We Were Liars

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Every year the Sinclair family goes to their family's summer home. However, recently, main character, Cadence, and her mother have not attended the family vacation, so Cadence feels like something is wrong. When they finally go, after missing a few summers, Cadence is treated as if she is super fragile and she makes it her mission to figure out what happened the summer before they quit going to cause this change. While only on the island for a short while, Cadence tries to get the truth out of everyone. But just by being on the island and hanging out with her cousins her memories begin to return. As her memories are returning Cadence realizes that her cousins actually died years ago in a fire that they all helped set in the main house. During the fire Cadence's cousins are trapped and when Cadence tries to save them she is injured and gets sick from smoke inhalation. This is what caused her memory loss and migraines. Every piece of the puzzle that she finds out she records in a journal so that she no longer is in the dark about her own past. By the end of the story she has remembered the whole story and her cousins ghosts are now free to move on. 

For someone who liked this book I would recommend Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight. It has many of the same qualities of this book and it has just as many twists and turns. Both of these books kept me guessing till the very end, which is exciting and keeps the reader invested in the book. Both books would be enjoyable for all who like YA novels. 

There are an amazing amount of resources for librarians to use when looking for book recommendations. Some of these lists give ideas about award winning books and some of these lists are the "if you like this then read this" type. Sometimes, if you see a book pop up on more than one of these lists you know that it must be a good one. When deciding what books to read for our assignment a book that fit this bill was We Were Liars which was on the list of "If you like Gone Girl you will like this" and the Best Fiction list.

Citation

Lockhart, E. (2014). We were liars. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.