E. Lockhart

Things changed for Frankie Landau-Banks between her freshman and sophomore years at Alabaster boarding school. She got curves and got prettier and suddenly she's caught the eye of Matthew Livingston: rich, smart, charismatic, and the most popular senior at the school. As his girlfriend, Frankie gleefully gets caught up in his world of charming, carefree, clever rich boys. But they'll never truly let her be one of them, because she's just a girl. Matthew is always sneaking away and lying to show more Frankie about the existence of a secret society, for boys only. They'll never see how great she truly is, and they don't care to, because she's just a girl. So she'll have to make them see.

The biggest disservice I have ever done to myself is not reading this book until now. I feel Frankie deep in my soul and if this book had existed when I was in high school and early college it would have changed the way I see the world. I feel the way that Frankie's demand for equality based on her gender sets her apart from everyone. She's self-assured enough to hang out with the boys but no matter how smart and confident she is, they will never let her be one of them. The boys treated Frankie like garbage in that way that's not really abuse and they don't know they're doing it, but they have just been trained since they were born that girls are less than boys (and live in an institution that reinforces that). I loved how Frankie really liked Matthew and wanted to do everything to earn his respect, while also knowing that she should not have to do so much to earn his respect. I loved the incorporation of philosophical concepts like panopticism. (I'm very into philosophy lately, can you tell?) I loved Frankie's word games. I loved the narrator's constant reminders that, no matter how this story ends, this is just a brief sliver of Frankie's life and girls like Frankie will change the world. show less

So funny! I adore Ruby Oliver....she is such a great character. She has her strengths and her flaws. She doesn't know what she wants but she figures it out when she needs to. She cares about the people in her life, even if they don't always seem to care about her and even when they drive her certifiably insane. Such a domestic adventure. I love when I read this series because I end up interacting with the book and everything that happens. I laugh, I smile, I pout, I squeal. This series does show more this to me and I am very grateful for it. Had a bit of a rough patch yesterday and when I did, and I picked Ruby up, she had one too. And we shared our misery, even though they weren't related and not at all in the same contexts. I don't need a shrink and I don't need to make a treasure map of my peer-relationships...although maybe that would've been useful throughout my high school career. I can't wait to start book 4. I can't wait to reunite with crazy, psychotic, lovable Ruby Oliver. =) show less

An amazing feminist masterpiece. Also, as someone who spends a lot of time hanging out with guys, a lot of this resonated with me so hard, this bit in particular just fucking nails it:

Most young women, when confronted with the peculiarly male nature of certain social events will react in one of three ways. Some will wonder what the point is, figure there probably is no point and never was one, and opt for typically feminine or domestic activities, leaving whatever boyfriends they have to

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"hang with the guys". Others will be bored most of the time, but will continue attending such events because they are the girlfriends or would-be girlfriends of said boys, and they don't want to seem like killjoys or harpies. The third group aggressively embraces the activities at hand. These girls dislike the marginalised position such events naturally put them in, and are determined not to stay on those margins. They do what the boys do wholeheartedly, if sometimes a little falsely.

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A really good read, "We Were Liars" is sad and joyful, poignant and tender, and filled with the hope of youth and the sometimes disappointing reality of youth, all of these at once it seems. It is an emotional journey into love and grief and guilt and forgiveness as Cadence struggles to recall that 'one' summer after a tragic accident. Her memories are gone and when she tries to remember she gets terrible migraines. Her attempt to reconstruct that summer and discover what went wrong with her show more life is the central plot of "Liars." The plot is outstanding and offers a couple of definitive twists that keep the reader turning pages to see what happens next. Lockhart has filled those pages with strong, in-depth characters and good story that is propelled by her style of wriiting. She builds empathy for the characters as they struggle with family, relationships, and trying to grow up. The ideals of a youth that seeks to change the world but rushes headlong into tragedy in the attempt is the driving theme. Probably one of the most poignant statements for me comes near the end of the book as Cady writes, "Tragedy is ufly and tangled, stupid and confusing. That is what the children know." And while I am not the target audience, I found this to be quite a moving story. show less