We Were Liars : Book Review

Book: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhard

Synopsis: A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

* * *

WARNING: READ THE BOOK FIRST it's better going into it knowing nothing, THE COME BACK.

We Were Liars was a phenomenal read. It's a book of discovery, a book of mystery and a book of learning the truth. In this novel the main character, Cadence, discovers that everything has consequences and not everything  that seems to be normal actually is.

In this novel we were introduced to many characters, the main four, The Liars, are Mirren, Gat, Johnny and Cadence. Out of these four characters, Cadence was my favourite. This is because in the novel we start to understand and feel for Cadence. It also helps that she is whom is telling the story.

Cadence starts off as a really laid-low, well off girl. But as the novel progresses we find out that this is not all it's made up to be. Cadence goes from being happy and healthy, to a progressively deteriorating health. 

You begin to feel bad to Cadence as her family leaves her out of the loop, and everything she has to go through. I can say, I did get pretty angry at her mom more than a few times. 

We Were Liars  kept me guessing through the entire novel, as I tried to help Cadence discover the truth behind everything.

The writing style was one I particularly enjoy quite a bit, I'm not 100% sure what it's called, but for now I'll call it perfection. 

This book left me in an emotional state of unknown. There’s not even a Scrabble word for how I’m feeling right now… It left me wanting more. This has to be one of my all-time favourite novels I have read so far.

I give it 5/5, in my eyes it was a perfect novel.


 

Graphic Novels

Recently, I've really gotten into graphic novels.

No, not manga.

Actual graphic novels.

I've read two and a half graphic novels in the last week or two. They consist of:

    

Anya's Ghost is the first graphic novel I read this month.

Anya could really use a friend. But her new BFF isn't kidding about the "Forever" part.Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend was not one of them. Especially not a new friend who’s been dead for a century.Falling down a well is bad enough, but Anya's normal life might actually be worse. She's embarrassed by her family, self-conscious about her body, and she's pretty much given up on fitting in at school. A new friend—even a ghost—is just what she needs.Or so she thinks. Spooky, sardonic, and secretly sincere, Anya's Ghost is a wonderfully entertaining debut from author/artist Vera Brosgol.  (source: goodreads)

It was an interesting book that left me wanting more at the end. With a surprising plot twist it had me on my toes for a good one half of the book. 5/5 stars from me. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good graphic novel to read, or even someone wanting to start reading graphic novels.

In Real Life was quite different from Anya's Ghost. 

Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role-playing game where she spends most of her free time. It's a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It's a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends. 
But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer--a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake. 
From acclaimed teen author (Little Brother, For the Win) and Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow and Koko Be Good creator Jen Wang, In Real Life is a perceptive and high-stakes look at adolescence, gaming, poverty, and culture clash.  (source: goodreads)

The art in the graphic novel was magnificent, it was done in full colour and this is was what attracted me to the book in the first place. Anya's Ghost had been done fully in a black/grey/white colour scale, while this one used all colours. Anda, the main character of this graphic novel, felt very real, and very relate-able. Not to mention, she's a bad ass female who's trying to help someone to improve his quality of life. She's an endearing character, not one to forget. Another 5/5 stars from me.

Nimona is the graphic novel I am currently reading.

The graphic novel debut from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize, calling it "a deadpan epic."

Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win Noelle many new ones.

Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit. (Source: goodreads)

I am only 34 pages into it, so I do not yet have overall final opinions of  this graphic novel. But I can tell you that I already really like the characters that have been introduced and the art style. I'm very excited to finish this graphic novel and tell you what my final opinions are.