Lockhart writes various amounts of fierce and intense novels: many of which deal with feminism. Her novel, We Were Liars, resulted in a #1 New York Times best-seller after being a very successful breakout novel. The novel, one out of many others, had numerous state awards and lots of Best-Of-The-Year awards. Lockhart writes thrillers and was an inventor of a superhero for DC comics, Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero.

We Were Liars was published in 2014 but even to this day is still being read. The book is a mystery involving a group of teenagers on their annual vacation to a private family island. During Cadence’s summer when she was 15, a swimming accident occurred ending in a brain injury. She returned 2 years later to find solutions to what happened. She discovers the truth about her family and even herself. The novel is very family drama centered but for being a young adult novel, Lockhart handles the topic very successfully.

Reading the novel is very difficult. It was sometimes difficult to understand what was happening in the story. Because of the perspective and narrative, the style makes more sense. It may be difficult for most young adults to read. To understand what happened at the end of the book, I had to reread it. The book is a very intense novel. It is hard to stop reading when her writing style is so unique. In some books, the author will not formally introduce the main character like Lockhart did. Lockhart introduced the main character, Cadence, by giving enough detail to make the reader question what happened to Cadence. Lockhart introduced Cadence in the second chapter, though. The first one was a hook. It explained the Sinclair family. The whole book is about Cadence rediscovering what happened in her past, as the readers follow that trail, we discover the truths behind Cadence.

Cadence has to accept the past.  To accept the past she has to remember it, though. When she rediscovers the truth she has to grieve the past and eventually live with it. With everyone surrounding her grieving, it is hard for her to understand and move on with them when it is unclear to her why they are all having these feelings.

As we get to know the Sinclair family, we start to see the theme: greed. Though it may not seem like it from the plot, the Sinclair family is a very uptight, attention-seeking, and greedy family.