The book is about the coming of age of a poor little rich girl. Sisters Carrie, Penny and Bess holiday every year with their parents on their own island of the coast of Massachusetts. One year their uncle Dean arrives with three boys. Life changes forever for the three girls. The title “family of liars” is not a mistake. Exciting, twisty story.

Family of Liars was an interesting prequel to We Were Liars, and had many of the elements I loved about the first book — a fast pace, brief chapters, mystery, and an unreliable narrator.

I enjoyed finding out more about the liars and their lives before the events in We Were Liars. It allowed me to forge a stronger connection to the original book, and it was a welcome addition!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Family of Liars is the prequel to the hugely successful “We Were Liars”, a YA novel from a few years ago that I absolutely loved.

Family of Liars brings us back a generation to the 80’s and the Sinclair sisters; Carrie, Penny, and Bess, grieving the loss of their youngest sister Rosemary the previous Summer.

The Sinclair family own their own island off of the coast of Massachusetts so you know they’re proper wealthy, and have that old money vibe. I pictured the KJP insta account the whole time I read this 😅

There’s plenty of family secrets waiting to be revealed over the summer months, but the sisters have more to worry about when they make a terrible mistake that will impact all their lives forever more.

This was such an easy read, it just flew along for me. It’s a bit soapy, which I like, but I also think the writing is really good, especially for YA. It’s engaging and flows well, and felt like an ideal summer read.

My only gripe would be the use of fairytales to illustrate a point, which I didn’t feel was necessary and for me, got a bit tiring. That’s very much just my preference though, and I can see why it was used, given the context of the story.

I know lots of people just didn’t get We Were Liars; I obviously loved it, and I think you’ll get on well with Family of Liars if you also enjoyed its predecessor. If YA isn’t your thing, you might want to skip these books.

With many thanks to @netgalley and @bonnierbooks_uk for the opportunity to read Family of Liars, available to buy now.

Prequel to the fabulous We Were Liars, I was not sure what to expect from this book but was pleasantly surprised. Not as sensational or traumatic as the first book however it tells the reader more about the family history.

A good YA read and helps the reader to understand a little more about the lives of the characters and their parents as children.

Well described and the teenage conversations were peppered with angst and the agony and excitement of young summer love. There was also the tragedy of death and the secrets that had to be kept in the family.

A good read and thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Family Of Liars is the prequel to We Were Liars and I think here is the mistake I made, I didn’t realise it was the second book as I hadn’t read the first and I also didn’t realise it was a YA read, not that this bothered me at all.
The story follows the Sinclair family and my goodness they must be one of the most dis functional family’s I’ve read about. I really struggled at the beginning as I didn’t know well the back story of the characters and found the start very slow going. It did pick up but I was really wanting a wow moment and never got it and had worked the ending out by the time I got there. There wasn’t any really likeable characters and I think that made it hard for me to read. Please don’t take my word for it though as you may love it and probably more so if you’ve read the first.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I think if I had read both this and We Were Liars before I'd read any Karen McManus, I'd have thought they were amazing. But unfortunately McManus does teen noir fiction so well that no one else can really come close. I also think it's a bit of a stretch to be sad that this white, privileged family has so much tragedy on the island that they own. However, the plot is fairly gripping and the relationship between the sisters is well done, as well as the reveal about the main character's parentage. And I thought that the ambiguity around Pfeff was interesting as an exploration of male privilege and sexual harrassment. But I'm not sure we need another installment!

After highly rating We Were Liars, I was really excited to pick up this prequel. Based on the same private island owned by the Sinclair family, we hear about the life-changing summer of Carrie, one of the aunts we read about in We Were Liars.

The book brushes against family trauma, substance abuse, grief and loneliness while weaving a real picture of a privileged family living on what sounds to be a fairytale island.

While all of the characters in the book are deeply flawed and almost unlikeable, it made more of a compelling read for me as they were completely unpredictable. At times even the narrator was unreliable, which made the twists and turns of this book exciting to uncover - I couldn’t put this one down once it got going,

I only wish I’d read We Were Liars more recently so I could have picked up on more of a connection between the two books and the trans-generational issues. There were some clear parallels about the main protagonist Carrie in this book to Cadence in WWL, but I almost forgot who’s parents were who.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read this book!

We were liars was an interesting read and a story that I enjoyed immensely.
Family of liars was intrigued based on the previous book and expectations as many people can relate .
I can’t say that I loved it as much as the first one or that I enjoyed it the same. The characters weren’t at all on my liking and the story overall just felt quite flat for me unfortunately.
That being said, I’m sure many readers will enjoy it more than I have.
Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

I read WWL and didn't like it, but I thought I'd give the prequel a shot due to the serious hype over this book, which I really don't understand because this book was not worth it.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I am not sure what to say about this book as I really enjoyed it and also did not like it. Good storyline, not sure about the characters but worth a read.

It’s not often I’m stuck for words but I honestly don’t know what to say about this book. I didn’t like the writing style, I didn’t like the characters, I didn’t like the plot, and I couldn’t wait to get to the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but this definitely wasn’t one for me.

I'll admit outright that I was taking a bit of a chance with this book as I did not love We Were Liars back in 2014. In the beginning, I was convinced that the chance had paid off because I was totally caught up in the whole summer nostalgia vibe and I found myself reading it quickly and easily. After a while, though, I lost sight of what I was reading for. The pretty summery language couldn't sustain the tension alone and I found I wasn't interested in the trajectory of the story. I'll leave Lockhart's mystery/thrillers alone and keep my fingers crossed for another humorous book about teen girls.

A gripping and emotionally charged read filled with complex characters and plenty of twists and turns. E. Lockhart knows how to create flawed characters that make the reader consider the darkest recesses of the mind. Beautiful writing with vivid settings and unsettling themes. 5 stars!

This is the prequel to We were liars which if you haven't read this book. Then I highly recommend as it's really very good.

This is another well written, high octane, great physiological thriller.

I could not wait to read this book having been blown away by 'We Were Liars' when it was first published. This is a prequel, and absolutely needs to be read AFTER WWL so that there are no spoilers.

This book takes us back to the private island of a privileged family. In this book, we are introduced to the three siblings as teenagers. The story is told by Carrie Sinclair, mother to Johnny, as she tries to explain how one summer forms her life, and could even be considered the reason Johnny turns out the way he does in WWL.

All of the characters in this book are flawed: self-obsessed and selfish, making them difficult to like, but captivating all the same. I thought that the characterisation was compelling and authentic even though I did not like them very much and sympathetic feelings are hard won.

Just like WWL, this is a book which centres around one summer and a set of tragic circumstances which become life changing for all involved. I thought the plot was clever and intricately planned, with Lockhart's usual twists and turns, though I was not as captivated by WWL.

This is a book which deals with gritty issues (suicide, alcohol, murder, addiction, rape) so definitely for mature readers - top end of YA, but definitely one to recommend after WWL.

My daughter recommended We Were Liars to me a few years ago when she was in Sixth Form. She desperately wanted me to read it so she could talk about it with someone. What a read it was and gosh, what a complete plot twist that you’d never see coming. So when I saw this one, I just had to read it.
I enjoyed going back to the island and finding out more about the family. Of course, you know you can’t necessarily believe what is on the page this time round. Even so, I enjoyed the twists and anyone who loved WWL will want to read this. It’s a page turner and I’m sure it’s going to be a popular summer read. I’m looking forward to seeing what my daughter thinks now!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for a review.

A prequel to ‘We Were Liars’ set over a few weeks in 1987. The three Sinclair sisters are joined by their cousin Yardley, her boyfriend and two of his friends on Beechwood Island for a summer they won’t forget…even if they’d like to.

I do love a story about a privileged family living on a private island, grappling with jealousy, substance abuse and first love. However, ‘We Were Liars’ was by far the more intriguing of the two for me. While the writing was beautiful, the plot just fell a bit flat, especially towards the end.

Worth a read if you liked ‘We Were Liars’, (Note: You must read ‘We Were Liars’ before reading ‘Family of Liars’) but it won’t blow you away.

Thank you NetGalley and Hot Key Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like this stands up well against We Were Liars and I enjoyed this prequel as much, if not slightly more, than the original.

The writing style is sometimes a bit grating and long winded but I tried to just accept that and keep reading because the story itself was interesting. I love a flawed character and theres a whole island of them for us to meet in here!

I think "Family of Liars" by E. Lockhart was created to milk the social media hype of "We Were Liars" to the fullest. I've read "WWL", and was curious what prequel set on the same location would add to the known story. It was quite hard no to be entertained by the family drama of people who are oblivious to the privileges that shape(d) them. However, entertained for all the wrong reasons.

It was interesting to observe some trans-generational issues within the Sinclair family, as well as scoff on the impassioned main character. The connections were very subtle, though.

I liked how E. Lockhart combined prose and poetry written from the first-person perspective. I found the poetry introduced similarly to songs in musical theatre--when feelings are peaking, a more lyrical form of expression is being introduced.

That being said, the story was nothing special and the plot twist was underwhelming.

I had little to no memory of WE WERE LIARS, if I am to be completely honest. I remembered a few broad strokes, but the details ultimately escaped me. Regardless, I think this novel manages to exist perfectly well as a sole entity, so you don't necessarily have to have read the other one if you don't wish to, but it probably adds an intricate layer to the world of it to the fans of the first book.
I found the writing to lull the reader into the world of the story with a fairytale-like quality (which is fitting, as fairytales serve a purpose within the story itself). It was probably this, along with the complex characterisation of our protagonist and her vivid interior life that made the narrative voice be the strongest thing about the book (which sets you up beautifully for the latter 1/4, which surprises and challenges the reader, only for them to realise the pieces were laid out for them all along). I loved the light-handed, yet impactful way the book approached a plethora of serious topics - family (its expectations, its implicitly required sacrifices, its inability to be separated regardless of cost), self image, grief and loss, addiction, class and privilege, and the infinitely more complicated manner in which they all mingle.
Perhaps one of my most pleasant surprises of the year.