot more to offer story wise, maybe she'll do this story in Viv's point of view. The dynamic between these two in the beginning of the book was perfect, but I would love to see what happens to them through their perspective rather than Gwen's. 
Gwen's family is super cute, her Portuguese fisherman grandfather, her divorced parents and her adorable little bother Emory who cannot be diagnosed properly. Em has a disability, but no doctor can find out which, with in itself is interesting this young boy who is completely sweet, calling Cass 'Superman' and who just loves unconditionally. Even Gwen's employer for the summer a sharp older woman who has a sense of humour and a snappy personality. 

What is a snappy summer read becomes a deep and more complex book as Huntley really portrays the difficult process of growing up, having sex and drawing an awareness to the power of actions and words have to hurt others. This book has authentic, unique characters yet are realistic and easy to relate to. 

What I Thought Was True is a contemporary, stand alone. It's not a very heavy book, but it isn't extremely light and fluffy but I would consider it a summer read. 

I did struggle with some parts of this book, at some points I thought that it could have been a lot shorter and that some scenes were too dragged out when they didn't need to be. 


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MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD! ALERT!

I had some problems with this book. :/ 

 I did not find the reasoning for Cass and Gwen not speaking a good enough reason. They had sex in a very visible car outside a crowded party that Cass was throwing. Cass throws the party in order to get closer to Gwen, as he's too nervous to ask her out on a date. I thought this notion was ridiculous, I understand anxiety but he somehow thought it was going to be easy now that they had sex in a car. But Gwen somehow doesn't have a problem with this until she steps out of the car and sees that some people have noticed what happens, and they taunt her. I understand being embarrassed, but it's more than that she seems to think it was Cass' fault and then she stops speaking to him. 
I also know that not everyone loses their virginity under normal, right or luxurious conditions but Cass loses his in the front seat of said car, and then when they're done he says, 'Thank you.'. I literally cringed, I was like, 'Oh, Cass honey please stop'. What makes this even worse is she has no idea he is a virgin and our beloved Gwen is definitely not a virgin.  She sees herself as a means to an end, as in Cass used her to take his virginity and I understand she's been burned before but I think she didn't give Cass a good enough chance, she jumps to conclusions, the wrong ones.  
After this encounter Gwen shortly has sex with Cass' best friend, Spencer, which is a horrible idea but she seems to just go with it. Gwen definitely does not remain celibate while her and Cass spend time apart. 
So they don't contact each other for what I think is about a year, but then Cass gets a job as a yard boy on the island them running into one another becomes inevitable which of course happens a lot. 
Cass is the perfect gentleman to Gwen and I really do like them as a couple but I'm positive that they could have worked it out so much sooner and they wasted so much time playing games with one another. Cass hires Gwen as his tutor, which we actually don't see happen too often but from that moment on something sparks between them once again and the fact that Cass is super adorable teaching Gwen's brother Em to swim add significantly to the cute factor. 
Sometimes I just felt like grabbing both of them and shaking them

But, this story is not only about the relationship between Gwen and Cass it also has some side character which I loved a little more then the main characters. 
Nico and Vivienne have been in love with each other forever, and to everyone around them it seems like that's how it is going to stay. But Nic is in a battle with himself, wanting to prove to himself and his Uncle Mike (Gwen's father) that he is capable of looking after himself, he trains himself trying so hard to make it as the captain of his swim team. He almost kills himself with the amount of work he puts into it, ignoring everything else - including Viv - he throws himself into working hard. But he forgets that he has a team to work for as well, and he doesn't take them into account. 
Viv is somewhat ignored by Nico, and suddenly they're not as in love as they thought they were. Viv cheats on Nico with none other than Spencer! This plot twist shocked me as I believed Viv and Nico as the forever couple in this contemporary, they were the shining light when I didn't think Cass and Gwen were going to make it. 
Nico has a somewhat difficult relationship within his family, were not told too much about his parents, but I do know he considers his Uncle Mike as a father figure. But Mike wants so much more for Nic then what that small town has to offer as he missed out on opportunities when he was younger as his girlfriend became pregnant with Gwen. He doesn't regret their lives, or the pregnancy but he yearns for the chances he could have taken while raising his children, which is something every young parent can relate to especially when it's unplanned. 

Maybe I'm just being majorly picky because I had such high expectations after 'My Life Next Door' by Fitzpatrick but this book just didn't live up to her debut, I enjoyed reading it and even I admit I sort of enjoyed that these characters were aggravating as it meant I was getting attached to them, they weren't horrible people or even amazing people, they were simply people and I love it when books don't over hype human emotion and just lets it be raw and personal which I loved in this book. 

Huntley ties everything together in the epilogue, knowing that Cass and Gwen are going to the same college and that Viv and Spencer have become a couple. I still feel sorry for Nic though, he was only trying to be the best he could be and somehow he lost Viv along the way, but, that's life. 


Stars? 3.5 < I liked this book but I don't think it lived up to her debut, and some things I actually couldn't put up with. 

Fave character? Nico Castle

Least favourite character? I surprisingly don't think I have one. But if I had to choose it would be Spencer. 

Fave quote? 'How come it's so clear to you when some made-up fictional characters are massively stupid and you can't see it all when it's you and me' - Cass. This quote to me is so powerful, we see other peoples mistakes, fictional, real life much easier than we can see our own. 

Fave moment? I really liked the epilogue including the last line, 'Horizons that seem like ending but only bend farther into the sky, curving into something new, beginning all over again.' 



Want to but this book? Here's the link to the Book Depository, their books are cheaper than store bought and they deliver worldwide for free! 
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If you've read this book, or would like to read it please do, also share you're opinions in the comments! This book is filled with teenage angst and some sweet romance to sustain the summer, chick-lit feel!