Books are like people, each one has a different story and personality. Some have romance, others have adventure, and others are comedies. But then you find one that is a little bit of everything. A perfect example of that kind of a book is “We Were Liars”. This book has everything from heart-thumping suspense, to an unexpected romance, and even a tragedy. It is very difficult for an author to piece together all of these various aspects and more to create a cohesive story that people can relate to. But E. Lockhart, the author of “We Were Liars”, pulls it off beautifully.

This book is a unique story in the way that it has a surface story, but another story that is being told underneath that you get hints of throughout if you look close enough. It also goes back and forth, because Cadence, the main character, has a brain injury, so she has to constantly ask questions about the past to remember. “We Were Liars” also has very good chapter variety. All of the chapters vary in style and length. Some are short stories, others are past memories, and the rest are current day progresses in the story.

This story also has characters that stand apart from most of the other books I have read. Most books have cliche characters, but this book is very different. The characters are very deep and they have a lot of layers to them. Especially Cadence, who is stuck with a seemingly perfect family, who she doesn’t feel she fits in with, and she also wants to be her own person. Her family is the majestic Sinclair’s. They have a personal island that they all travel to in the summers to vacation together, and on the island, they have staff that keeps the grounds perfect and the houses clean. They all also have perfect blond hair and blue eyes. But the family is a mystery, everyone knows of them, but they don’t really know them, or else they would see the struggles inside the family.

This book is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. It was hard to understand and get into at first, but once you are in, you can’t put it down. It keeps your attention with the constant new facts and pieces of the story of the lost “Summer Fifteen”, which is when Cadence had her accident and forgot all of what occurred around that time. This novel, in my opinion has something in it for everyone. Though it may be considered a “girly” book because the character whose point of view the book is told from is female. But this book doesn’t have a specific gender to which it appeals. It honestly surprised me how much I connected emotionally to this book. I would give this book a ⅗.