E. Lockhart
Young Adult Mystery
Published: May 2014
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| image: Goodreads |
A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
Oooh, compelling, yes?
This is a more literary take on mystery, and for me, it really worked. The whole time I knew *something* was majorly messed up with this family. Cady, her cousins, and a family friend their age run free and wild on their family's private island (who wouldn't want that?), but among the bickering of the Aunts and Cady's grandparents, something sinister brews.
And then, a tragic accident. Only you, as the reader, only get to know the aftermath--not what actually happened. Cady spends a year with depression and memory loss before she finally returns to the island to sort out what happened. Everything is different. Her cousins aren't the free spirits they once were, and they want to ditch the aunts and hang out by themselves. Even their family friend is acting more mysterious. No one will tell Cady what happened, so she's left to uncover the mystery herself.
It's true, the less you know going in, the more impact.
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I love e.lockhart (The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks is one of my all time favorites) and I loved this book so much. The setting, the family secrets, the fairy tale elements -- it also felt a bit King Lear-ish to me -- and the twist. Then I lent my copy to a close friend ... and everything that worked for me about the book didn't work for her. We had a lot of great discussions, neither of us changed our minds, and (maybe) we can still be friends...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics