We Were Liars

We Were Liars

written by E. Lockhart

Summer! Beach! Book! This is it. This is the one. To be honest, I’ve never been certain about what people meant by a “beach read”. Is it a romance? Something relaxing? No idea. But, let me tell you why I think We Were Liars makes a great beach read.

Cadence Sinclair Eastman spends every summer with her family on Beechwood Island, an island in Martha’s Vineyard that her grandfather owns. The Sinclair’s are prestigious and wealthy with no criminals, addicts, or failures among them. At least that’s what everyone needs to believe. The fifteenth summer Candence visits Beechwood, she spends nearly all her time with “the Liars”, a core group of friends consisting of Mirren, Johnny, and Gat. Year fifteen on Beechwood Island is just like any other with family dinners, boat rides, and fun in the sun, except this is the year that Candance and Gat fall in love and Candance’s aunts are arguing over who gets what in grandpa’s will. Then something happens. At some point that summer, Candance gets a head injury that causes her to lose her memories surrounding the accident, and no one will tell her what happened. None of the Liars will respond to her emails. She misses year sixteen on the island, and, after nearly two years away, she demands to return for summer seventeen. She wants the answers that her family refuses to divulge. She won’t stop until she knows the truth.

I claim this is a beach read, and here’s how I’ll prove it. This post from Bookriot defines a beach read by five traits; carefree joy, compulsively readable, summer settings, romance, and low stakes. So how does We Were Liars stack up?

Carefree joy

Candance is far from joyful. Her headaches bring her life-disrupting sickness and anguish. Something is off in her family.

Compulsively readable

Heck yes! I finished this book in two days. It’s a short book, but the mystery and twists had me hooked.

Summer settings

Summer seventeen baby! This book has a summer setting, though hardly a common one seeing that it is a private island.

Romance

The romance between Candance and Gat is sweet, but with the amnesia and head trauma hanging over everything like a dark cloud. It’s hard to tell whether their love was true.

Low stakes

Something bad happened to Candance. She can’t change what she forgot, but it’s impossible to tell what the stakes are without the full picture. Without the truth.

I say this book is a beach read because it is enthralling and satisfying. The reader races to the end to discover what ugly truth the Sinclair’s are hiding, and the ending had my jaw on the floor. And once you know the ending, you’ll want to read it again. This time with a new perspective.