We Were Liars is fascinating. The writing style is very concise, and while there is fabulous description of the island that the Sinclairs occupy every summer, there's also an underlying eerie note that makes it all the more interesting to read about. The setting seems intricately real, what with the shimmering waters and the seashells and ice cream. Cadence, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat are easily distinguishable and entertaining. The gradual family tension among the Sinclairs is well-developed, and the plot twist at the end had me reeling. However, I definitely didn't like this book right from the start. The writing is a bit peculiar and jerky at times, and Cadence (who narrates the story) seemed quite whiny. I did warm up to the novel once more problems were woven into the plot. Sometimes, though, there was a weird feeling, as if these problems weren't as big as they really were. For example, the twist at the end was executed in an almost anticlimactic way. It's sort of just...confusion for a few chapters or so. Once I understood, though, I really liked the ending. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book as a lighter read, though I did have a few problems with it. The descriptions are marvelous and the overall idea is very unique.

We Were Liars is fascinating. The writing style is very concise, and while there is fabulous description of the island that the Sinclairs occupy every summer, there's also an underlying eerie note that makes it all the more interesting to read about. The setting seems intricately real, what with the shimmering waters and the seashells and ice cream. Cadence, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat are easily distinguishable and entertaining. The gradual family tension among the Sinclairs is well-developed, and the plot twist at the end had me reeling. However, I definitely didn't like this book right from the start. The writing is a bit peculiar and jerky at times, and Cadence (who narrates the story) seemed quite whiny. I did warm up to the novel once more problems were woven into the plot. Sometimes, though, there was a weird feeling, as if these problems weren't as big as they really were. For example, the twist at the end was executed in an almost anticlimactic way. It's sort of just...confusion for a few chapters or so. Once I understood, though, I really liked the ending. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book as a lighter read, though I did have a few problems with it. The descriptions are marvelous and the overall idea is very unique.

Lovely. I didn't take much of a liking to this book at first—I thought it to be a badly-disguised replica of John Green's Fault in Our Stars, what with the quirky, star-crossed characters who had mental illnesses. Theodore Finch resembles Green's character Augustus Waters in an unbecoming way, which made it irritating to be in his head, and Violet seemed very bland and one-dimensional. However, the novel absolutely got better as it progressed. The way Violet and Finch's relationship developed wasn't irksome at all (a rarity for me with these types of books), and I loved reading about the other characters as well as Violet's ideas for her magazine. I will say that the ending wasn't shocking, but I did cry when I was reading about it. It was written wonderfully, and I feel so proud of Violet, this character who's nothing more than a girl on a page—who I thought to be bland, no less—because of how she dealt with it. An important message executed in a commanding way.

Lovely. I didn't take much of a liking to this book at first—I thought it to be a badly-disguised replica of John Green's Fault in Our Stars, what with the quirky, star-crossed characters who had mental illnesses. Theodore Finch resembles Green's character Augustus Waters in an unbecoming way, which made it irritating to be in his head, and Violet seemed very bland and one-dimensional. However, the novel absolutely got better as it progressed. The way Violet and Finch's relationship developed wasn't irksome at all (a rarity for me with these types of books), and I loved reading about the other characters as well as Violet's ideas for her magazine. I will say that the ending wasn't shocking, but I did cry when I was reading about it. It was written wonderfully, and I feel so proud of Violet, this character who's nothing more than a girl on a page—who I thought to be bland, no less—because of how she dealt with it. An important message executed in a commanding way.

Goodness, this book was brilliant. From the diary entries to the strikethroughs to the heartbreaking notions of our main character Juliette, this book was devastating—devastatingly beautiful. Right off the bat, this story seems different from others, what with its strange formatting. At first, I was a bit unsettled by it, but it grew on me and conveyed Juliette's slipping mental state tremendously. The story is so, so emotionally charged. The characters were fascinating as well; they had so many gray areas, rather than being black-and-white, that it was impossible for me to totally hate or totally love any one character. In my opinion, everyone in this book could go through massive character development and end up as the hero, and I wouldn't be surprised. There's just the right amount of redeemability in each of them. Thank you, Tahereh Mafi, for this emotional masterpiece, and I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.

Very cool! I've seen The Statue of Liberty and thought it was very inspiring.