This book was brilliantly crafted, but one of the things that ranked it lower was the confusion in beginning. That confusion caused me to put the book down for a long time and not pick it back up. I hate doing that with books. This book actually peaked my interest because of the way it blew up on social media.
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Book Summary:
This novel follows four kids who all vacationed to a family house on the water each summer. They call themselves The Liars. It is never fully explained why, but you can tell that all the kids don’t really get along with their rich family members. They prefer to adventure on their own. The main character, Cadence, has a terrible accident resulting in a traumatic brain injury. She is diagnosed with retrograde amnesia and cannot remember the events of the injury without enduring a migraine. But what happened the night of her accident? And why is no one telling her?
Reviews:
The twist in this book is amazing, but it took awhile to build up into it. For me, I don’t think I would read again because I already know the “shocking” ending. However, even though the book is not my favorite, it touches on topics that I hold in my heart. On top of showing what it is like to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the author also teach valuable lessons about kindness and being in control of your future.
Here are some other people’s reviews on GoodReads:
- This book has almost no plot. It is full of odd sentence structures and purple prose.
- It’s true what they’re saying: you’re better off if I tell you nothing about this book.
- This was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful and well-crafted books I have read in a really long time.
- sobbing. sobbing. sobbing. so much love for this book, and its perfect, perfect ending.
- This story left me defeated, but its tragedy was paired equally with an unconventional beauty. It gripped me instantly to the point where I couldn’t stop thinking about its mystery…
You can tell from the reviews that the book has some pretty mixed reviews. People either love it or hate it and there’s not much room in-between.
Issues Evident in the Novel:
The novel touches base on racism and classism with the Grandfather of Cadence. A man who really own cares about money and position of power. But for me personally, I think the book does an amazing job on touching bases on PTSD. Out of all the mental disorders, PTSD seems to be one of the most ignored in larger communities. It can be evident in anyone that has gone through a traumatic experience, and is especially heavy in military veterans.
PTSD effects everyone differently and the symptoms have a pretty varied range. According to the Recovery Village, PTSD effects approximately 3.5% of the population, which would equate to around 8 million people in the United States.
PTSD is one of the leading reasons as to why there are so many homeless veterans. Although PTSD can vary between people, treatment remains practically the same. It mostly focuses on cognitive behavioral therapy treatments to meet the best outcome. The scariest part about PTSD is sometimes you don’t always know you have it until one word or action send spiking triggers in your brain, resulting in sometimes erratic behavior.
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Final Thoughts:
People enjoy plot twists, in fact I think they live for them. This novel obviously struck a chord with the population, especially during quarantine, and that was one of the reasons why it took off so fast. Even though it was published in 2014, its fame didn’t arrive until covid came along with it. The one thing I can leave you with is; if you ask me about the ending… just know I’ll lie.
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