Bugiarde nate

We Were Liars #2

by E. Lockhart

Prima di "L'estate dei segreti perduti", prima che tutto andasse storto, prima della vacanza perfetta finita in tragedia... c'erano loro: le ragazze della famiglia Sinclair. Un'ereditiera travolgente, un ragazzo irresistibile. Un'estate di tradimenti imperdonabili e terribili errori. Le sorelle Sinclair contano i giorni che le separano dalle vacanze a Beechwood, l'isola privata su cui trascorrono ogni meravigliosa estate, tra lunghe nuotate nell'oceano e spumeggianti aperitivi a bordo piscina. Ma stavolta le cose saranno diverse. Da quando una tragedia ha spezzato la vita della più giovane erede dei Sinclair, Rosemary, niente sull'isola potrà più essere come prima. O forse sì? La cosa peggiore di perdere una sorella è dimenticarla. E la famiglia Sinclair sembra aver ristabilito una nuova normalità, nell'estate senza Rosemary. Solo per Carry il vuoto lasciato da sua sorella resta incolmabile. Soltanto lei sembra non riuscire a superare il suo ricordo e voltare pagina. L'unico modo che ha per soffocare il dolore è anestetizzarlo con i medicinali... almeno fino a quando sull'isola dei Sinclair non arrivano tre ragazzi: George, Major e, soprattutto, l'affascinante e misterioso Pfeff, che sa cosa significa non sprecare un chiaro di luna. O un solo attimo della vita. Per Carrie e le sue sorelle inizia così un'estate magica, in cui scopriranno la forza del loro legame. Un'estate costellata di passione ma anche di segreti, tradimenti e bugie. Un'estate che le segnerà per sempre.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Contemporary, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

335 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2022

About the author

E. Lockhart is the author of Again Again, Genuine Fraud, We Were Liars and Family of Liars, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and several other books. Whistle: A New Gotham CIty Hero is a graphic novel. We Were Liars is also a TV show on Prime Video, June 2025. We Fell Apart, book 3 in the We Were Liars universe, publishes November 2025.

website: www.emilylockhart.com
Instagram, Threads & TikTok: elockhartbooks

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t be so excited to start the prequel of one of the most mind blowing, shocking, surprising stories I’ve ever read!

“We were liars” hit me real hard with its sucker punch twist I didn’t see it coming. With this prequel we get a closer look of the parents of three liars: the story’s narrator is Johnny’s mother Caroline: promising ghost of her son to tell a story that only sisters know about. She did something back in the past and she is finally ready to share her secret which also open a lot of can of worms because it seems like becoming part of Sinclair family means pretending, lying, acting, keeping everything to yourself, showing no weakness even though you slowly get torn into pieces inside just like Caroline has been doing for years!

We return back private island belongs to Sinclair family ancestors where is off the coast of Massachusetts.

In the summer of 1985, Caroline has so much on her plate: dealing with the grief of drowning 10 years old sister Rosemary whose ghost starts visiting her as her beautiful and self absorbed sisters Bee and Penelope already moved on with her lives, flirting with boys, enjoying summer, pretending nothing tragic happened just like her parents do.

Caroline’s painful face surgery that reshaped her bone structure heals with the help of drugs but Caroline’s addiction to those pills gets out of control, resulting with stealing her parents’ pills to sleep tight at the night.

When their uncle Dean, her favorite cousin and her best friend Yardley show up with surprise guests with them including Yardley’s boyfriend George and his friends from school Major and Pfeff, things eventually change and their summer vacation gets heated!

Pfeff’s flirting with Caroline, giving a romantic first kiss in the moonlight, awakes so many foreign feelings and pure excitement Caroline has never felt before.

But things uncontrollably change as Caroline finds herself surrounded by web of lies, betrayals, secrets! Only way to survive at that haunted summer and become a part of family mean she has to learn how to lie and how to pretend like all Sinclairs do all the time.

This tragic, gripping, well written, thought provoking story, heart wrenching, twisty story will deeply affect you and shake you to the core!

Most of the characters including sisters of Caroline were dislikable. I think I mostly loved Yardley: she’s smart, confident and devoted friend who stood up for Caroline and I think I cannot say no to another prequel to learn more about her story evolved.

This book doesn’t have a jaw dropping twist but it’s a sensitive psychological and realistic fiction that portraits an unforgettable dysfunctional family.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s / Delacorte Press for sharing this one of the most anticipated books’ digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.w

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[talia ♡]

seeing this book blurbed as a “TikTok phenomenon”…hurts…

this is 2014 book!Tumblr erasure of which *EYE* am a veteran of and i won’t stand for it!!!

EDIT: glad to see this is resonating with all of you guys too...🚬🚬
we deserve financial compensation i think.

[giulia ✿ · Rating 2 out of 5]

prequel to one of the worst books i've ever read? sign me tf up


...should've seen it coming lol

[amy carstairs-dragna ♥]

Unpopular Opinion: I read We Were Liars in Dec of 2020 and I loved it...
So I'm gonna read this one! :)

[Delanie Speeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

did we were liars emotionally destroy you or are you a soulless husk of your former self?

anyways, cannot wait for this book to shatter me.

[Elena]

Am I the only one that actually liked We Were Liars? (Yeah I read it before tik tok)

Anyway, this book better make me cry because I LIVE for rich people family drama....though this wasn't necessary but I'll read this anyway because Im trash

[Zoë]

more like family of little shits

iykyk

[Ali Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! I definitely liked this book more than we were liars and it was so cool to hear about the past generation (Cadence's mom and her siblings) and how that shaped the family. Overall a really interesting and surprising story. I never saw the ending coming and literally never knew where the story was going.

[Isabelle Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

well.

that was unexpected. i'm really just not sure what to make of that.

[Charlotte May · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We have been pretending everything’s okay all year, and we will keep pretending everything’s okay. We know how. It’s the family way.”

I enjoyed this prequel to We Were Liars. We have gone back a generation and now see the 3 mums as teenagers, Carrie, Penny and Bess.

This one doesn’t have quite the same menace or shock value as We Were Liars, but it is a character study on wealth and what it can get you.

In the summer Carrie is 17, her cousin Yardley comes to stay - brining her boyfriend and two of his mates. Things are about to change in a big way.

Quite a few secrets come out which I enjoyed, and it all followed through well. There wasn’t anything that didn’t make sense - at least to me anyway.

It was good to get sucked into the hot mess that is the Sinclair family once more.

Just one last thing to note. You must read We Were Liars first as there is a massive spoiler on page one of this book.


*************************
Library copy available for pick up

Think I might reread We Were Liars before starting this one 😊

[Layla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what I disliked more: the writing, the concept, or the character names. Lawrence Pfefferman? Yardley? Tipper Taft Sinclair? Absolutely not. I cannot take these people seriously. But I did enjoy this more than book 1. Excluding the last like 10 chapters which sucked.

[ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[clicktojointhemafia]

please dont break my heart,
please dont break my heart,
please dont break my heart.

[Laura]

E. Lockheart i cannot handle a prequel

[Jesse (JesseTheReader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was ANNOYED when I found out this was happening, but knew that I'd end up reading it. While it wasn't as bad as I had been expecting it to be, I still don't think it was necessary. I felt like it reflected a lot of things that we had already seen be done in WE WERE LIARS. The only layer I feel like this book added to the ~wewereliars-verse~ is a little bit more understanding for the family and how they function. Outside of that, I didn't feel like this book did anything else to stand out for me.

[JaymeO · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Be a credit to the family.”

***This book is the prequel to We Were Liars and contains spoilers. I highly recommend reading We Were Liars before the prequel. HOWEVER, THIS REVIEW WILL AVOID ALL SPOILERS.***

Caroline Lennox Taft Sinclair (Carrie) lives a privileged lifestyle. Her wealthy family owns an island off the coast of Massachusetts where they summer every year. In this book, she is telling her son, Johnny, the story of the summer of 1987. She thinks it is particularly important for him to hear this story, but is unsure whether she will be able to tell the whole truth.

The audiobook is read by Kimberly Farr and is fantastic. She is by far the BEST READER I have come across and cannot recommend her work enough. However, it might also be helpful to read the printed version, as it contains family genealogy and maps of the island. If you are a visual person, please check this format out instead!

The We Were Liars /Family of Liars series technically falls in the YA genre, but the writing is so sophisticated that it will appeal to adults as well. I rarely read YA, but this series is one exception I will make! It is a very character driven domestic suspense novel focusing on real issues such as coping with death, substance abuse, secrets, and lies.

Much of the story is also told through parallels between Carrie’s story and several well-known fairytales. This adds an extra layer to the complexity of the plot. Those who have read We Were Liars might be expecting a huge twist, but won’t find that in the prequel. While I loved the first book’s surprise ending, this book’s format works well in its own right. I absolutely loved both books in this series and if you read my reviews, you know that I don’t often give out five star reviews. However, both of these books merit the highest rating.

The Sinclair family’s story is a perfect series to read this summer!

5/5 stars

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Read: March 2022, Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Second Read: December 2023, Rating: 4.5/5stars

First Thoughts:
BREAK MY HEART. Thank you kindly.

Second Thoughts:
Yardley is an icon who deserves her own novel.

Final Thoughts:
This was not quite as traumatising as its prequel, We Were Liars, for me personally, but still displayed a focus on a wide array of issues, interspersed with scenes of summer fun and how the white and wealthy live. There is something so compelling about reading about the genuinely hard-hitting and the eye-roll worthy 'woe betide me' side-be-side.

One thing I'm especially enjoying about this book is how accurate the teen dialogue sounded. Conversations are littered with 'like', and awkward pauses, and slightly immature humour, and it all felt so real. I actually love pretentious teens in some other YA books, such as those penned by John Green, but it is also refreshing to find authenticity here.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, E. Lockhart, and the publisher, Allen & Unwin, for this opportunity.

[Sylvia]

I want to read this book because I hate myself. :)

We Were Liars messed me up years ago. I'm ready to get hurt again.

[paige (ptsungirl) · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Don't take no for an answer is a lesson we teach boys that would be better off learning that no means no."

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read WE WERE LIARS eight years ago and absolutely loved it. It was devastating, but also amazing. FAMILY OF LIARS is the prequel, but please read the original first to avoid any spoilers. The prequel is all about the previous generation of Sinclairs during their teen years (set in the 1980s), and we get a glimpse of why they are the way they are, and how their grief, guilt, and family dynamics affected their children years later. The writing is gorgeous. I do think the prequel is different in that it's more of an atmospheric family drama rather than a mystery/thriller, though there are a few surprising twists along the way. I loved this book and didn't want it to end!

[Brittany McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one even more than We Were Liars. As a prequel, it answers many missing details, and I can see why E. Lockhart felt the need to write it. I am so glad that she did.

I like the paranormal aspect the most.

The family is slightly less messed up in this one. It was good to get to know the grandfather a bit more and what happened between the sisters.

It was a good read, but you don't want to read it first. There are a ton of spoilers to the mystery in the original novel.

I love the lie that is later retold.

4 stars for me

[seeraaa ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦."






The book wasn’t as mysterious as I expected, but I actually enjoyed the family drama this time more than in the first book. 👀

Nothing much happened at the beginning — it was a bit slow and even boring at times, but as the story went on, I started to enjoy it more.

Carrie had every right to be angry, and I genuinely felt bad for her 😔 because no one seemed to regret or even apologize to her — especially Pfeff. I didn’t like him from the start; he was such a foolish flirt who kept using “I can’t do anything right” as an excuse. What happened to him in the end? Honestly satisfying 😌👏🏻

Penny was terrible too — how could she do that to her sister? She already had everything, yet she still wanted her sister’s happiness too. Somehow, they were all bad, and finding out what happened to them later, how none of them really succeeded despite their privilege and education, felt quite satisfying to me. 😈

I didn’t like the boys either — George and Major acted like the island was theirs and didn’t want to leave. George especially was just stupid 🤦🏻‍♀️ he literally gave up Yardley to stay there… what did he expect? That Harris would leave him some property? 🤣🤣

The only characters I liked were Yardley and Tomkin 😂 he reminded me of the twins from the first book. And Rosemary too — it’s so sad how, despite all the parties and games, they never had one dinner to remember her… as if she never existed 🥲

Overall, it wasn’t as mysterious or thrilling as I hoped, but the family drama, tension, and twisted dynamics kept me entertained till the end. 🩵💙






Onto book two... hoping it’s even better than the first one! 🩵💙

[Tracy P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

After enjoying We Were Liars quite a bit a few years back, I was excited to pick-up this prequel and find out how it all began for the Sinclair family.

Though it was interesting to hear about the sisters childhood relationships and the influences which molded who they became in adulthood, it did not not grab me quite as much as the first book. Even so, this was still a most entertaining and worthwhile listen. I will gladly read more of E. Lockhart's future releases.

Narrator Kimberly Farr seamlessly voiced all the characters with pitch-perfect pacing and realism. A fantastic listening experience.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did i not like the first book? Um yeah.
I’m i going to read this? Um yeah.


Update:
Lol i read it. I think I dislike this more than the original.

[Tatiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alas, E. Lockhart never listens to me and doesn’t write more Ruby Oliver-like books, but instead follows what TikTok and Bookstragram hype and pens these mysteries I am not particularly interested in. We Were Liars was just okay for me, and I feel the same about Family of Liars: The Prequel to We Were Liars. No twist in YA lit will ever wow me. But I did enjoy the summer vibe of this book. It's set in the 1980s, and all about rich people doing nothing, swimming and eating, basking in the sun and enjoying their heaps of money. (They own the whole island?) Relationships and dialog were fun, all the mystery stuff - eh. I will, however, probably reread We Were Liars as I don't remember one thing about it.

[Iris · Rating 1 out of 5]

And i thought the first one was bad

[linoreads]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!! OMG YES, I REALLY WANTED THIS

[Coco Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75/5

i really enjoyed this! i haven’t read a YA novel in a while so it felt so good to slip back into the easy reading style :)
i adored we were liars so had high expectations for this and it didn’t disappoint.
i do think there could’ve been more to make me hate Pfeff, yes he does horrible things but i think i needed more anger from Carries side to really feel the emotions.

i want to read more from e lockhart now !

[valentina · Rating 1 out of 5]

//Mild Spoilers//

No, just no

Allow me to preface this review with saying that I enjoyed We Are Liars. It wasn’t amazingly jaw droppingly spectacular, but it was cool. I enjoyed it. The plot twists were decent. The writing style was fast paced albeit a bit boring. But it wasn’t horrible.

This book was nothing like I had expected.

It felt like E. Lockhart pasted her previous book into a word document, rearranged the pieces, and added a couple of characters. Lots of plot points served little to no purpose: Uncle Dean’s money schemes, Johnny being there, Major coming out to Harris, Penny coming out, etc. I guess they were supposed to show how this spoiled bourgeoisie family works, but it was all so surface level that it felt as if E. Lockhart was spinning a cliche plot point roulette before deciding to bet on all of them.

And the worst thing? The story was concluded. There was an ending. This book is a prequel to a very angsty YA novel. It should have been written to build up tension and explain why the Sinclair sisters aren’t that close. It should have created a history between them that had been covered up with fake smiles and perfect postures. But instead, they work together and survive a la friendship My Little Pony style.

Here is what I would have done to make this prequel effective. This is just my opinion.

- Rosemary should have died later on in the book. Her death would have been the perfect climax to the book. The youngest Sinclair sister, the one everyone adored, the one who kept her sisters together, died. Her ghost really isn’t necessary but her death sure was.
- Carrie not being liked by boys always seemed a bit off to me. She is the eldest daughter of a prestigious family and many guys may have wanted to take advantage of that. Have her meet a boy who doesn’t know who she is. Someone who likes her for her. Introduce Penny into the scene and have the sisters fall out over the boy. If you want to keep the Buddy Kopelnick plot line, have Penny reveal the truth while in a screaming match. Congratulations! You have now destroyed the relationship between two spoiled rich (half) sisters.
- I refuse to believe Bess would not show any feelings regarding Rosemary’s death. They were the closest in age. Bess is the second youngest. To create conflict between Bess and Carrie (and Penny if you’re feeling ambitious) have her break down and the other two sisters berate her for not being a normal Sinclair.

These situations may seem small, but they would be enough to drive a wedge between the Sinclair sisters. Because it wasn’t too big, they could get over it. Hide it under pretty faces and dazzling smiles. But it sets up the stage for the main book. It shows us into the Sinclair family. They love each other, but they are chained to each other. They are ambitious and lie to get ahead, sometimes hurting each other in the process. That is the Sinclair legacy that this book lacked.

[Elle G. Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll admit when I read, We Were Liars a few years ago I wasn’t all that impressed. Perhaps its because I wasn’t in the mood for that book when I read it, or it just wasn’t the book for me at the time. No matter what, I decided to try again by reading this one as it’s the prequel and I just wanted to see if the authors writing was for me or not. Was it? Yes. I truly enjoyed this one. Now I want to go back and re-read We Were Liars because I’m so interested in the complexities of the Sinclair family! Not only that, but E. Lockhart weaves her stories almost poetically. You get sucked into her words, into the characters worlds, and it’s hard to look away from the pages. I was DRAWN to these characters and their motivations and seeing how the parents of the kids from We Were Liars (because this is THEIR book) deal with their own traumas was extremely interesting.

I won’t get into the plot because I don’t want to spoil this for potential readers, but I will say that its an excellent addition to the series and I’m really glad the author wrote it. I loo forward to doing a re-read of WWL in the near future.

One thing to note is that this book CAN stand alone. You don’t have to have read We Were Liars to fully enjoy this one. In fact, there aren’t even spoilers for it in this one. It is however the story for the parents from WWL as I mentioned above. I would characterize this as a coming-of-age story/ YA fiction as it deals with prescription drug abuse and even murder.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙:
• We Were Liars
• YA, coming of Age stories
• Beach Reads

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐