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.
REVIEW:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
We Were Liars has so many mixed reviews. “It’s the best book ever!” “It’s the worst book ever!” In truth, it just comes down to what you like. E. Lockhart has an unusual writing style, including random paragraph breaks for emphasis and extended metaphors (that are not always obviously metaphors). I thought that these elements added to the somewhat disturbing atmosphere of the book, but if you don’t like them, you won’t like We Were Liars.
Additionally, I’ve seen reviews complain about the plot and characters. The characters are not good people, but I don’t think they’re supposed to be. Yes, they focus on “rich people problems” and are childish in the way they handle them, but that’s a main theme of the book. And yes, the plot is more atmospheric than concrete, so I recommend reading it in a few sittings rather than spreading it out as to not get lost or bored.
While I don’t see myself reading We Were Liars again or purchasing it for my shelf, I have to say that it is cutting, atmospheric, and utterly original.
When Charlotte wins a scholarship to a writing workshop in Venice with the charismatic and brilliant Luca Bruni, it’s a dream come true. Writing is her passion, she loves Bruni’s books, and going to that romantic and magical sinking city gives her the chance to solve a long-time family mystery about a Venetian poet deep in their lineage, Isabella Di Angelo, who just might be the real author of a very famous poem.
Bruni’s villa on the eerie island of La Calamita is extravagant—lush beyond belief, and the other students are both inspiring and intimidating. Venice itself is beautiful, charming, and seductive, but so is Luca Bruni. As his behavior becomes increasingly unnerving, and as Charlotte begins to unearth the long-lost work of Isabella with the help of sweet, smart Italian Dante, other things begin to rise, too—secrets about the past, and secrets about the present.
As the events of the summer build to a shattering climax, Charlotte will be forced to confront some dark truths about the history of powerful men—and about the determination of creative girls—in this stunning new novel from award-winning author Deb Caletti.
REVIEW (TW for sexual abuse):
Using the Elizabeth Bennett bookmark from Page Petal (pagepetal.com)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
This book was heartbreaking and beautiful and so, so real. It was heavy, but it was so worth it.
“One Great Lie” focuses on power imbalances and abuse of power when it comes to the sexes, and Caletti interweaves many stories of abuse of power, mainly one happening in the present and the story of main character Charlotte’s 16th-century ancestor, Isabella. Both stories were hard to read, mainly because of the truth to them. So many women have had the same experience, whether it was the 16th century or 2021, and something has to change.
Oftentimes, it was difficult for me to read this book because of Caletti’s incredible storytelling. I was fully immersed in the story; I was deeply disturbed. I felt the “uh-oh feeling” for the first two-thirds of the novel, knowing something bad was going to happen. Caletti completely drew me into the story.
Despite the distressing subject matter (please check trigger warnings before reading), there were moments of light. The relationship between Charlotte and Dante was a breath of fresh air, and the beautiful scenery and adventure were so fun.
Additionally, I loved Caletti’s writing style. She almost uses a tell-don’t-show style, which sounds strange, but ends up feeling very conversational, which I love. I really felt like I was inside of Charlotte’s head and able to understand her passions, her family, and her struggles.
Caletti was also able to show the realistic complexities of power imbalances in a way I have never seen before. (Spoilers start here) The way Charlotte talks about Luca Bruni is so nuanced and so real. Before he assaults her, she sees red flags and excuses them. She goes through phases of trusting her gut, followed by phases of guilt for avoiding him and lots of love for him and his talent. After the assault, she goes through so many emotions, often directly following each other. She loves him, she hates him for what she did, she feels guilty and embarrassed, he’s in the right, no he’s not, it was wrong, she hates him, but wow, he’s so great. This thought pattern is really what survivors go through, and the way she described it was perfect. (Spoilers end here) It isn’t clear-cut hatred. It’s complicated.
In “One Great Lie,” Caletti tells a powerful and, sadly, nearly universal story that everyone should read today.
Every May 7, the students at Coffee County High School take a class trip. And every year, Lulu’s relationship with Alex Rouvelis gets a little more complicated. Freshman year, they went from sworn enemies to more than friends after a close encounter in an escape room. It’s been hard for Lulu to quit Alex ever since.
Through breakups, make ups, and dating other people, each year’s class trip brings the pair back together and forces them to confront their undeniable connection. From the science museum to an amusement park, from New York City to London, Lulu learns one thing is for sure: love is the biggest trip of all.
REVIEW:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
I have so many mixed feelings about this book. I was so excited for the premise: a relationship told through snippets from field trips over four years. I thought it would be interesting to see how a relationship changes over the course of high school, especially considering many books are unable to do this when using a traditional chronological writing style. However, I almost DNF’ed this before the first “year” was even over.
In the freshman year section of the book, the writing style and humor felt childish, making me believe this book was intended for a younger audience. I thought of dropping it after reading one too many fart jokes, and while I didn’t enjoy them, I have to say that author Miranda Kenneally wrote the most accurate depiction of high schoolers I have seen in a while. That doesn’t mean that I enjoyed that she wrote them the way she did, just that it’s something I noticed. Many books portray high school students as being overly mature, while “Four Days of You and Me” highlighted the idiotic nature of teenagers.
However, I disagreed with one way she chose to show this nature, which is including a rape joke. This was brushed over and used as an opportunity to portray the main character’s love interest, Alex, as a good guy because he didn’t laugh. That doesn’t make him a good guy. That is an absolutely average thing to do—maybe even below average because he didn’t stand up to his friend.
Additionally, Alex and main character Lulu are advertised as having an “enemies-to-lovers” arc. Here is the key with enemies-to-lovers: the enemies must change for the better before they become lovers. In the first “year” of this book, there is no growth. They prank each other dramatically. They hurt each other’s feelings. And then they make out. It doesn’t make sense. There’s no “aha” moment. They’re both jerks to each other.
By the time I finished the second “year” of the book, I was glad I didn’t DNF. The fart jokes disappear (thank God) and things start to heat up between Alex and Lulu. I can definitely feel the connection, but when it comes to their relationship problems, it’s just a matter of miscommunication. If you like the miscommunication trope, maybe you’d enjoy this, but it just annoyed me. Sure, it was accurate for their ages as most 16-year-olds cannot communicate like adults, but it was frustrating as a reader.
The second “year” also left me feeling off because Alex’s character had changed dramatically. While this change is for the better (well… sometimes it is), you could have swapped his name with someone else’s when it comes to personality traits, and it would have made just as much sense. He became a generic “good guy,” when just the year before he had picked a class field trip he knew Lulu wouldn’t like just to piss her off. What? And then he messes around with other girls after being all-in on Lulu? There’s a problem with character continuity here.
The third and fourth “years” left me loving Alex and Lulu’s connection (as well as their character growth), but I couldn’t get past Kenneally’s writing style. Her word choice and use of cliche similes made me feel with every bone in my body that this book was meant for a younger audience, but then she would throw in a sexually explicit scene! I don’t know who this book was meant for.
Additionally, Lulu’s character was annoying me. She was a two-dimensional “social justice warrior” vegan and had a hard time leading the story. The side characters were much more interesting, and I would have much rather read a book about Max and Caleb’s relationship or even one about Grace and Ryan’s relationship.
The fourth “year” provided me with a new source of anger, as well. Lulu is a graphic novelist and has submitted her book, “Here Comes the Sun,” to several publishers and editors. When she hears back from them, they always say that their favorite part is the inclusion of science. This inclusion is only because of Alex, who suggested it and helped her do the research. Maybe this is nitpicking, but it felt like this was indirectly giving Alex credit for Lulu’s years of hard work. It was already obvious that he had helped her to improve “Here Comes the Sun.” He didn’t have to receive credit in this way, too.
I finished “Four Days of You and Me” feeling as though the positives and negatives of the novel canceled out. While I admired Kenneally’s realistic portrayal of teenagers, I can’t say that I enjoyed that element of the book, as it was often annoying. And even though I liked the connection between Lulu and Alex, I couldn’t get past my dislike of Kenneally’s writing style. Because of this, I won’t be looking for any future books by Kenneally, unfortunately.
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