To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and June Wrap-up

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (To All the Boys I've Loved Before #1)

AND June Wrap-up

Official Synopsis

Laura Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren't love letters that anyone else wrote for her, these are the one's she's written. One for every boy she's ever loved-five in all. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Laura Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

Review: Four and a Quarter out of Five Stars

I usually don't give quarters. I was just so conflicted on this one. Like it's more than four stars but not close to five. And thus, 4.25 stars. Rebellion.

I was looking forward to this because I really loved The Summer I Turned Pretty series by Jenny Han. It was so fluffy and cute. I hoped this would be too.

And it totes magotes was.

World and Plot: This book takes place in regular America, as most contemporary novels do. Our main character is Laura Jean, the middle child of the Song family. Sometimes two names flow together simply and beautifully. Laura Jean makes me think of someone going to swim in the creek and someone else with a rather twangy southern voice yelling out LAURA JEAN! DO NOT JUMP IN THAT CREEK.

But yeah, odd combo. Laura Jean is unique because after she is done loving (which is kind of a loose term) a boy she writes him a letter. It's like a goodbye, you kind of suck letter. Then one day somehow all her letters get sent out and the boys read them. Cue the humiliation and the scrambling to not loose face.

Reoccurring Themes: Family, Heritage, Love, Self-confidence, Images, Slut-shaming

Reaction: First off, this book is girly. Like real girly. As in you probably will not find any enjoyment in it if you do not like girly books. Like I'd get off this blog post right now. Just go. Goodbye. (Except stick around for the June Wrapup at the end!)

I'll be honest. From the get go I did not think I was going to enjoy this book. And that is for a simple reason. Laura Jean's older sister Margot (Also how the heck do you say that? Margo? Mar-got? IS THE T SILENT OR NO?). She is waaaay too controlling and close minded. But then she went to college and all was well.

Laura's special thing to do when she wants to be over a boy is to write them a love letter. It is how she says goodbye and moves on with her life. She keeps them hidden in a hatbox her late mother gave to her.

Laura starts off the book by talking about her family. They are very close and she doesn't really spend time with anyone else (ye gods, that sounds terrible.). She lives with her father, her older sister Margot, and her younger sister Katherine that everyone calls Kitty. Margot's boyfriend Josh who lives next door is also practically part of the family. Him and Laura were close friends before they started dating and continue to be.

Margot breaks up with Josh before going to college in Scotland, which changes things. Laura reveals that she was in love with Josh at one point. They were the best of friends. She thought he felt the same way. Then he started to like her sister and she decided to let them be happy together.

At this point I realized Laura Jean is quite the pushover. And my dislike for Margot was cemented. Like how could you not notice your sister was in love with him?!? Not cool.

Laura Jean is terribly sad when Margot leaves and feels helpless. She gets a call from her oldest friend Chris to meet her at the mall. Chris is kind of a wild child and does as she pleases. Laura drives there but gets lost because she hates driving and always gets lost (Side note: Laura Jean's driving is basically me). She doesn't stop at a four-way stop because she doesn't see anyone and smashes into another car (Except I don't hit cars.)

She doesn't know what to do and frantically calls Josh. While she sits there and waits for him a boy from school named Peter Kavinsky stops to ask if she's okay. Her and Peter used to be friends in middle school but now he's much too cool for her. They used to have a whole crew of kids they hung out with but they all split off. Peter offers to stay with her but she says no and thanks him. 

Josh picks Laura up and brings her home. Josh tells her he was worried she wouldn't want to be friends anymore now that he and Margot broke up. She assures him this is not the case. He says he's relieved because he couldn't lose her too.

Toeing the line there between friend and interested there Joshy.

They start to hang out again sometimes with Kitty or her dad and sometimes alone. They talk about their first crushes. Laura says hers was Peter Kavinsky. Josh says his was Laura when he first moved here. Then he tells her he doesn't know what he would've done if she hadn't been there after Margot dumped him and she's keeping him going.

At which point the line was crossed.

Laura realizes she's still in love with him and it crushes her. She thought she was over him. It makes her feel disloyal and wrong. She sits down to write him another letter and tucks it away in her diary. She distances herself from him to try and stop feeling this way.

Next is the first day of school. It's your typical first day until Peter Kavinsky comes up to her during gym and tells her angrily that he does not have STDs or always eat the last piece of pizza. To which Laura stares at him in plain horror. Because she said that in the letter she wrote to him. Which means he got the letter. Which means all her letters have been sent out including the one to Josh.

Oh shit.

She makes some lame excuse to Peter, snatches up the letter, and runs away. Laura convinces the gym teacher she's sick and ditches school (gym was her last class. Do not be concerned about her attendance.). 

The next day Laura Jean runs into Josh in the hallway at school and tries to scramble to come up with an excuse. She tells him that she wrote the letter a long time ago and has a new boyfriend. Right then Peter Kavinsky starts walking down the hall. Laura tells Josh he's her boyfriend and goes up and kisses him. After the kiss she says thank you and he says your welcome and they both go on as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

She meets up with Peter and explains to him what happened. He laughs it off and tells her she's a funny girl. 

That weekend Laura Jean gets back the first letter she ever wrote. It was to a boy from camp when she was younger. The letter got sent back in the mail and Kenny never got it. She isn't that concerned seeing as it didn't say much.

She sees Josh in her neighborhood and tells him that her and Peter broke up. Josh looks confused and says that isn't what Peter was saying when he saw him today. Laura goes with it and says they're still together.

Laura Jean confronts Peter and he suggests they fake date for a while. That way Josh won't think anything is weird and he can make his exgirlfriend Gen jealous. Laura agrees and they make a contract.

And so beings one of the greatly used love stories of all time. People in a fake relationship fall for each other but neither can spit it out.

Laura Jean and Peter become closer as time goes on. He meets Laura's family and starts driving her and Kitty to school. Laura hangs out with him and his friends. They pass notes and go places and it's a world of cute.

Lucas Krapf approaches Laura Jean one day at school and tells him he got her letter but didn't know what to say. He asks is she knew he was gay. Which she responds oh, totally (liar, liar, liar)! He says he was flattered and they part without awkwardness.

More cute stuff happens. Peter wins over Kitty. Josh tries to tell Laura that Peter is bad news and Peter ""gets jealous. Josh continues to be a jealous jerk. This continues on until a little before Christmas when Laura Jean and Josh get in an argument. Josh kisses her and she's stunned and pushes him away.

They have a big talk and Laura Jean realizes she doesn't love him anymore, if she ever even did. She could have him right now and she doesn't want him. She wants someone else. Peter. She makes him swear not to tell Margot and he does.

She goes to Peter to break up their fake relationship. Peter protests and says they can be done after the school ski trip they signed up for. Laura reluctantly agrees.

Laura then decides to go see the last boy she wrote a letter to. John Ambrose McClaren. She liked him around the same time as Peter but then he moved. She sent the letter to his old house and he probably never got it. John recognizes her right away but she doesn't stop to chat. She just wanted to see how he turned out. She lies when Peter asks if she saw him.

Margot comes home and starts being bratty as usual. She's short with her sisters and is controlling.

Laura Jean goes on the ski trip and Peter finally admits he likes her.

She initially doesn't believe him and they get in a huge argument. He says she'd rather love a fantasy than a real person. She says he's just mad someone didn't want the great Peter Kavinsky. They separate angrily.

Later on she goes to him and admits she likes him too. They kiss and all is right again.

Then the next day Laura hears the rumor that they had sex on the trip. Peter's old girlfriend Gen tells her that now everyone thinks she's a slut and Peter will never love her as much as he loved Gen. Laura cries the whole way home and shuts out Peter.

Then at the family Christmas party Peter shows up because Kitty invited him. He tries to talk to Laura Jean but Josh interrupts to tell him off. He says Peter isn't good enough for her. Peter says he's just jealous and he knows that he tried to kiss her. Then Laura Jean hears a gasp and sees Margot listening.

Margot storms away and Laura Jean cries in the bathroom the rest of the party. Her and Margot get in a huge fight and say some nasty things. Eventually Margot tells Laura that it was like they didn't even need her after they left. Laura tells her that's because she taught her everything. They make up and all is right with the family.

On New Years Laura spends it with Kitty instead of going out. Kitty admits she was the one to send the letter and gives Laura all the notes she found from Peter in the trash. Laura Jean reads them all then starts to write another letter.

It starts with: Dear Peter,

Aaaaaaaaand end of book.

At the time, I did not know there was going to be a sequel. So as you can imagine, I was filled with an all consuming rage. I threw the book down in frustration and started ranting about how that is not the way to end the book and who the heck does this Jenny Han think she is, Lauren Oliver? This is bullshit. I hate it. This ending has ruined all enjoyment.

Then I went on Goodreads and discovered there was going to be a second book.

Whoops. I take back all those rude things I thought about you Jenny Han. You rule.

On that note I am quite excited for the next one!

Quotes

"When someone's been gone a long time, at first you save up all the thing you want to tell them. You try to keep track of everything in your head. But it's like trying to hold on to a fistful of sand: all the little bits slip out of your hands, and then you're just clutching air and grit. That's why you can't save it up like that. Because by the time you finally see each other, you're catching up only on the big things, because it's too much bother to tell about the little things. But the little things are what make up life."

"If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcisms."

"Sometimes questions can be more cruel than insults."

"You'd rather make up a fantasy version of somebody in your head than be with a real person."

"If you make Josh's dumb white-chocolate cranberry cookies and not my fruitcake ones, it's over."

"I didn't say homely! I said you like to be at home!"

JUNE WRAP-UP

So I read this book on like...June 1st. *Hangs head in shame and surrounds self with warm blanket* Like Michelle what have you been doing since then?? Why have you not finished this review??? What about all the other books you read in June that you didn't review???? Why have you failed??????

That was my mentality for quite some time this month. I want to review all the books I read. But when it starts to feel like work I just shut down. This is for fun and I can't do it if it stresses me out. So I've decided to insert my June wrap-up into this post as penance for my book blogger sins.

City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare

Five out of Five Stars: The last book in The Mortal Instruments series. My most highly anticipated book of 2014. I have been raving and recommending this series with great vigor for a long time. It's an urban fantasy with action and emotion and great characters. So obviously I enjoyed this one. In the last installment the gang struggles with how they are going to defeat the evil Sebastian Morgenstern and his army of Endarkened Warriors. Sacrifices are made and loyalties put to the test. New and old allies join together to try and stop the end of the world.

Also known as ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS EVER.

Emotions can be summer up with Sciles and this dancing bear.

The One (The Selection Series #3) by Kiera Cass

Three out of Five Stars: The last in the Selection series. I picked up these books last year because the covers were sooooo pretty. Unfortunately the inside was significantly less beautiful. It is an overly simplified tale of a terribly annoying Mary Sue named America who gets everything she wants. These books frustrate me to no end. I literally want to smack America more than I've ever wanted to smack anyone ever. She is the epitome of all the things I hate in a female protagonist. She is selfish and thinks herself to be lacking while everyone tells her how great she is. I am so pleased that this series is finally done. Why give it three stars then, you ask? I hardly find anything worthy of less than three. Those are reserved for the books I hate with fiery passion, not just a bad character.

Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle Series #1) by Rachel Hawkins

Four out of Five Stars: The first in a new series involving magic and Paladins. There is fighting and humor and love. And lots of quirk. I think this was mother case of the high expectations curse. This book had so much hype. I was expecting like the best book ever or something. Sadly it is not the best book ever. That's not to say it isn't a good book! I really liked it. I love books that take place in the south. Heck, I love anything that takes place in the south. Make me want to say y'all and drink sweet tea (except not really because sweet tea is pretty gross). And this was really cute and charming. I've just reached a point in my reading life where I no longer like to have girl protagonists make feeble claims about how they don't like the boy they obviously like and make observations about him and be like YE GODS I DID NOT MEAN THAT. Yes, you do. Shut up sweetheart. The world building was done really interestingly here. I'm not super into it but it has flair. Harper was a funny narrator most of the time. I'll probably pick up the rest of the series. It's a decent read. 

A little bit of pink and a whole lot of crazy.

Raging Star (Dustalands #3) by Moira Young

Four out of Five Stars: The last of the Dustlands Series. (Yes, I did read a lot of last books this month.) A dystopian series with a very unique writing style. Meaning there is no quotation marks and things are almost always spelt wrong. But give it a chance dude! The first book in this series, Blood Red Road, is amazing. It's a thrilling adventure. The other two in the series are not close to as good, but still really enjoyable. The main character, Saba, is a little tough to handle at times. She has a habit of not telling people things that would make everything a lot simpler. The ending to the series was satisfying and a tad bittersweet. 

The F-It List by Julie Halpern

Four out of Five Stars: A standalone about a girl dealing with her best friend being diagnosed with cancer and all the other terrible things in her life. I once again had high expectations. They once again fell a little short. Curse you self. Why must you always do this? It was an excellent book though. It was dark and moving. My absolute favorite thing about the characters were how real they were. They acted, talked, and thought exactly like anybody else. This is a truly rare thing. The cancer and bucket list are less of a focus than I thought it would be. It's more of an emotional journey than anything. Alex, our lead, has a hard time letting people in. Side note: a lot more sex than I anticipated. This book doesn't shy away from anything, that's for sure.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Five out of Five Stars: And one of my favorite books ever. Cassia and Lia have been best friends since the third grade. As they grow up they make a pact, to always be skinny. Lia doesn't eat and doesn't eat and doesn't eat. Cassia eats and gets rid of it. Lia gets put in treatment a couple times and Cassia tries to cut her out of her life. But then Cassia's body is found in a motel room alone. Lia must deal with this while keeping her goal of being skinniest.

This book is dark and highly poetic. Not for the casual reader. It's by the same author who wrote Speak if that tickled your fancy.

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Four out of Five Stars: This book is a perfect summer read. It's about a girl named Emily who finds a list of things to do her best friend Sloane left her. Sloane has gone missing and won't answer any of Emily's calls or texts. Emily and Sloane have done everything together the past two years and Emily is lost without her. She starts to do the things on the list thinking if she completes them all it'll lead her to Sloane somehow. Along the way she makes some friends, gains some confidence, has some hilarious adventures, and perhaps even falls in love. It's kind of adorable and really funny. One star gets knocked off for some unsatisfactory ending and falling action stuff.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Four out of Five Stars: I was really looking forward to reading something by Holly Black. She's best friends with Cassandra Clare so I was expecting good things. My big problem is that this was a surprise vampire book for me. I didn't know it'd be about vampires. Nowhere in the description does it say VAMPIRE BOOK. So about a couple pages in when they name dropped our fanged friends I almost quit right then and there. I am so done with vampire books right now. I can just not do it. So that was a major factor making this less enjoyable. Also the love story is crazy and weird. I did not approve. Other than that it had great writing, a decent female protagonist, and an interesting plot.

I promise to try and do better in July.

Liebster Award

So the other day I got a new email about a comment on my blog and I'm like YES I LOVE COMMENTS WOO HOO.

And Jazzie Kings of The Book Dancer blog nominated me for a Liebster Award.

And I was like............what the heck is a Liebster Award?

Liebster in German has several meanings including dearest, sweetest, kindest, nicest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, welcome, and sweetheart (I stole that from Jazzie's post mwahaha).

So the Liebster Award is a way for newer bloggers to connect and say hey dude I think your blog is cool and deserves some viewers. And for this Award there are rules!

I'd like to thank Jazzie enormously. That was so incredibly sweet of you.

The Rules

1. List 11 facts about yourself. 

2. Answer the 11 questions asked by whoever nominated you. 

3. Nominate 9 bloggers with less than 300 followers and leave them a comment saying they've been nominated.

4. Ask 11 new questions for your chosen nominees.

5. You cannot re-nominate the blog that nominated you.

Let's Get This Party Started

Eleven Facts

1. Right now I'm studying pre-pharmacy and aspire to one day be a pharmacist. Go science.

2. My favorite place to read is on my dock (I live on a lake) in the summer. It's perfection.

3. I have an older sister who is almost as obsessed with reading as I am. I often finish books and chuck them into her room and demand she read them right that second.

4. For as long as I can remember I always have The Mexican Hat Dance in the back of my mind. I tap it out on whatever surface is near me. I also have this problem with the Febreze jingle.

5. When I get really stressed out on airplanes my trick is to sing Bingo (as in there was a farmer was had a dog...I even do the claps in my head). It's very therapeutic. 

6. I'm more of a cat person than a dog person. Although my dream dog is a Pomeranian.

7. I can only watch TV when the volume is on a multiple of five.

8. I like to obsess over things. It doesn't matter if it's books, movies, TV shows, or music. I will read,watch, or listen to it over and over and over again until I meet my next obsession.

9. I'm a Slytherin and maintain my green and silver pride. We're not all jerks yo.

10. I really love score music. I could listen to it for hours. 

11. I can't whistle. Never have been able to, never will.

Eleven Response to the Questions from Jazzie

1. What would your daemon be and why? (If you haven't read His Dark Materials, a daemon is like the physical manifestation of your soul/conscience. It's eternally linked to you emotionally and is always with you.) I did read this series a while back. I think my daemon would be a cat, which some might view as boring but I do not. Cats are wise and watchful. They know the correct moment to strike.
2. What would your boggart be? (If you haven't read Harry Potter or watched the movies at least, you need to get on that bandwagon - Siriusly! *cough* Sorry, bad joke.) Or if you prefer to be Divergent, what would your fear landscape include? What do I fear most? Heights I guess. Can you turn that into a boggart? Would it be a giant cliff??? My guess is no. So I'd probably say it'd be some sort of altered, twisted version of myself showing me my future as an incredible failure and terrible human being.
3. What's your earliest memory of reading? My mom always really loved to read this book called Dinner at the Panda Palace. It had a lot of counting and pictures. On my own my first real series read was Harry Potter in second grade.
4. What is your most anticipated book of 2014? (Sorry, Becky, I stole your question) It was City of Heavenly Fire. But now I've already gotten and read it so now it's Into the Afterlight, the last book in The Darkest Minds Trilogy by Alexandra Bracken.
5. Who is your favorite secondary character and why? This is a total cop out, but I'm going to name more than one. Drawing the lines between main and secondary characters is a murky subject. Some of my favorites are Magnus Bane from the Shadowhunter Chronicles, Hassan from an Abundance of Katherines, and Chubs from The Darkest Minds.
6. What about your favorite villain? The villain I love to hate the most is probably President Snow from the Hunger Games. Valentine Morgenstern from the Mortal Instruments is a close second.
7. What is something you enjoy besides reading? I love playing tennis and binge watching TV.
8. What is your favorite place (other than your hometown, if you like your hometown) that you've been to? I'm a total beach person. I'd say my favorite place I've been to was Playa del Carmen in Mexico or Holden Beach in North Carolina!
9. What book do you feel guilty about not having read yet? The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. I've heard nothing but good things about it and I've been putting it off for years.
10.  If you were stuck on a deserted island, what book would you want with you? The answer can't be "How to Build Boat/Raft out of Coconuts" though that would probably be the smartest choice. I would take a dictionary. That's a weird answer. I mean, I'd probably get bored if I took a real book. I could learn a couple new words everyday until I knew everything. If I had to take a real book I'd probably go with Clockwork Princess because it's awesome and I could use a good cry.
11. Last question just because I need some suggestions: Do you read graphic novels? If you do, what are some good ones? If you don't, why not? I have never read a graphic novel. I don't know if I ever will, but I'm not adverse to the idea. I've just never had the urge.

My Questions for the Nominees

1. What is your favorite feel-good book?

2. What book has made you cry the hardest?

3. If you could live in any book universe, which one would you pick?

4. What book that you were really looking forward to really let you down?

5. If you had to be a Downworlder (vampire,werewolf, warlock, or fairy) which one would you want to be?

6. What's your all time favorite stand alone?

7. If you could meet one author who would you pick?

8. Which book character do you want to be best friends with?

9. If you had the opportunity to slap one book character who would you smack?

10. What's your favorite book-to-movie adaptation?

11. What book has had the most life-changing impact on your life?

And the Nominees are....

• bookshelves of doom
• The Page Sage
• whatchYAreading? (I laughed out loud reading their Will vs Jem "discussion")
• Rebecca-Books
• Oh, For the Love of Books!
• My Reading Frenzy
• Reading is dreaming with eyes open
• bookwormblogger9
• Courtney Reads

(Side Note: If I screwed up and you have more than 300 followers, my apologies. I tried to figure it out the best I could. You could still do it and I still think your blog is pretty neat regardless.)

Thanks again to Jazzie for the nomination. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm pretty fresh to the whole blogging thing and this was a nice compliment to get.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Official Synopsis

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.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review: Four and a Half out of Five Stars

I love E. Lockhart's books. They always have so much witty dialogue that's actually really deep beneath the surface. Also John Green (of TFIOS, Looking For Alaska, and hilarious best friend characters) and Alexandra Bracken (of The Darkest Minds trilogy and all the feels) were both raving about this book. So I went in with extremely high expectations.

And...

THEY WERE MET. HOO RAH!

LATELY I'VE BEEN SO LET DOWN BY HIGH EXPECTATIONS BUT THE CURSE IS BROKEN!!

It does have a very unique writing style and an amnesiac, unreliable narrator. But I liked that and loved the book.

World and Plot: This books takes place in good old regular America. Our main character is Cadence Sinclair Eastman, the first grandchild of a very wealthy family. The Sinclairs own a private island named Beechwood off the coast of Massachusetts where they spend every summer. The family includes the patriarch grandfather and his wife Tipper, their three daughters, their daughter's children, and one daughter's boyfriend's nephew. Cadence spends all her time with Mirren, Johnny, and Gat. They cause all sorts of trouble and call themselves the Liars. But then during summer fifteen a terrible accident changes everything. Cadence can't remember what happened and keeps notes above her bed trying to piece together the mystery.

Reoccurring Themes: Family, Wealth, Power, Tolerance, Guilt, Loss, Grief, Expectations

Reaction: I read We Were Liars in one sitting. I was hooked. It isn't like my new favorite book or anything, but I truly enjoyed it. 

E. Lockhart has a particular writing style that is pretty much hit or miss. I think it's just peachy. But others do not. It has a lot of short and one word sentences. It can be very broken writing. And sometimes 

It.

Looks.

Just like.

This.

But if that doesn't bother you then you're in for an awesome book y'all.

You open up the book and, lo and behold, there is a map.

I can't remember the last non-fantasy book I read that had a map. I like maps in books, always have. I continuously flip back to them until I can get a clear picture in my head. So I enjoyed the map.

Once I got over the map there is also The Sinclair Family Tree to study. So there was prep for this book involved.

The book is split into five parts. Part One is titled Welcome. It opens up with our narrator Cadence talking about the accident that gives her terrible migraines and memory problems. Then she says her problems began before that, when her dad left and she learned that to be a Sinclair is to never be needy or a failure. 

Cadence's mother (who she calls Mummy which is endearingly British and slightly annoying at the same time) is the youngest daughter and has two sister named Carrie and Bess. Each daughter has their own house on the private island. Windemere for Penny, Red Gate for Carrie, and Cuddledown for Bess.

Cadence is the eldest grandchild and has many expectations to fill. Cady and the others started hanging out during summer eight when Gat joined the group. After Bess's divorce she got a new boyfriend named Ed. Ed's nephew Gat was brought along to play with Johnny for a couple weeks. Cadence, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat became inseparable. Gat ended up staying the whole summer.

During summer fifteen Cadence and Gat fall in love. It is ridiculously sweet.

There is writing words on the back of hands, boat rides at night, and saying one thing that means another. It is almost borderline cheesy, but does not cross into that realm.

After the love story we start to get introduced to the inner politics of the family. The grandfather interrupts a moment between Cady and Gat and you get the feeling that something is not quite right.

We learn that his wife Tipper died shortly before summer fifteen. Once again Cadence is told by her mother to 

Everyone in the Sinclair family understand that this is how they do things. Gat does not. He brings up Tipper and Cadence's dad who left frequently. It makes him more of an outcast than he already is. Cady makes some remarks that allude to her cutting herself over this tragedies, but it's all very subtle so I'm not quite sure if she did or not.

Then the accident happens. For reasons she doesn't remember Cady went swimming one night by herself in her underwear. She smacked her head on a rock and sank to the bottom of the ocean. Later her mom found her on the sand still half underwater curled in a ball. And I'm just like

You poor girl. That is utterly terrifying. Cady goes home to Vermont to recover. None of the Liars reach out to her, not even Gat.

Now Cady suffers from blackouts and migraines that make her throw up. Her condition is knows as post-traumatic headaches and she takes addictive prescriptions pills for the pain. Instead of going to Beechwood for summer sixteen she goes on a trip to Europe with her dad. Her mom tells her it's a good idea because they're redoing the main house Clairmont this summer. 

While on the trip Cadence suffers from her accident and writes and calls the liars. No one answers her and after a while she stops calling because she doesn't want to look weak. 

At this point I'm pretty upset with the Liars. Your girl Cadence is going through a rough time and needs you people. How selfish of you not to be there for her.

Part two begins: Vermont. Cadence goes back to Vermont for the school year and barely attends school. When she does she falls down stairs and frightens the students with her crying. But because she is a Sinclair she maintains an air of mystery and is not teased. 

Cadence starts to give away all her belongings because she thinks it's making a difference. She gives away her decorations, her pillow, her photos. Nothing has value to her anymore. Obviously Cady is having some problems...

Almost everyday Cadence asks her mom what happened during her accident, but she can never remember what she says. Her mom eventually stops telling her and tells her it'll be better if she remembers on her own.

Her parents want her to go with her father to Australia for the summer, but Cadence isn't having it. She is on her best behavior and her grandfather convinces them to let her go to Beechwood. She can only go for four weeks though. Her aunts will be watching her the whole time.

We come to Part Three: Summer Seventeen. Cadence meets all her family but the Liars at the docks. She sees the New Clairmont and it's completely different. Everything warm about the house has been changed to sleek and modern. Cadence starts to freak out but her mother yanks her out of it and tells her to knock it off and be normal.

Cadence heads to Cuddledown house and there are the Liars, waiting for her. She's excited and angry to see them. She tells them how she didn't graduate and has to do another year. Mirren talks about her boyfriend. They go the beach together and it's like old times again. Mirren, Johnny, and Gat decide they want to stay in Cuddledown for the summer and not go to meals at New Clairmont. Cady gets the feeling the decided this beforehand.

Cady and Gat have a moment. He tells her he never thought he'd see her again, but Cady can't bring herself to ask him why he ignored her all this time. Cady goes back to her room at Windemere and starts going through things to give away. Her mom catches her and says she can do what she wants as long as she comes to dinner at Clairmont and behaves.

When Cadence is alone she takes a pad of paper and writes down everything she remembers about summer fifteen. Then she writes questions down that she needs to find out. Why did I go into the water alone at night? Did I really have a head injury from the swim, or did something else happen? And what happened between me and Gat?

Later on Cady is too sick to go to dinner. She finds her aunt Carrie wondering around by herself in the dark. She offers her a flashlight but she says she likes the dark.

The next day Cadence meets up with Mirren. Mirren says she hates email and that's why she never answered. She lets Cady know her, Johhny, and Gat are living in Cuddledown for the summer. But Cadence's mom won't let her move in there with them because she's not well enough.

Gat and Cady have a talk and Cady bitches him out for ditching her. Gat asks if they can start over and Cady agrees. I wasn't sure about how I felt about this. On the one hand I really like them together. On the other he ignored her for two years. So I was skeptically optimistic.

Cady starts to remember things that happened during summer fifteen. She recalls the aunts having a fight with her grandfather about who was going to get the Boston house. She had a fight with her grandfather about ivory statues. Gat gave her a book with the inscription For Cady with everything, everything. Gat. 

The summer goes on and Cady spends her time with the Liars. Mirren often gets sick and stays inside. Gat and Cady fight over things, but always stay together despite that. Johnny is reckless and does what he wants. 

Then Cady remembers how horrible the aunts were during summer fifteen. How they fought and fought and fought over Tipper's stuff and the estate and the money. How they tried to use their children to get ahead in the fight. How her grandfather never really approved of Gat or his uncle because of their color. How all the aunts never had money of their own and always relied on the grandfather and things getting nasty. And then she remembers something they did, the Liars. The thing that changed everything. And everything begins to fall together in a horrible sense of clarity.

THE TWIST

Lol that's all I'm going to say about it. There is a twist and it should not be spoiled. Don't be like my dear sister and Wikipedia the plot when you get frustrated. If you know it's coming it won't feel the same. And boy did it make me feel something.

The twist is what makes this novel what it is and you want to not see it coming.

Okay?

Okay.

Yeah, the TFiOS movie is coming. Yeah, I'm excited.

But back to We Were Liars. It's a fast read and totally worth it. I highly highly recommend it. It's a short and well... not sweet read. More of a bitter flavor actually. So go pick it up. GO. GO NOW. GO TO BARNES AND NOBLE. And take me with you dude.

Quotes

"There is not even a Scrabble word for how bad I feel."

"I suffer migraines. I do not suffer fools."

"I'll be fine, they tell me. I won't die. It'll just hurt a lot."

"Always do what you're afraid to do."

"No one like a waffler."

"Never take a seat in the back of the room."

"Never complain, never explain."

"Don't take no for an answer."

"Never eat anything bigger than your ass."

"Do not accept an evil you can change."

"Be a little kinder than you have to."