I forgot about the last summer holiday, and now I remember the truth

Another day of doing nothing brought me into a new experience of thrillers and twists when I decided to read this book.

“We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart tells us about a rich and privileged family, the Sinclairs, enjoying their summer holiday on their private island. Nothing could go wrong, until our protagonist Cady, had her accident in the summer two years ago. Every summer before, she spent with her 2 cousins, Mirren and Johnny, and also Gat. Together, they were The Liars. But something clearly happened between them two years ago… which Cady couldn’t remember.

I won’t tell you more deets on the plot, but I guarantee this is an interesting one. Questions and curiosity started to build up, and at the finale, the answer left me feeling devastated for the characters. So far, this book made it into my top 10 list of “books that wrecks me” along with Lisa Jewell’s “The Family Upstairs” and “Then She Was Gone”

I have never finished a book in one sitting and this one is just so captivating. The flow of the story really got me hooked on the first chapter, and it kept me wanting to know more about the characters and the conflicts, especially Cady. There are topics of mental issues mentioned here, such as trigger warnings for self-harm. Cady suffered a brain injury after the accident, and having medicine and the irritating headache has become her routine. She’s also struggling with partial memory loss, especially memories regarding the accident and her last summer holiday which her mom never told her.

Other issues such as classism and racism are also explored here. The Sinclairs were known as a privileged, rich, Caucasian family who never really got the time to at least care about other people other than themselves. They indulge in expensive wine, luxurious furniture, food, also plenty of staff and housekeepers who would settle things up for them. One of the characters, Gat who is an Indian himself, noticed the differences in how the family treats him and the housekeepers, Ginny and Paulo, who are Hispanic. This is mentioned when Gat talks to Cady about Ginny and Paulo, Cady doesn’t remember their name because she only sees them as “staff” or “housekeepers”.

Regardless of this book’s wicked twist and plotline, the writing style is kind of a miss for me. I don’t dig into a sentence that consists of a few words. This book has a lot of it:

“Cadence,” says Mirren.

“What?”
“Never mind.”
“What?”

Anyway, I’m going to give this 3.5/5 for making me devastated at the plot reveal and conflict (and -1.5 for the writing style)!

Originally published at https://matchalatteflavor.blogspot.com on April 7, 2021.