Family of Liars: The Prequel to We Were Liars

Fabulous suspenseful mystery and family psychological novel! I loved the story unfolding backwards from Carrie’s POV and how she recounts the trauma that led her family to become liars. I do think it helps to have read the previous novel, even though the author did a great job of making this novel able to stand alone. I had read the first novel & found some clues helpful from it. The little details about the family’s secrets, and how they affected the daughters, cousins, & their descendants, which shows the readers how many layers of stress and addiction have coalesced into the habit of lying. I liked the portraits of grief and how people develop coping mechanisms to handle their pain or not handle it as the case may be.I enjoyed the mystery and didn’t guess the victim until right before it happened. Fabulous suspense and kept me up late reading!

We Were Liars made such a splash on TikTok last year; I was excited to read the prequel! If you loved We Were Liars, you'll definitely enjoy getting more background on the Sinclair family. Even if they're not a particularly likeable family overall. The writing style of this is much the same as We Were Liars, with short chapters and a lot of dialog. Honestly, Lockhart is just great at capturing teen dialog. The conversations flow easily between characters and help to move the plot forward quickly. While the characters might not be the most likeable characters, you're still invested in their story.  Like with We Were Liars, there are plot twists abound in this book. While I found them a little predictable, they still add a sense of intensity to the story overall. From the beginning, there's an air of mystery of what's going to happen on the island over the summer. You know something will happen, but it's not immediately clear what. Lockhart is an expert at keeping that air of mystery, even without making it totally obvious. However, I did think the book took a little too long to find it's narrative voice. The voice didn't really pick up until about halfway through the book. Overall, if you enjoy summer themed mysteries, you'll definitely enjoy this book! Especially if We Were Liars is one of your favorites.

I actually loved this sequel/prequel to We Were Liars better than the original. Told from the parent generation of the children in We Were Liars, the book is a gorgeous and enthralling look into the inner workings of a very rich and very lucky family, especially four teenage girls enjoying the summer on a private island. The book has twists and turns, a few literal and figurative ghosts, and some interesting character development. Although you need to read the first book first or the ending will be spoiled, this book stands on its own with no problem. This was a very good book.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. In this prequel to We Were Liars, we return to the Sinclair family on their private island. The book follows Caroline or Carrie, one of the parents. The book opens to Carrie beginning a story of the worst thing she's done and why she comes from a Family of Liars. In the summer of 1985, Carrie is falling to pieces after the drowning of her youngest sister Rosemary. Rosemary's ghost is a companion of Carrie throughout the book and it seems like Rosemary is worried about her sister. Much like the first book, the story sweeps through a summer but this one is full of boys, lies, escape through alcohol and prescription medication, and ghost stories. How will the Sinclair family stick to their principals? The book is full of unlikable characters, but that's one of the things that pulls you in. Not all characters are going to be likable just like how we have the same thoughts about the people around us. Carrie and her sisters are close and that comes across in the book but because we follow Carrie the most as she is our main protagonist, we get the best view of her. The back and forth between stories that were read to Rosemary and the main plot keeps you believing that it could all just be another fairy tale. However, the twist and the mystery of it all is really what drives you to need to read the rest of the book immediately. I loved this prequel. It had enough of the first book to keep it as a prequel, but I felt as though it was a new story entirely. What I really liked was how readable it was. It was so hard to put down. I would definitely recommend this to all those who loved the first book but I will say it contains spoilers if you haven't read the previously published book.

Not really sure how I feel about this book. We Were Liars is in my top ten. This book doesn’t live up to the first one. Does a sequel or in this case a prequel ever live up to the first book?