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Family of Liars is the prequel to the highly acclaimed We Were Liars by the same author. Written in lockhart’s spectacularly detailed style, Family of Liars is set twenty-seven years before the events of We Were Liars transpire, taking place on Beechwood Island, the private vacation spot of the Sinclair family just off of the coast of Massachusetts. Seventeen-year-old Carrie Sinclar spends her summers on the island every year, but this time around is different: her youngest sister, Rosemary, has passed away, and Carrie is unsure how to move forward without her. Struggling with grief and a family that would prefer to hide her sister’s death instead of confronting it, Carrie tries to distract herself from the ghosts of her past—until they come back to haunt her. A complicated story about love, loss, and one’s place in the world, Family of Liars is a beautiful predecessor to lockhart’s first tale.Reviewed by Alex Gerstein
Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is a student at the Merilance School for Independent Girls, where the loss of her mother just a few years earlier has made her an outsider among her peers. Olivia lives day-by-day, facing merciless cruelty from her fellow students and desperately longing for an opportunity to leave, reading the journals her mother left behind in hopes of discovering someplace where she feels she belongs. That answer comes in the form of a letter from her uncle inviting her to Gallant, the family estate—where her mother’s journals constantly plead her not to go. When Olivia arrives, she discovers a world unlike anything she could have imagined before, a place where secrets abound, and yet again, she must figure out how to find her place in this world without her mother. Filled with a plethora of complex characters and a puzzling family legacy, Gallant is a fascinating story that feels as though it could transport readers to the Gallant estate itself.Reviewed by Alex Gerstein
The fourth novel in the renowned American Royals series sweeps readers straight back into the glamorous world of the American Royals, but with a twist: Queen Beatrice has ended up in a coma, and Princess Samantha has ran off with Lord Marshall Davis, leaving the nation in need of a ruler—and that ruler is Prince Jefferson. Now the acting King, Jefferson must find a way to navigate a role that he never anticipated himself filling, all while he grapples with his complicated love for two girls at once, each of whom is now in position to become the queen of the nation. Even for the fourth time around, Reign proves that the strife of the Washington family is not over yet, much to the dismay of Prince Jefferson… but much to the excitement of this series’s devoted readers!Reviewed by Alex Gerstein