Review: Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

Basics

Title: Family of Liars

Author: E. Lockhart

Publisher: Ember

Pages: 298

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

We Were Liars Summary

Family of Liars is the prequel to We Were Liars and told through the eyes of Cadence’s aunt, Carrie Sinclair. Carrie recounts her summers on Beechwood as a teenager to her son, Johnny. However, amidst all the innocent beach activities that sisters do, there was one story that Carrie swore to never tell. Feeling obligated to tell Johnny, she tells him. Family of Liars follows a decades old story that was never told–until now.

Rating

You’ll Love Family of Liars If You Love…

We Were Liars is a thrilling read, and I know for sure you’ll love this book if you love these tropes!

 The book focuses on Carrie and her sisters while they were teenagers, so readers are able to get a better perspective of the sister’s relationship, since it wasn’t portrayed in a positive light in We Were Liars. Plus, there are very important events that bring the sisters together.

E. Lockhart knows how to deliver great plot twists, and Family of Liars is no exception! You’ll be in for a shocking ending!

Similar to We Were Liars, Family of Liars is told from the protagonist’s point of view, so there are some biases that come from this 1st person point of view.

Family of Liars Review

I found the plot to be similar to We Were Liars. It wasn’t very action packed, but the suspense built around the characters is enough to keep you intrigued. The story that Carrie tells seems to be a normal one, but there’s underlying suspense that kept me reading. There were definitely plot twists at the end, and one of them, I didn’t suspect at all, but the other one didn’t have that much of a surprise factor as the other one. I found the ending to be immensely satisfying. All questions that I had were answered, and the story flowed well. 
 

I found Carrie’s character to be similar to Cadence’s in We Were Liars. Much like Cadence, Carrie doesn’t act like a stuck-up rich girl, she wants to focus on issues beyond her family. Issues like poverty, the AIDS crisis, and war. Separate from the plot-twist ending, Carrie undergoes meaningful character development. She discovers truths that she didn’t know were there before, and she goes through a journey of self-discovery where she finally comes to terms with her flaws. Because of Carrie’s development, I found her character to be very compelling and likeable, though, not relatable. Through Carrie’s development, Lockhart explores themes of grief, legacy, and family expectations.

In addition to Carrie’s character, there were important relationships that were presented through the novel. I found Carrie’s relationship with Lawrence “Pfeff” Pfefferman especially compelling.

What I liked about their relationship was not the nature of it, and you’ll understand why if you read the book, but the inclusion of this relationship. Books that I read that include romance tend to be about relationships that are often healthy and loving. E. Lockhart writes this relationship with Carrie in mind. Carrie’s never had a real boyfriend, so this makes her naive about the topic. It’s interesting to see the dynamics of this “relationship” and the call to attention on unhealthy behavior that Pfeff can potentially display.  Lockhart shows that first love is not always happy, and is not always right.

I always enjoy Lockhart’s writing. I find it very easy to read, and just the right level of descriptiveness. Because of her writing, I was able to devour the last 200 pages of the book. Her style of writing brings a unique voice to the narration of the book and is able to build suspense that had me at the edge of my seat! Similar to in We Were Liars, Family of Liars also includes allegorical fairytales to go more in depth into Carrie’s personality and ways of thinking. 

Conclusion

This suspense filled prequel is something that I enjoyed reading! Although it’s not necessary to read, if you want more of the Sinclair family, this is a great way to read more about them. Nonetheless, I would recommend reading We Were Liars first, before reading Family of Liars because there are some spoilers for We Were Liars in Family of Liars.

I hope you enjoyed this Family of Liars review—and if you haven’t read it yet, get ready for the shocking ending!

-Jacqueline


Related Posts

Hey there!

My name is Jacqueline! I’ve just gotten back into reading this past year and hope to venture into this world! I enjoy reading (obviously) and traveling, although I haven’t done much of this, due to being broke.

This blog is just to share my opinions and review, as well as rant about books that I’ve read. 

I hope you enjoy!