Book Review We Were Liars by E Lockhart

Synopsis

We are the Liars. We are beautiful, privileged and live a life of carefree luxury. We are cracked and broken. A story of love and romance. A tale of tragedy. Which are lies? Which is truth?

My Musings

What to say about this book? My interest was spiked when there was a help line given with the book to discuss the "shocking ending". Great marketing not sure if it deserves it though.
I was also tempted by the premise of a rich and powerful family and the power play between the different generations. How the rich see themselves apart from normal people like royalty and are obsessed with keeping up appearances.  

Three sisters and their families descend, each summer , on to their parents private island who hold the purse strings. There are expectations of the sisters and their families. The book focuses on Cadence the only child of one of the sisters and her relationship with her cousins and their friend (unrelated ) Gat. How they rebel against what is expected of them. How they view their privileged life with increasing scorn.  The writing is in the first person which is ok but did not entirely work for me. Cadence is spoilt, immature and selfish and I didn't find anything likable about her. The only part of the book that I warmed to was the budding relationship between her and Gat which was beautifully described. I also liked the characters of the other 2 cousins. They are the four Liars of the title. 
So it is not the characters I have a problem with but the Plot. 
The book simmers along building up the families various relationship when it takes a sinister turn and Cadence has an accident which she can't remember or any of the events surrounding. 
She is clearly traumatized and so is the family.
I am not going to spoil the ending or the twist as that is the crux of the book but the incident the book revolves about is infuriating as it has so many holes. It is just, to me, unbelievable and seems the writer is competing with others for who can make the darkest ending to a book.
What has Game of Thrones started?
I wasn't' impressed or shocked by the ending. I felt annoyed that I had been manipulated for the sake of it. I certainly didn't want to phone a help line. It felt sensationalist and gratuitous. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, we are just left feeling hopeless. It didn't feel authentic. It was a good story  up to the middle and I did like the characters but felt the writer had wanted to be fashionable so gone for "shock" ending just because it is vogue. I think that is why I feel so irritated by this book as I feel it was a good book gone bad. It was unnecessary.


If you like dark twisted plots try
Kiss Me First by Deborah Moggach
Stella by Helen Eve
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher 
Between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea by April G Tucholke