We Fell Apart by E Lockhart - Review

We're back in the same universe as Family of Liars and We Were Liars! I didn't even know this was a thing! Then I spotted this book in The Works in Ripon just before Christmas, and got Lee to buy me it as a Christmas gift. I picked it up in mid February, still on my mission to read all my Christmas gifts before too long! I loved this, it was so nice to be back in that universe. As a reminder, in We Were Liars we meet the Sinclair family, who are super rich and own an island - of course! - and there has been a devastating fire. I won't spoil We Were Liars but read it, oh my god. I wanted to throw my tablet out of the window when I read it. I can remember so specifically where I was, too, away for the weekend in North Yorkshire and I was lying in bed one morning reading the end of the book. I love it when books stay with you so much. 

This book starts just a week after the fire on Beechwood Island. Matilda is eighteen years old and about to go to college. She is living in LA with her kind of stepdad, Saar, who is an actor. Her mother, Isabela, is living in Mexico with her new boyfriend, having basically abandoned Matilda. Matilda has never known who her father is, but then she gets an email from him. 

He is Kingsley Cello, the reclusive artist. His paintings sell for millions, and in her research Matilda learns very little about him. He changes his back story a lot and is never truthful, so Matilda is just basically confused. Still, he sends her the money for a plane ticket, so Matilda heads out to Massachussetts (I'm not sure I've spelt that right, hey ho). In the airport she meets Holland and Winnie, who come back into the story later, which I won't spoil. She meets a rude taxi driver and follows confusing instructions, but eventually she's at Kingsley's property in Hidden Beach. 

He had built a castle, with four turrets and everything. There's a map in the book which I love, I always love to see things in pictures! There's a pool house and steps down to the beach, and the whole place is basically falling apart. At the house Matilda finds Meer, her half brother, and his mother, June, who is Kingsley's partner. She is thrilled to have a brother, but still wants to meet her dad, of course. June doesn't want her there and makes this very clear.

Also living in the castle is Brock. He is a former child star who went off the rails and who came to Hidden Beach to sober up, to recuperate and relax. He is barely older than Matilda and Meer, who are only a month apart. Then there is Tatum - who is the taxi driver from earlier! He wants rid of Matilda immediately, but as the weeks pass romance builds between them. I loved the romance actually and thought it was very sweetly done. 

Meer is nice to Matilda and wants them to bond, but everyone else wants rid of her and won't answer her questions about Kingsley. They keep fobibng her off and saying he's in Italy and that he'll be back any time, but as time goes on it's obvious that there are so many things going on that Matilda has no idea about. She doesn't know who she can trust or how to make things right in Hidden Beach.

I love the atmosphere of the book, it's hazy and dreamy and very reminiscent of We Were Liars. It feels like the heat of the summer is setting in and everyone is going a bit crazy in the place. I'm giving this five out of five, it's E Lockhart at her absolute best! 

Family of Liars by E Lockhart - Review

Where did I get it? I bought it a few weeks ago. I read We Were Liars ages ago and wanted to read this prequel. I read We Were Liars before I started this blog, but believe me when I say that when the twist was revealed I wanted to throw the book out of the window. I absolutely hadn't seen it coming. I've read a couple of other books by E Lockhart since We Were Liars, and enjoyed them. So of course I ordered this! 

What's it about? It's set on the same island as We Were Liars and is narrated by Cadence's aunt, Carrie, when she is a teenager. Her parents are Harris and Tipper, white upper class WASPy types, who have more money than sense and who are extremely overprivileged. They have four daughters - Carrie, Penny, Bess, and Rosemary. The summer that Carrie is sixteen, Rosemary drowns off the island. She is just ten years old and Carrie grieves deeply for her, but the rest of the family seems to have forgotten about her. In winter the next year, Carrie has surgery on her jaw which gets infected and means that she stays at home with her mother for a couple of months. It also starts in her a codeine addiction which, as she says, will take her a few stays in rehab and a few years to get over. The book does go forwards in time to after the events of We Were Liars (no spoilers!) but mostly concentrates on the year Carrie is sixteen and then the following summer, when she is seventeen.

Rosemary turns up as a ghost in Carrie's room, wanting attention from Carrie. She tries to show herself to Tipper too, but Tipper banishes her. One night in Tipper's room, Carrie sees a strand of black pearls, which she is given permission to wear, and a photograph of Tipper and a man, who has had his face scratched from the photo. Carrie is intrigued and tries to work out who the man is.

Meanwhile Harris' brother Dean turns up with his children, Yardley and Tomkin. Carrie and Yardley are a similar age and usually hang out together all summer. However, Yardley has brought her boyfriend George with her and two of his friends, Major and Pfeff. The summer tumbles away from all of them, and secrets have to be hidden. As Carrie says, the Sinclairs were always liars...

I loved being back on Beechwood Island with the Sinclair family. They're all just quite horrible, and I love it. There's so much tradition which must be upheld at all costs, and everyone is just out for themselves. I did feel sorry for Carrie and really liked seeing the events of this summer from her point of view. 

What age range is it for? Fourteen plus 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? There's a subplot, yes 

Are any main characters people of colour? No 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? I think Carrie's addiction counts here - it's not graphic most of the time, but it is there. 

Is there any sex stuff? Yes, and trigger warning for sexual assault. 

Are drugs mentioned or used? Yes, abuse of prescription drugs 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, it's quite graphic in places 

Are there swear words? No 

 

What criticisms do I have? Almost none, I could stay in this world forever 

Would I recommend the book? Yes, but read We Were Liars first! 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? Could I resist it?? No! 

 

What do I think of the cover? It's perfect, dreamy and a little unsettling 

How many stars? Four out of five. I just enjoyed it a lot. 

Where is the book going now? I'll keep it I think!

Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart - Review

Where did I get it? I bought it on Kindle when it was like 99p, because I read the first chapter and reviewed it here, and was really intrigued by the premise of the book. So while I was scrolling through my Kindle just after I finished The Wonder, I decided to read it. 

What's it about? As I said in the link above, we open in Mexico, where Jule is exercising in a hotel when an American woman called Noa interrupts her and starts talking to her. Jule introduces herself as Imogen, and arranges to meet up with Noa, but then becomes suspicious and makes a getaway. Unfortunately, right at the end of the first chapter, we discover that Noa has tracked her down.

At the very beginning, we also learn Jule's "origin story", where she spins a yarn about finding her parents dead when she was aged eight. This novel is a mixture of truth and fiction and half truths and truth being twisted, which I really liked. 

The novel then goes back in time to Jule's arrival in Mexico, and then keeps going back in time so that we see all the things that happened in order for Jule to be in Mexico. It's a really clever way of writing a novel and as a writer I'm intrigued as to how E Lockhart even started to do it! I sort of feel like I'd write a novel forwards and then just switch the chapters around and leave the intrigue to happen as it does. 

We Were Liars by E Lockhart is about over-privileged rich white people and honestly there's the same kind of vibe here, which I liked. Imogen is utterly dislikeable, as are a lot of the lesser characters, but I really liked Jule and was rooting for her the whole way through. This is a great book and was a brilliant way to start the new year. 

What age range is it for? 15+

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No, but there's a definite undercurrent to the relationship between Jule and Imogen, which I liked 

Are any main characters people of colour? No. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? No 

Is there any sex stuff? No 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, and there's some violent scenes too. Trigger warning for talk of suicide, too. 

Are there swear words? No 

What criticisms do I have? Almost none! I felt the whole thing was really intriguing and written in a really clever way. I have two more of E Lockhart's books and I really will have to read them. She's great! 

Would I recommend the book? Absolutely. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? As above, I liked the opening chapter. It definitely got me to buy the book!

What other books is it like? It is a lot like We Were Liars, so if you haven't read that, do. 

How many stars? Five out of five. Not perfect but really close to it.