I really enjoyed this prequel to E. Lockhart's We Were Liars. This book in and of itself is a spoiler, so you may want to read We Were Liars first. This is less of a mystery than the first book, but is full of drama (specifically rich-people drama). Although there are some shifts in time, the novel takes place at the Sinclair family's summer retreat (private island) off Martha's Vinyard in the '80s. It revolves mainly around 3 (actually 4) young sisters and their inter-minglings with unknown boys that arrive as guests of their cousin. It is a summer fantasy...until it isn't. I read this quickly as the plot was compelling, but I also enjoyed the characters that were well-defined and somewhat haunting. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC or review.

I will forever remember the reason I read [book:We Were Liars|16143347]. I will forever remember my shock when I read the twist. I've let go of many books in my life, but not that one. That one I cherish.

So it was with reluctance that I asked for a digital ARC of the book and with even more reluctance that, once approved, I picked it up and read it. I was not surprised when I realized I wasn't hooked. I decided to ask for the audiobook version from my local library to see if it made the tale more palatable, but it did not.

I was not invested in Caroline (Johnny's mother) as the narrator. I found her whiny, self-centered, and immature. I couldn't believe she fell for a character as disgusting and manipulative as Pfeff. I knew he was going to use her physically and emotionally, but it was hard to believe that she couldn't tell that as well.

I don't know if I don't love this book because it is connected to We Were Liars, if I just don't enjoy Lockhart's writing, or if it is that the book itself is only so-so but I was disappointed with the author's latest effort.

How would I give this book less than five stars. E. Lockhart is one of my favorite authors. The plot in all of their books are so well thought out. Like it is so hard to critique them. My only issue was that I could predict the ending quite easily. I've gotten good at doing that, but for most they probably had no idea until the end. Would totally recommended to anyone, seriously. There isn't only one specific age group that would enjoy this. Everyone will.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. As soon as rumors of this book dropped, everyone that had read We Were Liars had been waiting with baited breath and this did not disappoint. Lockhart managed to create a whole new story with just a hint of the previous book in it. While a reader does not have to have read We Were Liars to read this, there is a spoiler that makes you want to read that one first. The feel of a beach getaway gone wrong with an unreliable narrator shines in this book too.

Family of Liars contains all the trappings of We Were Liars and provides incredible insight into the corroded and at times grotesque inner workings of the Sinclair family.

FoL takes places one generation back, with the narrative fro Carrie’s point of view. She is narrating her story to *someone* and fro this tale we are transported back to her youth and one summer in particular.

In all, it’s a page turner and fans of WWL will devour this prequel.

This was written to be the prequel of the original book, but it does contain a few spoilers and even a kind of conclusion to it. This is definitely for those who read the first novel. The novel starts off with an explanation of the family structure, but slowly the tense family relationships emerge among the Sinclairs. It darkens even more as summer visitors arrive, “stirring the pot”.

Identity, beauty standards, and romantic entanglements, as well as commentary on class and wealth are woven into the novel. Secrets upon secrets propel the novel forward. Although at several times, there seemed to be passages which could have been shortened, invested readers will want to keep turning the pages.

Thanks to Random House Children’s Books and NetGalley for the e-galley. I listened to the released audiobook for this review. My ratings and reviews are my own.

SPOILERS AHEAD




CW: infidelity; attempted SA (not on page); gaslighting; alcohol consumption by minors , sex (consent issues) when one person is intoxicated (off page); drug use; drug abuse; addiction; toxic friendships; murder

We Were Liars will forever be a book I absolutely love and one that I will recommend to anyone who will listen so when I heard a prequel was coming out I knew I had to read it. While this wasn't as amazing as WWL I still really enjoyed the read. To be totally honest I went in knowing it wasn't going to be better than WWL, because how do you top that? I found this book to be very intriguing. I wanted to know more about Carrie and the Sinclairs, and what I found out was worth the wait! The ending was already wild and the twist was even more interesting. The fact that Carrie is telling this story to SOMEONE the entire time and that she used to be visited by someone else when she was young was also very interesting and made me want to reread WWL again.

Overall, I had a good time. I loved revisiting the island and the Sinclair family. This was a really good sequel. I feel like it didn't answer any questions, but it revealed more truths and just added to the insanity that is rich, white families.

I read We Were Liars nearly two years ago before it blew up on TikTok and seemingly every bookish teen within a 20 mile radius of my library came into request it. I don't remember much of it except for it revolved around a group of well to do teens who had lots of drama and a very surprising ending. Family of Liars goes back a generation further than the characters featured in We Were Liars and opens with "we were always liars". Family revolves around sisters Bess, Penny and Carrie Sinclair with the story mostly following Carrie who is the one everyone always relies on. This generation of Sinclairs bring as much drama as the last we visited. The sisters are mourning the loss of their younger sister Rosemary but none more so than Carrie who actually sees and talks to Rosemary's ghost. When cousin Yardley shows up with her boyfriend and two of his friends in two everything intensifies-first loves, bonding, suspicion, strained relations, family secrets and self-discovery. When one sister is put in a tragic situation the tie between the three is really tested. How are they going to deal? Can they heal from everything that happened over the summer? Has it all just been lies? Entertaining but I like We Were Liars just a bit more. This family is messed up and although there were some sweet moments none of these people are particularly likable. Still quick read and not a bad idea to pick it up if you were a fan of the first.

Family of liars, prequel of We Were Liars, follows the Sinclair daughters while they spend their summer on a private island.

Just like We were Liars, this book has a gripping plot which will follow the mysterious of Sinclair family one again. Some people say that you don’t need to read the first novel to understand this, which I think is true, however, if you want to really enjoy this novel it would be necessary to read We were Liars first.

In Family of liars we will dug a little bit deeper into some of the things that were referenced in the first book. We will follow a 17 years old Carrie Sinclair (mother of Johnny) while she spends hers summer on Beechwood. Soon some mysteries will be discovered and some hidden stories will be revealed.

I liked this book, but I missed the shocking plot twist of the first book which is one of the things that I enjoyed the most in the first book. Anyway, E. Lockhart has a great narrative and I really enjoyed this book.

The prequel follows Carrie Sinclair, Johnny’s mother from the original book. Both stories are written in the same style and takes place over a singular summer following a tragedy. I do not feel like this story was necessarily needed however it also doesn’t ruin anything about the first book for those scared about that.
I do actually think this book is way more enjoyable than the first book. Carrie is a more compelling lead. The entire story is saturated with melancholy. It's still rich people drama but it's a very compelling rich people drama. I love the depth we get into the sister's relationship. That’s truly what the story is all about. A Story of sisterhood. I fear I still cried my eyes out, unfortunately.
My only gripe is to do with E. Lockhart’s writing style. Very tell and not show. I also sometimes feel like the story is trying too hard to make me cry (but it did work). The Fairytales are still my favorite part.
Now if you hated the first book you'll hate this one but if you loved or even just liked “we were liars” give this one a chance.

i really liked we were liars when it came out, so i thought this was really interesting! it def wasnt as good as the first, but still intriguing!

Loved the setting. Loved the relationship between the sisters/cousins. Loved to hate Pfeff. Very well-done though lacking in the hard smack of a twist We Were Lairs had.

I’m trying to decide if I liked this better than We Were Liars, and the answer is…maybe? Both books are, to me, a tad too bleak and depressing (especially because each contains enough plot that is NOT like that to allow the books to stand with out it). To me, the best part of We Were Liars was that E. Lockhart got me with the twist. Didn’t see it coming, and was impressed at how well she pulled it off.

There’s no real twist or big reveal here, just a mixed bag of a novel that is outstanding in some ways, not great in others.

On the plus side, I loved the atmosphere of this. Lockhart does so well with small touches and detail, and I probably would have happily read an account of life on the island during a summer in which absolutely nothing of note happened. And her characters are wonderfully drawn, complex and nuanced and worth investing in for the reader. Though I had a few issues with Carrie (more on that in a moment) I liked her for the most part. And oh man, Harris and Yardley! I wish I were related in some way to those two.

The best part of the plot is the murder (and everything surrounding it). I loved this part of the story, and only wish there were less of the grief stricken bleakness (or perhaps just less focus on it). I also really didn’t need the addiction subplot. This really bugged me. I’m not sure why we now jam this particular plot point into almost every novel now, but it’s irritating and didn’t add anything to the story.

Ultimately I think I’ve learned that between this and the original Liars novel, i much prefer Lockhart’s lighter fiction (Genuine Fraud, Disreputable History…), though I’m not at all sorry I read this, if purely just to enjoy the author’s beautiful, evocative writing.

I enjoyed falling back into the world of the Sinclairs. I didn't remember much from We Were Liars, so I immediately went back and re-read that book after finishing Family of Liars.

Thank you the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. We are taken back to the Sinclair family and beechwood island off the coast of Massachusetts’s. The Sinclair’s were always liars. Carrie Sinclair is 17 when the boys arrive at her families private island for the summer, she is addicted to pain pills from a cosmetic procedure her parents encouraged her to have, she is visited by the ghost of her sister. I wanted to know what happened so I kept reading but I didn’t really like any of the characters, maybe that was the point.

In this prequel, we were able to discover the backgrounds of many of the characters in We Were Liars and got a better picture of why some characters acted the way they did. This book was well-written and made me want to keep reading. However, with that being said, I feel like this book would have been much harder to understand if I hadn't first read We Were Liars. I also felt that a lot of the book had some unnecessary descriptions and side stories that didn't really matter in the end. Overall, I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys interesting family dynamics.

I’ve been waiting for another Liars book since the first one came out several years ago! The story and characters did not disappoint. If anything, this book just added to how much I enjoyed being in the family’s universe.

If you remember We Were Liars, the prequel Family of Liars just proves that the Sinclair kids came by their lying natures honestly. All of the Liars' moms are featured as teenagers, but it's told through the eyes of Johnny's mom, Caroline, better known as Carrie. There's just something a little different about Carrie when she compares herself to Penny and Beth. As Carrie tries to push her mother, Tipper, for clues, she also has a summer romance with a mysterious guy that unexpectedly shows up on the island, Pfeff. Of course, nothing is simple for the Sinclairs, and the summer mystery gets increasingly complex and dark as the story goes on.

I enjoyed the prequel more than We Were Liars, but I also enjoyed We Were Liars. I think Carrie is an engaging narrator, and I enjoyed getting to know the Sinclair family a bit more. Lockhart is able to focus on deeper issues in this novel while still keeping things mysterious and interesting, and I think readers will enjoy getting to know a lot more of the backstory.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

@netgalley 🄺🄸🄽🄳🄻🄴 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆

Thank you @netgalley , @elockhartbooks and @delacortepress for the gifted ARC of "𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒔" for an unbiased review.

𝙱𝚢: @elockhartbooks
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: YA, Mystery, Thriller
𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛: @delacortepress
𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝙾𝚗: May 3rd 2022
@𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎: 3.87
𝙼𝚢 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎: 🤥🤥🤥🤥b / 5 Liars

🅂🅈🄽🄾🄿🅂🄸🅂

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.

🄼🅈 🅃🄷🄾🅄🄶🄷🅃🅂

Once again we brought back to the mysterious Sinclair family and once again E. Lockhart weaves use through her delicate and creative writing magic.

The second novel followed in a similar manner to the first therefore to get the full overview - even though this is like a prequel you still have to read the first novel released first in order to understand it.

I really liked the fact that this instalment dug a little bit deeper into some of the things that were touched on in the first book. We got a proper look at privilege and how this family and their wealth comes from.

This novel takes a step back to when Carrie Sinclair (Mother of Johnny, one of the side characters in We Were Liars) spends her summers on Beechwood, particularly when she was 17 when the main events happen.

It was great to revisit the island and some of the characters again, with a fresh look at things and a new story to be told. My only tiny peeves is that it was just a little dry in the middle and though the ending was great, it could’ve packed a couple more twists in the middle instead of saving them all.

We Were Liars is a book I read several years ago and loved. It is probably my favorite young adult book that I have ever read. A retelling of King Lear that twists and turns and surprises. Because I loved that book so much I was beyond thrilled to find out E. Lockhart had written a prequel, Family of Liars.

In Family of Liars we return to the island and all the nostalgic summer vibes that Lockhart captured so well in her previous novel. Lockhart is a master at capturing those lazy, hazy summer days of youth when everything seems to be bathed in a golden light. The book is worth reading for that alone.

I loved being back in the twisted world of the Sinclair family. They are still as toxic and screwed up as in the previous book and this prequel added insight into the events of We Were Liars. Aunt Carrie was a good choice to put the focus on in this prequel. The black sheep of the family, she was the person I was left wondering the most about.

This book is filled with pathos and twists and fills in some of the holes of the previous book. Does it achieve the same level of greatness as We Were Liars? Not quite, but then that would have been impossible to achieve in my opinion. Should you read it? Absolutely. If for no other reason than to be transported and immersed in summery days by the shore that will take you back to those magical days of your youth. I really loved being back in the demented world of the Sinclair family. Thank you to @ and @dela
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