The Liars – Jennifer Mathieu

Thank you to the publisher who gifted me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Every year, Summer begins when the Callahans arrive on Mariposa Island. That is when Elena Finney gets to escape her unstable an controlling mother by babysitting the Callahan’s two children. The summer of 1986 promises to be extra special when she meets J.C, the new guy in town. Joaquin Finney can’t imagine why anyone would want to come to Mariposa Island. He dreams of going to California to find his father and escape his mother’s manipulation.

I had never read a book by Jennifer Mathieu before this but had heard so many amazing things about her previous books, so I knew I had to give this one a read.

I saw this book being marketed as a contemporary with hints of psychological thriller throughout which had me interested in this book before I had even read the synopsis. When I did read the synopsis and that this book was inspired by the real experiences of a member of the author’s family I was even more interested in giving this one a read.

This book is a whole lot more complex than I first expected. I loved the unreliable narrators and how they had me really thinking about everything in the book.

I throughly enjoyed the different narrative perspectives that this book has and how they all offer a different slant on the story. All of the characters have different motives for all the lies that they tell. Elena and her lying was incredibly haunting a times. It cam so naturally to her and it all left me feeling spooked.

When the book changed to Joaquin’s perspective half-way through, I was even more intrigued in the story. He was the character I wanted to know the most about. I loved reading how full of love and frustration he had for his mother and sister and how much he still cared for them both.

Caridad is another wonderfully complex character who my opinion changed on continuously throughout the book.

Overall, this is a complex and intriguing story that I throughly enjoyed and will certainly recommend. Pick up this book and have your mind confused and blown with this excellently written story!