WE WERE LIARS, by E. Lockhart

The story: Cady and her cousins are rich, pampered, maybe even spoiled. But in their 15th summer of living on a private island off the coast of Massachusetts, they come to find out with disturbing finality that bad things...terrible things...can happen even to people who thought they were safe from the stuff that happen to regular people. And now, struggling with a head wound and amnesia, Cady comes back to the island to try to find the answers to how everything went so tragically wrong.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language R; sexual content PG; violence PG; nudity PG; substance abuse PG-13; magic and the occult PG; GLBT content G; adult themes PG-13 (divorce, infidelity, manslaughter, entitlement-related bad behavior) PG-13; overall rating PG-13, although the "F" word is used at least 20 times in the book, so if that makes it an automatic "R" in your mind, adjust accordingly!

Liz's comments: I thought this was an interesting look at how the entitled few live (some of them not very successfully!), and Cady's misery throughout makes you really feel for her. However, I am one of those people who are bugged by excessive use of the "F" word, and I felt it really didn't add to the story--losing its shock value each successive time it was used, and bringing to mind the adage about the bankrupt intellect. Additionally, I felt rather betrayed to find out, in the final few pages, that this was actually a GHOST story! Cheap! Hence my 3-star rating when it appears that the book is getting a solid 4-1/2 stars from most.