It was great to be back on the island!! I love that E. Lockhart dedicated this book to the readers, and added in the spoiler warning. Another deceptive summer with the Sinclairs, and it did not disappoint. Many times it seems authors will "cash in" on the popularity and phone in a sequel, prequel, or sidestory, but not this time.

Loved it!!

Who doesn’t love a back story? Every bit as engaging as We Were Liars, Family of Liars explores prior generations and where the need to ignore the truth may have come from. No spoilers here, you just have to read the first chapter and get hooked.

#FirstLine ~ My son Johnny is dead.

I was obsessed with We Were Liars. It was such a great book. One that I have yet to forget about and I read it when it came out. When I saw that there was a prequel coming out I was pumped!!!! I loved this book as much as We Were Liars. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. It had such a compelling story, interesting characters and spectacular setting. I read it super fast and was sad when it ended. A must read and a book I HIGHLY recommend!

If you loved the original book We Were Liars than this prequel will be just what you need. It has all the same elements of family, drama, secrets and pulls things together nicely. A great, interesting family drama!

A Prequel to We Were Liars, follows Carrie, the eldest Sinclair daughter through a summer that changed her life. Written in a flashback form, she recounts her story from 1980.

This book had the potential to be so good, but it missed the mark. I felt that it was anticlimactic. The big reveal, was just okay, and it seemed like the story rushed to explain what happened. I didn't love Carrie as the main character, I think if it were told from another sister's point of view, it would've been a much better story. The supernatural phenomena that make appearances in this book, didn't do it for me either. Overall, I was unimpressed. I would not recommend.

This book was quite to rollarcoaster! I have loved We Were Liars since it came out. Reading the back story of the families was very compelling. It made me want to reread We Were Liars immediately.

This book was really good. Maybe not as good as "We Were Liars", but still very good.
It was incredibly fun to dive back into the rich, privileged lives of these teenagers and family.
I especially liked how the teenagers were portrayed and how they talked to each other. The dialogues seemed incredibly authentic and therefore refreshing. Sometimes funny, sometimes pathetic and sometime awkward - just like teenagers.
In general, I enjoyed the characters, the story, the writing style, and the plot.
If you liked "We Were Liars", you will also like this YA thriller a lot.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own. "Family of Liars" was a captivating and whirlwind of a prequel. "We Were Liars" is one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time over and over again — it had that strong of an impact on me. When I heard there would be a prequel, I was over the moon excited and was interested in what the story would entail. "Family of Liars" follows Carrie Sinclair and her unfortunate life on her family's private island.

amily of Liars is the first book in recent memory that I have been unable to put down. The plot is full of sharp twists and turns, sprinkled with lies that keep a reader guessing, and gasping out loud, when truths are revealed. There are ghosts and murder, along with romances and rendezvous, and heart-achingly relatable coming of age moments as Carrie Sinclair seeks her place in the world, while also striving for parental approval. In short, there is something for everyone.

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The action takes place on the private island owned by the Sinclair family, the summer after the youngest member of the family lost her life by drowning while unsupervised. Much of the emotional friction stems from the fact that Carrie is the only member of the family that is outwardly grieving, leading her to believe that the memory of her sister has easily been cast aside by everyone. Carrie paints a picture of herself as kind and sensitive, the good sister. The sister who is always looking out for everyone else, and who is willing to put their interests before her own. But is that a lie, or the truth? Carrie paints a particular picture of everyone on the island, from her parents, sisters, and cousins to their unexpected summer guests. In the final fifty pages of the book, all of those characterizations are thrown into question: what was a lie and what was the truth? Who is a murder, who is a victim, and who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Most importantly, how will the consequences of that summer affect the current residents of the island, and future generations?

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E. Lockhart’s writing is simple, and to the point; the story unfolds as if it really is Carrie relating the events of her life to someone who knows her well. The words flow easily, with rich descriptions of the feel of a first kiss, or the rage over a romantic betrayal, punctuating the overall simplicity. The flow of her writing, and pacing of the plot, makes the story fly by, making it an easy one to read all in one sitting…just like I did, even though I had to miss my bedtime by a few hours. But, it was worth it!

** This book is considered to be a prequel to the popular We Were Liars, but easily stands alone. I had not read the other book and had no issues with understanding this one. And while I now plan on reading the original story, Family of Liars comes with a warning that it does contain spoilers.**

Okay, so it is not as if I did not know exactly what I was getting myself into, We Were Liars being fresh in my memory, but geez this one played with my mind and I just kept devouring it anyway.

Really enjoyed the first book: We were liars, so I was eager to get my hands on this sequel. It did not disappoint. E. Lockhart is an amazing writer and this sequel has just as much beautiful language and twists as the first.

I thought that this was a great prequel to We Were Liars (which I read because I was given access to this book), but I definitely enjoyed the first book way more. That being said, once again Lockhart’s writing is poetic and keeps your attention throughout the duration of the book. 4.5 stars, but I’ve rounded it down because We Were Liars was a solid 5-star for me.

Note: Thank you to Netgalley & publishers for allowing me access to this arc in exchange for an honest review! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I liked this book a bit better than the first. I was given an ARC of this book, so I felt I had to read both books. It's dark, but not as dreary as the first. I feel like it could have been shorter. I liked Carrie better than Cadence in the first book. It's a very hard book to rate because it holds a different kind of darkness than I am use to. E. Lockhart is very creative in her way of writing characters with mental health and addiction.

Who that read YA mysteries hasn’t read or been recommended to read We Were Liars. Published 8 years ago, it is still talked about in most book groups for its compelling writing and twists. It has a huge following. While you can read Family of liars as a stand-alone, I really think the experience is more immersive if you read We we’re liars first. That being said, oftentimes prequels aren’t what we were hoping for, but be assured that this one is everything you have been waiting years for.

I don’t want to delve too deep into the plot to prevent spoilers but jump into a summer story that the choices made will go on to change lives for years to come. Privilege, money, power and the relationships that come of it, full of betrayal, secrets and so many actions that can’t be undone. The Sinclair family will weave itself into your mind, let it destroy you emotionally. Have a box of tissues as you enter the life of the Sinclair sisters. You will never be the same.

For fans of E. Lockhart's "We Were Liars" this prequel is just like a visit to a favorite summer vacation spot. Though this book details an earlier summer on the Sinclair family's private island, readers will revel in the same long days on the beach, elaborate meals, lush descriptions of summer traditions - and of course mysteries and secrets. Though the big twist in "Family of Liars" doesn't pack quite the same punch as the original, readers will be left with the same delicious sense of being in on a scandalous family secret, and will undoubtedly close the book hoping that another visit to Beechwood is in their future.

I’ll admit when I read, We Were Liars a few years ago I wasn’t all that impressed. Perhaps its because I wasn’t in the mood for that book when I read it, or it just wasn’t the book for me at the time. No matter what, I decided to try again by reading this one as it’s the prequel and I just wanted to see if the authors writing was for me or not. Was it? Yes. I truly enjoyed this one. Now I want to go back and re-read We Were Liars because I’m so interested in the complexities of the Sinclair family! Not only that, but E. Lockhart weaves her stories almost poetically. You get sucked into her words, into the characters worlds, and it’s hard to look away from the pages. I was DRAWN to these characters and their motivations and seeing how the parents of the kids from We Were Liars (because this is THEIR book) deal with their own traumas was extremely interesting.

I won’t get into the plot because I don’t want to spoil this for potential readers, but I will say that its an excellent addition to the series and I’m really glad the author wrote it. I loo forward to doing a re-read of WWL in the near future.

One thing to note is that this book CAN stand alone. You don’t have to have read We Were Liars to fully enjoy this one. In fact, there aren’t even spoilers for it in this one. It is however the story for the parents from WWL as I mentioned above. I would characterize this as a coming-of-age story/ YA fiction as it deals with prescription drug abuse and even murder.

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙:
• We Were Liars
• YA, coming of Age stories
• Beach Reads

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a prequel to Lockhart’s uberpopular and successful When We Were Liars - a book which I gave 5 stars and described as “excellent but truly unsettling.” But while I romped through this prequel it didn’t give me quite the same thrill.

Once again we are on Beechwood Island, the Nantucket-adjacent island owned by the Sinclair family, but this time we are with the previous generation. The novel is narrated by Carrie, the oldest of Harris and Tipper Sinclair’s four daughters. Carrie has always felt slightly out of joint with the family and after her youngest sister, Rosemary, drowns, she succumbs to pressure from her father to get her jaw reconstructed. As a side benefit, she becomes addicted to painkillers.

The novel is set in the summer when Carrie is 17. Her cousin and best friend Yardley brings her boyfriend and his two friends, and suddenly the dynamic of the island shifts from a family vacation spot to one seething with sexual possibilities. Carrie falls for the laconic and charming bad boy Pfeff, and he seems to reciprocate.

The story swirls around the Sinclair family, their privilege, and the ugly roots of their wealth. But still their glossiness is magnetic, both for the reader and for the visitors to the island.

I think the main reason I didn’t get the same frisson from this second book was that it seemed really similar in plot and characterization to Meg Rosoff’s superior The Great Godden. There aren’t any ghosts in that novel but there is an older misfit sibling, a younger, sexier sister, and a golden intruder who rips the complacent face off of a family.

Though this stands alone from When We Were Liars, there is a big fat spoiler for that book right on the first page and I’m not really sure why. Does it add anything to this novel? It does make a clearer thematic link for sure, but not much beyond that. Are we meant to see some sort of generational decadence and rot - maybe? But new readers coming to Beechwood Island will have the later novel completely spoiled and, while clearly the author knows what she’s doing, it seems an odd choice to me.

Having said all that, When We Were Liars is a landmark book for teens and I think they will flock to this.

Thanks to Delacorte and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

3.5 stars

I was surprised by the first book and ended up liking it a lot more than I expected, even if I didn't really like all the characters. In this one, I didn't love the characters, but I found myself more interested in all the various layers of who they were, and I ended up understanding them more. However, I have to admit as I read this, my memory of the first book was vague enough that I kept trying to find the connection between this book and the first book. It took me over half the book to realize that Caroline, the narrator in this book, is the mother of Johnny, who is a side character in the first book. The author says from the very first pages of this book that this story is a spoiler for the first book. But I just couldn't remember enough of the first book to figure out what about this book is a spoiler. Even now, I'm not entirely sure.

I think what I did appreciate more about this book was the deep dive the author did into the lives of the white and wealthy folks who live in this neck of the woods and that much of their wealth was dependent on the exploitation of the downtrodden. The narrator even says at one point that if it weren't for the wealth and privilege of her father, things could have ended up very differently and that she definitely appreciated/realized that privilege.

What was not different about this book is that it was still rather slow-moving and it can become obscure at times. Those who were not fans of the first book will likely not be a fan of this prequel. I rounded up my rating because I think that I ended up liking this book more than the first book. I liked Rosemary, and I liked the fairytales/stories that Caroline would tell Rosemary and then link it to who she was as a person. I was not a fan of Penny's or Bess's, and there were times I was not a fan of Caroline's. But I still appreciated Caroline's insights.

Overall, I'm happy I decided to read this book. Will I read another book about this family? Probably? Will it end up on my list of favorites? Probably not. But I'll still read it.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Family of Liars is the prequel to E. Lockhart's popular We Were Liars.
The story is told by Caroline who is the mother of Johnie from the first book. Caroline tells the story of one summer when she and her sisters were young.
I don't want to give away too much in the review. This was a fun twisty story that works well with the original book. It was interesting to get to more about the Sinclair family and how they ended up.

I have been a fan of We Were Liars and other books written by E. Lockhart for years. I was so excited to hear that there was going to be a sequel/prequel. Family of Liars is written in the same poetry way that We Were Liars is. It was cool to read in the point of view of other members of the family.