ellie's Reviews > Family of Liars

Our family has always loved fairy tales. There is something ugly and true in them. They hurt, they are strange, but we cannot stop reading them, over and over.

i read We Were Liars when i was about fourteen. my best friend at the time and i had a lil book club just between the two of us where we exchanged our favourite books and knew that the other would love it, too. she gave me We Were Liars. i gave her The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

both books had such an impact on the teenage version of me. i know We Were Liars has exploded on tiktok in the past year and it’s become popular with a lot of people disliking it and not understanding the hype. but at the time, this book changed me. i don’t think anyone quite understands. it’s one of the books that reignited my love for reading again. it showed me the impact a book can have on a person and the way they view the world.

i remember getting to the plot twist and i physically dropped the book bcos i was so shocked. 14 year old me lost her shit lmao. the book opened my eyes to the wonders of reading— the possibilities reading ignited in a person. it made me realise i adore the feelings reading stirs in me. when i think back to where my reading journey began, i tend to say Harry Potter because it definitely did when i was like 8 years old but i kinda fell out of reading in my mid-teens.

We Were Liars was the beginning of becoming the obsessive bookworm that i am. so i owe a lot to this book. the impact it had on me and the memories it holds are unparalleled.

i just treasure the memory of We Were Liars. the nostalgia it brings me is just... so intense. i can picture myself reading it in my living room, my dad watching tv, the chair i was sat in, the way i had to hibernate in my room afterwards so no one would see me cry lmao. one of my best friends bought me my own copy for my 16th birthday and it made me so happy that day, walking around school with my stash of books in my bag (bcos we’re British and don’t get lockers). my copy of We Were Liars was my pride and joy... until i leant it to my other friend who gave it back with a cracked spine and dog-eared pages... i remember that day very viscerally too. id literally had one of the shittiest days that my 18 year old self thought was the end of the world (it wasn’t) but that was just the cherry on top lol.

i even obsessively reblogged quotes from the book on tumblr, being all angsty and mysterious with my thirteen followers. the quote We were liars. We were beautiful and privileged. We were cracked and broken still lives in my head rent free, tbh.

so what im trying to say is, the first book means a lot to me. it has for eight years. and naturally, a prequel scared the shit out of me. i imagine it’s how fans of Ari and Dante felt when the sequel released last year. but i couldn’t not read this. i owe it to 14 year old me who was sobbing in her bedroom, clutching this to her chest and never wanting to let go.

”Not all pain is worth it,” said Tipper. “Some pain is just pain.”

there are no spoilers or details about the book below, just me generalised thoughts and opinions.

the prequel follows 17 year old Caroline “Carrie” Sinclair, one of the three Sinclair sisters and Johnny’s (from We Were Liars) mother, during one unforgettable summer. it was very reminiscent of the first book, but stands entirely on its own. stylistically, both books are similar, the narrative style of this book echoing the narration of the first. but plot wise, they’re nothing alike.

now... do i think this was necessary? no, not really. it doesn’t add or take away from the original story whatsoever. it really bears very few ties to the first book so in no way “ruins” it since there’s very little crossover. but i also don’t think i would have loved this so much without the ties to the original story. it just heightened my emotions automatically. so take that as you will.

the first chapter had me tearing up, my god. literally the first sentence. E. Lockhart immediately came for my throat. the melancholy undertone ran throughout the book and it was executed wonderfully. my heart hurt a lot for Carrie, a lump in my throat any time she was in pain. i found it really easy to root for her. she was admirable, loyal, loving. she was selfish, sharp and broken. out of the three sisters, im glad she was our narrator.

I am vain and consumed with my own internal life, drunk on the hot liquor of the desire for parental approval, desperate for love and validation, self-mutilated, seeing my sisters as competition.
Bloody.

the nostalgia i got from the summery vibes was just so heartwarming, gah! back then, i used to love reading American summery coming of age stories, set in a sandy beach town where two unexpected teens fall in love. My Life Next Door, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Sixteenth Summer (and the rest of that series), and literally all of Abbi Glines’ books were my fave things to read when i was still a sweet, naive impressionable reader... before i fell into unhinged smut.

so the moment they were back at Clairmont House, it was like i was in a little, sleepy beach town and not in rainy England lol. i was fully immersed in the story, the tone was set wonderfully and i devoured it in one sitting. it was easy to read and pretty short. i do wish certain characters, dynamics and events had been fleshed out more— at times there was a little bit too much ambiguity. but im also aware that’s the style of the storytelling.

Don’t pretend you would never hurt anybody.

more than anything, i think this is a story about the complexities of sisterhood. i don’t have sisters so i can’t fully understand the bond between sisters but the relationship between the Sinclair sisters stole the show for me and physically pained me to read. the amount of times my heart was beating out of my chest or i began to cry was countless. and that’s why this is getting five stars, just purely due to the visceral reaction it evoked within me... just like when i was 14 years old.

so im aware my rating is gonna be a little bias bcos it has so much adolescent nostalgia behind it. so again, keep that in mind if you’re wondering if you should give this ago.

Penny— reaches out to take my hand like she did when we were kids.
She used to reach for my hand when Harris was mad at us, when we had to recite poems for Nana and Grandpa, when Tipper was late to pick us up from dance class, while we sat together on the boat and saw Beechwood Island emerge from the empty expanse of the sea.
We hold hands now, and wait.

you really do have to suspend your disbelief when it comes to a handful of scenarios in this book. i guess the first one is the same too. i feel like if you loved the original book, then i can see you loving this... but if you didn’t :/ maybe skip this.

there was a lot of telling rather than showing which will bug people but again, it’s pretty much part of the ambiguous style of writing E. Lockhart executes. it worked for me when it usually doesn’t.

Blindfold me and I’d recognize the feel of his hands on me, the scent of his neck, the curve of his shoulders under my palms.

this prequel was just a wonderful trip down memory lane for me. i think some people are gonna adore it (like me, seriously cried way too much lol), while others are just gonna roll their eyes and think it’s kinda basic. i think most people will be able to discern from their feelings of We Were Liars if this will be for them.

14 year old me adored the original story. 22 year old me adored the prequel story.

thank you so much to NetGalley, Bonnier Books and the author for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review! seriously made 14 year old ellie’s day.