Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Perspectives Category: Socio-Economic Differences
Reviewer Name and Grade: Ella O., 9th Grade
Response Submitted: November 27, 2020
1. What is the main plot of this book?
Cadence Eastman (referred to as Cady) has spent nearly every summer of her life on the private
island of Beechwood along with the rest of her wealthy family. Cady’s summers growing up
were spent with her two cousins, Johnny and Mirren, and Gat, who befriends them after Cady’s
aunt brings her boyfriend and his nephew with her one summer. The four call themselves “the
Liars,” and revel in each other’s company. When Cady is fifteen years old, she is involved in an
accident that lands her in the hospital with a serious head injury, yet she has no idea how she got
there and when she asks about the accident, she gets no definitive answers. Cady spends two
years recovering from her injuries, and is forced to travel to Europe with her father instead of
returning to Beechwood during those summers. The summer she turns seventeen, Cady returns to
the island with her mother, and is reunited with the Liars. Cady is now determined to find out
what happened on the night of her accident, but her family has been instructed to let her recover
those memories on her own. With the help of Johnny, Mirren, and Gat, Cady tries to recall the
events leading up to the accident. This story focuses on not only the relationship between these
characters, but their relationship with their wealthy family, and how this wealth affects it. It also
talks of greed, bigotry, lies, love, family, and loss.
2. Which character did you most identify with and why?
I identified most closely with Mirren, one of Cady’s closest cousins and friends. This was
because Mirren was often characterized as bossy, and she liked to act as if she was the leader of
the Liars. I, too, try to lead groups and projects whenever the opportunity presents itself. She also
acted as the voice of reason for the group, as I often find myself doing. However, Mirren was the
one who invented the idea for the event that sparked the chain of events leading up to Cady’s
accident. She did this in hopes of creating a change in her family’s bigoted and greedy behavior.
I think I can understand this, because I also hope to bring about positive change, but I aim to do
it in a way that does not hurt others.
3. What do you believe is the main message of this book?
I believe that the main message of the book is that privilege can often skew someone’s
perspective of the world, and cause harm. Over the course of the book, Cady falls in love with
Gat, but her grandfather doesn’t approve because of his South Asian descent. This subtle bigotry
goes unnoticed by most of Cady’s family, but it is all too obvious to Gat. This becomes even
more clear when his uncle Ed proposes to Cady’s aunt, Carrie, and she rejects him. Carrie knows
that if she marries Ed, she will lose her share of the inheritance from her father and that she, Ed,
and Gat will be cut off from the family. Cady’s mother and two aunts are still fully dependent on
their father and unable to support themselves, and Cady continually watches them argue over
