School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Lockhart's prequel to the wildly popular We Were Liars reunites readers with the wealthy Sinclair family and another summer of ominous drama and haunting memories. The action takes place on the Sinclairs's private island off Cape Cod, 27 years before the events of We Were Liars. The youngest child of Harris and Tipper Sinclair, Rosemary, drowned on the island the previous year and Carrie, her oldest sister, is taking the loss especially hard. In addition to feeling like she is the only one truly mourning Rosemary, she constantly feels like an outsider among her sisters: never the prettiest nor the smartest. Also recovering from reconstructive jaw surgery, she attempts to cope by self-medicating to disconcerting effects, including nighttime visits from Rosemary's ghost. The summer seems like it might improve when her cousin's boyfriend arrives with two handsome friends in tow. Suddenly Carrie is taking part in family events with gusto in order to spend more time with the handsome yet flighty Lawrence Pfefferman, aka Pfeff. As the summer wears on, tension builds among the islands' teen inhabitants, ending with an unpredictable, multi-layered twist conclusion. Lockhart employs many of the tactics used in We Were Liars to build suspense; subtle hints at the novel's climax are interspersed with unreliable narration and red herrings to inevitably keep readers guessing. This can be read as a standalone but, as an author's note warns at the beginning, it will spoil the events of We Were Liars if read first. VERDICT This high-interest, suspenseful prequel will capture fans of We Were Liars and new readers alike; a must purchase for YA collections.--Mary Kamela
Publisher's Weekly Review
Lockhart returns for another look behind the privileged Sinclair family's gleaming facade in this absorbing prequel to 2014's We Were Liars. Centered on the original Liars' mothers as teens in 1987, the story is narrated by Carrie, the eldest of the three surviving Sinclair sisters, in response to a request for details about "the absolute worst thing you ever did, back then." The bulk of the action unfurls on and around Beechwood, the wealthy family's private island off the Massachusetts coast. Though the rest of her family seems to have moved on, 17-year-old Carrie still grieves for her youngest sister, Rosemary, who drowned the previous summer at age 10. Numbing herself with prescription codeine and filched sleeping tablets, Carrie finds comfort in visits from Rosemary's palpable, talkative ghost. When the siblings' uncle and cousin show up with surprise guests--three charismatic teen boys--Carrie is swept into a romance with one of them, dishy but careless Lawrence "Pfeff" Pfefferman. In the weeks that follow, she learns several ugly family secrets as events stress-test the sisters' bonds. Lush language and a setting full of breezy glamor provide an easy entry point into this layered, atmospherically tense exploration of jealousy, love, and family loyalty. Characters read as white. Ages 12--up. Agent: Elizabeth Kaplan, Elizabeth Kaplan Literary. (May)
