Book #27 of 2016. 
 My kids have been raving about how incredible this book is, so naturally, I had to pick it up. When it was handed to me, I was surprised by how small it is-- a mere 240 pages. I knew I should probably just finish it in one night. 
 I was not quite as blown away by "We Were Liars" as my 8th graders were, but hey, I'm ten years older than them, so that's understandable. I also see why they loved it. Cady is a compelling narrator, and the story unfolds slowly. Unfortunately, I did not think that any of the characters beyond Cady (and maybe Gat) were much more than two-dimensional. Fortunately, Cady's relationship with each of these family members felt very real. There is probably more swearing in this book than other YA novels for the same age range, but that just lends to its authenticity. 
 Did I guess the twist? Hell no, but I did have a few ideas as we got closer and closer to the reveal. What was clear was that there was going to be a twist. I'm glad that the twist was unexpected because reflecting on the book makes it far more rewarding, and that is a skill that I am trying to impress on my students. "We Were Liars" sticks with you for a bit after you are done because you have to rethink how every moment in the story happened. I hope that motivates a few of my students to pursue reading it a second time.