This book serves as a prequel for the NYT bestseller We Were Liars and while connecting the dots between the two books, it can standalone on it's own and is a beautiful story within itself. In the book, you learn more about the parents of Cadence's generation so Carrie etc. This book is a true triumph and is filled with plot twists you do not see plausible at all. This book is a true marvel and adds perfectly to the We Were Liars universe!

So I read We Were Liars last year for book club, and it wasn't my favourite book of the year, but it also wasn't the worst. I wanted to give Family Of Liars a shot, and hoped that it would be better.

In some ways it was, but in many others it really wasn't.

The story started extremely slow for me, and pretty quickly there is a tragedy to deal with and as we know the Sinclair's never explain and never complain, always that shiny perfection. The characters come across as shallow, and unrelatable, and it wasn't until around 65 percent through that the story felt like it started to pick up.

Once the story started to improve for me, I found the book much more enjoyable, and the twist that we all know is there I didn't really see coming. I just wish that it hadn't taken 65 percent of boredom to get that point in the first place. The last 35 percent of the book read much more smoothly. It's the last part that saved it for me, and got the 3 stars.

Thank you to Ntegallery and Hot Key Publishing for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I can’t say I loved this as much as We Were Liars. I’m not even sure if the reason I enjoyed it so much was because of my love of the first book or if it is just a genuinely good book. I loved finding out about the history on the Sinclair family, seeing the little nuggets of information that we weren’t privy to in the first book, the tension of wondering what exactly this big, terrible secret was going to be. I’m not so sure the writing style of the first book was entirely effective when used here, though. I didn’t really like the use of fairytales like I did in We Were Liars, and the weird line breaks didn’t make me feel the words more strongly like they did before. I do love a good plot twist though, a big reveals are very much my kind of thing.

The only thing I felt a bit icky about was the whole thing of using sexuality as some plot twist or excuse for bad behaviour. It felt very sudden and slapdash, like there needed to be an excuse and then once it was used it was barely mentioned again.

All in all, I did enjoy this book and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who loved We Were Liars.

Sisters Carrie, Bess, Rosemary and Penny spend every summer on the family island, with their cousins. It's idyllic, full of parties and games in the sunshine, until the year that Rosemary drowns and the families become shattered and fragile. Reflecting on her life Carrie slowly reveals the secrets her family has kept as she describes her childhood to her son and the tragic events that unfolded when 'the boys' arrived one fateful summer.

Brilliant sequel – the feeling and vibes were very similar to the first book. It was a little less twisty but that was OK, still very enjoyable and the characters were very believable.

Just like we were liars I really didn’t expect the plot twist, my jaw was literally left hanging open as I read it! Lockhart has such an amazing writing style that works perfectly for this series and I loved reading about another summer at beechwood. Penny’s and Rosemary’s relationship is so cute and I loved whenever Rosemary appeared.

Personally ‘We Were Liars’ was absolutely not for me in any sense of the book. However, seeing as it was getting this prequel, I decided to give ‘Family of Liars’ a chance to redeem my poor view of it’s predecessor.

‘Family of Liars’ follows Caroline, the mother of Johnny from ‘We Were Liars’ and a story from her past. The main reason, I didn’t get along with the previous book was the writing style and the cryptic sentences that you had to read several times to understand what was trying to be said. Luckily, the prequel starts a lot more understandable and unlike the first book, made me want to carry on reading, to see if the improvement continued. I won’t say too much on the plot on the book to keep with the genre of the book, but I do have to say I much preferred ‘Family of Liars’ not wanting to put it down and not seeing where the plot was going. Lockhart has done it again! Overall, a great redemption from the first novel and a great book all together.

After loving We Were Liars and the insane twist, I was so eager to read Family of Liars too. I'm not sure I enjoyed it anywhere near as much but I think i just had such high expectations after We Were Liars. I did enjoy the small twist at the end but this novel didn't have the same level of suspense and didn't grip me as much.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I enjoyed 'When we were liars' (although I didn't love it as some readers seemed to) so when I was offered the opportunity to read Family of Liars (its prequel) I was interested to see whether I liked this book more. Again, it was a book that I definitely enjoyed. Indeed, there was a lot in common between this book and the earlier publication. As someone born in the 1970s, I liked the 1980s music references. Again, I can't say that I loved this book though - the main issue I think being that again I just wasn't convinced by the idea of 'ghosts' being on the island in tangible form, for the family to interact with, even eat chips with.

Confession time: I haven’t actually read We We’re Liars , of which this is the prequel and has some spoilers for, but this can be read as a stand alone novel.

It’s hard to say too much about the plot without giving things away but this is a story about secrets and lies and how far people will go to stop them being exposed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to my borrowers at work.

Family of Liars is a really enjoyable mystery with just a little bit of thrill, but a whole lot of secrets and, of course, plenty of lying. The Sinclair family is all about doing what you must and giving the right impression, no matter what.

Whilst this is a prequel to We Were Liars, it functions very well on its own. It's a separate story in its own right, set on the same island, just a generation earlier. Don't feel like you have to remember everything about We Were Liars to enjoy this, but if you haven't read We Were Liars, then I don't recommend reading this first as you will be spoiled on at least one major revelation!

(Thank you to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review)

I loved We Were Liars but I found this prequel disappointing.

I liked the family dynamics and the sisters but all the other side characters weren’t developed or had much depth. The writing style was really unique and I liked the way it showed Caroline’s mental state throughout (you could see it change through the writing). For a mystery/thriller, there wasn’t a lot of suspense and the plot twist at the end wasn’t that big or shocking. I did appreciate the easter eggs and hints to things that happened in We Were Liars but the book overall did seem a little separate.

I really wanted to love it but I was left feeling underwhelmed.

Family of Liars is one of those books that I couldn't put down. Even though I read We Were Liars over 6 years ago, I can't really remember too much about it apart from the ending. So to pick up Family of Liars I had no expectations or concerns that this prequel would ruin We Were Liars or not live up to the hype.

The story is told by Cassie (Johnny's mum in We Were Liars) and answers the question asked by Johnny about what the worse thing she has ever done. The story takes us back to the teenage years of Cassie and her sisters and an eventful summer on their private island. There's a lot going on during the summer and the tradegy that had occurred the previous summer sets the scene for why everyone is quite damaged and raw.

There was enough going on in the story to keep me hooked and this made me appreciate my simple upbringing without expections and immense wealth :)

I loved this almost as much as We were Liars so it's another 5 stars from me. The tense, highly emotional atmosphere is there, the twist and turns, the wonderfully descriptive language and the all-consuming story. A wonderful prequel, highly recommended.

What a rollercoaster of a read , I was so involved in the characters the description and storyline I read it in one sitting and was annoyed that it ended . Absolutely fantastic read

A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts. 
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy. 
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.

Welcome back to the Sinclair family. 
They were always liars.

The prequel to ‘We Were Liars’, this book, ‘Family of Liars’ is an engrossing and twisty thriller. I haven’t read ‘We Were Liars’ but I don’t believe it’s essential to have read that first. The prequel makes reference to ‘We Were Liars’ but it’s not imperative they’re read in order - it doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the book. This book has been marketed as YA but it does contain adult themes and can be widely enjoyed by adults and YA alike.

This book is very well written and full of building tension. It was a very quick read for me as I got so immersed in the story, so now I’ll be definitely heading to check out ‘We Were Liars’.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

It’s YA but with some really deep/serious issues. I enjoyed it but possibly not one for younger teens

Woww! E Lockhart has done it again. I loved everything about this book. It was even better than we were liars and that ending omg! Wow
I’ll recommend this to everyone.
5 stars

This book is a prequel to ‘we were liars’ and it definitely didn’t disappoint!
I couldn’t put it down, I just needed to keep reading to find out what would happen next. It was really nice getting more insight into the family. A brilliant read.

Carrie Sinclair is sitting in her kitchen talking to her dead son Johnny. He asks her the worst thing she ever did, and Carrie obliges by reminiscing back to 1987 when she was 17 and all her family were visiting Beechwood Island for their annual summer holiday. The previous year Rosemary, the youngest Sinclair girl had drowned, and things felt very different. Uncle Dean and his family were visiting the island too, and they brought with them three boys who would be staying in the guest house. All a big change from previous years.

This is a prequel, but not having read We Were Liars, I can’t comment on any spoilers. The pace of this story is very lazy, typical of the hot summer days that are depicted. The book is extremely well written, with both characterisation and descriptive narrative drawing the reader in. This is supposed to be a YA book, but I found it very suitable for a not so young adult! There are some very dark themes and sadness, but all handled extremely well.

Thank you NetGalley.