I’d have to give We Fell Apart 3.5-4 stars. I loved revisiting the world of We Were Liars and the mix of summery yet haunted feelings it delivers. There are some heartwarming moments between Matilda and the family she finds on Hidden Beach. I had trouble connecting with some of the characters, their development felt a little rushed or breezed over. I appreciated the soul searching and growth that Matilda went through during this story.

Thank you to E. Lockhart, Random House, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I liked the other 2 books so I was excited to read this one. It felt very different rom the others but I still really enjoyed it. Note that it takes place in the same timeframe as "We Were Liars" and will spoil that book if you haven't read it yet. This story centers on Matilda, who heads out to Massachusetts after being summoned by her father who she has never met. Matilda is getting ready to go to college and her mom has upped and left the country so she wants to understand the tie to the other side of her family. Once she arrives she meets a whole cast of characters and learns a lot about not only where she came from, but who she is.

The characters and related happenings were really quirky, more so than in the previous books, but they were very endearing. The big mystery is around where Matilda's father is when she arrives and why he wanted to see her so badly when he wasn't even there when she showed up. I came up with many different ideas of what might have been going on there, but the truth provided a good twist. I didn't think that this book had the HUGE surprises that the other books had, but it may just be because I figured out a few of them before they happened (which did not take away from my enjoyment of the book at all). The end tied things up a little too cleanly for what I usually enjoy, but I really liked it in this case and felt like it was a good ending for these characters to whom I had become somewhat attached throughout the story.

Overall, this feels different to me than the other books about the Sinclair family (though the writing style is similar) but I enjoyed it all the same. I thought it was clever to come up with a storyline outside of the main core of the family. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed We Are Liars, and in the wake of the book coming out as a series in Prime, I jumped at the opportunity to read an arc of the sequel We Fell Apart.

While I enjoyed the book, I took a star off because the first half of the book moved a bit slow for my liking. I did quickly become interested in Matilda and her history, but the plot didn’t really pick up until later in the book. I empathized with her about her unattached and non-committed Mom and her apparent lack of a solid family-based upbringing. I can see why she would easily be sucked into the opportunity to get to know her unknown father. I am a bit surprised she didn’t pursue him sooner in her life.

I was surprised to see that this book takes place within days of the *the big incident* on Beechwood, very close to taking place simultaneously and actually referring to some things that happened simultaneously. It was hard to wrap my head around right away. But I enjoyed the twist, it may have been slightly predictable to someone incredibly perceptible. I look back and think I should have figured it out right away, but I really just went into the book with no pre-conceived notions.

Overall this was a good read, and a nice addition to Liars universe. Thank you #netgalley, #randomhousechildrensbooks, and #delacortepress for this arc and the ability to read this book before release.

Another great installment into the tragedies of the Sinclair family. The slow mystery mixed with relationship building was well done. I could see many teens and adults that like Netflix dramas enjoying this novel. The part that felt most unrealistic to me was Saar not coming sooner. An anxious parental figure would not wait that long. Would have liked to hear more about Kincaid's actual youth with the Sinclairs, but I suppose this was not really his story, it was Matilda's and Meer's.

This is a sequel to We Were Liars and Family of Liars. I absolutely loved We Were Liars and was hoping for the same sort of story knowing this was set in the same world. This book takes place a week after the events of We Were Liars in Summer 15. Matilda is a teenager who travels from California to Martha’s Vineyard to meet her father, a well known artist who left before she was born. When she arrives her father is not there but she meets a brother she didn’t know about. While waiting for her father to return she makes friends on the island. The majority of the book occasionally mentions the Sinclair family members in passing- Tipper came to buy a painting, one of the teens was acquainted with Mirren- for example. It felt overall like the author was just trying to find random ways to connect the two books but it did not feel like a sequel. Eventually we got to the reveal that explains the connection and that part of the story was good! Still I just didn’t have the same feeling like I did after reading We Were Liars where I just loved the characters and the entire book. This book none of the characters were particularly memorable and the story itself was good but not great.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Random House for the advance reader copy. Publication date November 4, 2025.

And we are back....this book maintained all the elements from the first two and I enjoyed so much of it, it was just as chaotic as I remembered and I am glad the MC found her ending.

I looooved the first We Were Liars book, and while this was a fun and quick read, it didn't live up to the first book or the prequel for me. I enjoyed the twist at the end and how Matilda's story fits into the world of We Were Liars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for sending me this book!

I’ve been a huge fan of E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars universe from the start, and I absolutely loved the first two books. The atmosphere, the secrets, the slow unraveling of messy, privileged families—it’s all my favorite kind of drama. So I was thrilled (and a little terrified) to dive into We Fell Apart, and let me just say: Lockhart does not miss.

This installment had all the ingredients I was hoping for—mystery, emotional wreckage, that dreamy, disorienting writing style—but with a new kind of tension. Hidden Beach is both beautiful and deeply unsettling, a place where nothing is quite what it seems. Matilda’s journey is compelling from the start, and I was hooked by the strange new cast: sensitive Meer, struggling Brock, and Tatum, who made me want to scream and give him a hug at the same time.

And then there’s June. Without spoiling anything—she is one of the most hateable, cruel characters I’ve come across in a while. E. Lockhart wrote her so well that I almost knocked a full star off just for how furious she made me. But really, that’s part of what made the story so electric. Every page felt tense and uncertain, like something was rotting just beneath the surface.

This book made me uncomfortable in the best way. If you’re a fan of twisty, emotionally loaded family drama with a sinister undercurrent, you’ll want to spend some time at Hidden Beach. Just maybe don’t unpack your bags.

4.5 stars due to the animal cruelty scenes. I had to skip through those parts as I'm not one that can stomach it at all. I understood it was necessary to paint the picture and thankfully both scenes were quick and without too much detail, which is why I didn't take this down a full star.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Delacorte Press, for sharing this eARC with me in exchange for my honest opinion. Everyone be sure to grab this in November!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

We Fell Apart can be read as a standalone, but contains spoilers for the two other books set in this universe. If you're playing to read We Were Liars and Family of Liars, I strongly suggest checking out those first.

On the other hand, if you enjoyed the other two Liars-verse books, or any of Lockhart's other books, pick this one up because it will likely be right up your alley.

We Fell Apart follows Matilda, who has just graduated from high school and is suddenly given an offer to meet her father, who she has never heard much about. This offer, coming after being freshly abandoned by her mother, leads her to a run down castle in Martha's Vineyard and a group of people who seem to live in her father's home. But where is her father?

That question dominates Matilda's thoughts as she adjusts to her new situation and discovers that the nomadic way she grew up was maybe not the worst case scenario. This book touches on themes of what families owe to each other, what does a blood connection really mean, and who are the people you can call a family.

I strongly recommend this book for readers who enjoy family dramas and mysteries.

This was a great addition to the We Were Liars universe. I enjoyed reading about Matilda’s story and Hidden Beach. I love the choppy and dreamy way E. Lockhart’s writing slips into.

E. Lockhart really said let’s make trauma poetic again, and honestly? It worked. We Fell Apart has that dreamy, sun-drenched, slightly-off feeling that made We Were Liars such a hit, but with more edge and even deeper secrets. The setting Hidden Beach felt like a character on its own, and I loved the eerie, gothic vibe woven through all the family drama.

Matilda was frustrating in that realistic teen making messy choices way, and the cast of side characters (especially Tatum and Brock) brought a nice level of chaos. Some of the twists were a little predictable, but the storytelling had a rhythm that kept me hooked.

Is everyone lying? Yes. Did I eat it up anyway? Also yes. If you’re into summer stories where the sunshine doesn’t quite reach all the shadows, you’ll probably enjoy this one.

I loved We Were Liars and Family of Liars even though it wrecked me For weeks after reading. So I was excited to be able to read We Fell Apart set in the same area (after the tragedy) We Fell apart has a beautiful atmosphere, secrets, lies, and characters that you root for and also some that are very unlikable with an eery vibe throughout the entire book. A lot of people that are reading this one wanting the same story/characters as the previous books and while this one is set in the same location and has mention of the tragedy and characters it’s definitely not the same so I think that separating the other books from this one would help you enjoy it more. Still a great original read that you should add to your TBR.

There is something about this author. She captures that lazy, hazy, slow-motion vibe of the outer Cape. So much so that that feeling of whispering waves and warm sun lulls the reader into drifting along with the story. Aside from the atmosphere, she writes people and families in all of their weird, coiled complexities that is somehow familiar, no matter how foreign.

Another good read. I think this would make a great book club selection; there is so much to discuss.

Thank you to Random House and to NetGalley for supplying this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Really nicely done, classic E. Lockhart. An intriguing set-up to get the character to Martha's Vineyard, which is the in-world tie in linking this to We Were Liars. I really liked the protagonist and her lacking home life, which sends her out in search of her birth father, a mysterious artist. Really evocative characterization and voice. Loved it!

I have to say that I enjoyed this book a lot more than We Were Liars. I also have to say that while this book can be read as a stand alone and separate from WWL, I think it’s best to read WWL before this one! I really liked Matilda as a character and the last like 30 pages were INSANE! I think the connections between characters in this book were complex and easy to follow - especially the familial relationships.

I’m curious with the show airing, if each novel will be a new season? That might be fun to see them connected through the same world, but following different characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I remember absolutely loving We Were Liars when it came out, and re-reading it when Family of Liars came out and enjoying it just as much. I was so excited to receive an early copy of We Fell Apart and I loved it as well! E. Lockhart is such a talented writer and has such lovely setting descriptions and unique characters. I loved being back in the We Were Liars world.

While you can read this one without having read the others, I do not recommend it. This one takes place at the same time as We Were Liars and the end of that book is spoiled -- so I would highly recommend reading these in order! It enhances the reading quite a lot.

I love all the characters, especially Meer and Brock -- they were so endearing and made me want to mother them. I enjoyed Matilda too and loved her relationship with Saar.

There's so much tension in the entire book, it makes it impossible to put down! I love the island setting, and I love hearing about some familiar characters.

I hope this isn't the last we see of this world, I would love to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

We Fell Apart was one I was highly looking forward to! I love the OG, We Were Liars! Such a twist. Unfortunately, this one didn't do it for me. It felt far-fetched, the characters were written young, and I miss the beautiful and lyrical way Book 1 was written. I think I'm done with this series regardless of its hype for YA readers.

🏝️ WE FELL APART by E. Lockhart
Book 3 in the We Were Liars universe
📚 Pub Date: Nov 4, 2025

“Secrets run thicker than blood and blood runs like seawater.”

Y’all. I just returned to the haunting world of the Sinclairs and WOW this might be my favorite entry yet. We Fell Apart is moody, mesmerizing, and beautifully broken. It’s everything you’d expect from E. Lockhart: sun-soaked privilege, tangled family secrets, and a mystery that drips with dread.

Told through the eyes of Matilda Avalon Klein, a quietly strong teen drawn into a crumbling seaside sanctuary, this story had me questioning everyone. A reclusive artist father who vanishes just before her arrival. An emotionally fragile brother. A house full of shadows, secrets, and suspiciously herbal-laced tea. Oh, and Tatum? Yeah. That broody, barbed-wire love interest brought the slow burn enemies-to-lovers tension in full force. Chef’s kiss.

There’s found family, creepy locked doors, unsettling surveillance, and gothic island vibes that made me want to reread The Secret History and Bunny immediately. Lockhart’s prose is hypnotic and every line felt intentional, like a breadcrumb toward a truth I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

⚠️ CW: There’s one scene involving animal harm that gutted me (and dropped my rating emotionally), so please take care when reading. But otherwise? Stunning. Genuinely chilling in the best possible way.

✨ Tropes & Themes:
🏚️ Found family
💔 Parental abandonment
🖤 Enemies to lovers
🎭 Former child star chaos
💊 Addiction + trauma
👀 Family surveillance
🎨 Gothic coastal vibes
📱 No phones. No freedom.
🔥 Secrets upon secrets upon secrets

🩶 If you like your YA layered with grief, tension, and atmospheric unraveling… We Fell Apart will haunt you in all the right ways.

#WeFellApart #WeWereLiars #ELockhart #BookstagramYA #YAMystery #SlowBurnRomance #TikTokBooks #WeWereLiarsUniverse #TeenThriller #FoundFamilyFiction #GothicYA #DarkRomanceYA #SecretsAndSinclairs #ARCReview #NetGalleyReviewer

I really wanted to love this book, but I think it's time for Lockhart to step away from the Sinclair family. I loved We Were Liars when it first came out, but this just felt like it was stretching too far to connect to that story and neither one was stronger for it.

The idea of approaching a We Were Liars story from outside of the wealth intrigued me, but I don't think enough was done with it, especially given how all of the characters end up wealthy at the end of it. We Fell Apart doesn't engage with the themes of We Were Liars in any meaningful way, and in fact seems to muddy them.

The characters really didn't resonate with me. Mirren, Gat, Johnny, and Cadence all read pretty young in their book, too, but the cast in this one feels all over the place. Meer and Brock could easily be aged down to about 12 without issue, while Tatum might as well be in his 30s. Beyond one or two traits tied to that, none of the characters feel fleshed out; largely, they just do whatever is needed at that moment to preserve the mystery or occasionally move the plot. June actually does disappear for a significant chunk of the story and only reappears to be a villain when the plot has stalled for too long. The romance between Tatum and Matilda is a particular casualty of this, coming across forced and disingenuous.

The writing style didn't quite land for me either. In We Were Liars, the pseudo-poetry makes sense for Cadence's narration. She's a hyper-privileged, arguably pretentious rich girl. Matilda, on the other hand, is an unmoored gamer. Giving that exact same style of storytelling to Matilda just doesn't make sense. Why would she describe people the same was as Cadence? Gat being "enthusiasm and strong coffee" feels intentional and unique; Cadence using the same structure to identify the boys and Holland feels out of place.

Finally, the mystery itself left a lot to be desired. A good twist recontextualizes the story - discovering the truth of Cadence's injury in We Were Liars changes the whole story we thought we knew. Here, the reveal that June and the boys are lying to Matilda and Kingsley is locked up just...fizzles out. There's no real tension driving the story - Matilda doesn't need anything specific from her father, there's no ticking clock (since her looming college semester is largely ignored), no reason at all for urgency (something that is driven home by the fact that Matilda gets no answers and just chooses to stay at the castle). "What happened to Kingsley" is a question the book wants us to ask, but it also doesn't matter much to the majority of the story.

It's obvious the boys and June are lying. Finding that out doesn't change anything.

Ultimately, I don't feel like this book captured the magic of its predecessor. It doesn't have much to say, and it doesn't offer much in the way of shiny distraction from that fact.

This book was diabolical, I was completely shocked with how it tied in so seamlessly with the other two books.
At first I really wasn't sure where this story was headed, but was hoping everything would come together in the end. Even if it didn't though, I love this author's writing style so much I could have honestly read anything by her.
I instantly loved our main character and also came to love all the side characters as well. They all had lots of depth and mysterious elements that made me want to keep reading to find out their secrets.
I loved the storyline, it was so different from anything I've ever read before and had me glued to my book.
The drama this book served was perfection, I was completely shocked, horrified and excited by the time we got to the end.
If this author keeps adding to this series I will be here for every book!
Thank you so much to netgalley and E Lockhart for my arc copy, these opinions are my own.