A review by tourmaline1703
Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

We Were Liars is one of my favourite books of all time, so I was very excited to revisit this world in its prequel. Safe to say, I wasn't disappointed. I will say that the shock factor is less than We Were Liars so don't expect such a big twist but there are still twists and turns along the way. They're not necessarily predictable just shock you in a different way.

I love the summery setting of this novel, it's really made the nice weather today feel like the start of summer. Usually summery novels have this sense of perfection and happiness, but this novel uses the summery setting to create a false sense of security which I love!

It's unconventional but I love the way the novel is written and structured. The use of fairytales to reflect the protagonist's story is really interesting and of course, the whole premise is based on the fact she is an unreliable narrator, which is what adds to the twists. At times, some things felt like they were typos which did throw me off a bit but they could be part of the dialect.

I felt the plot was well paced and I liked the twists and turns. The mystery and romance blend creates a great set up for the storyline. The characters were interesting and I wanted to know their motives, their relationships and what happened next. None of these characters are particularly good people but they're interesting and flawed, making it a good read.
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