I read this book for the first time in 2019, and by the time the TV series came out last year, I’d forgotten a LOT of details about the book and its’ characters. I wasn’t even planning on watching the show until I clicked on a YouTube video showing the first ten minutes of the first episode. I’m not going to lie - my jaw literally dropped as I watched it. Somehow the producers and actors made the TV show feel as if it had come off the pages of the novel. The essence of the series - the setting, the characters, and even the music - matched perfectly with the vibes of the book.
So I accepted my fate and watched the entire 8-episode series in the span of about a day. And I totally loved it. I re-read the book after binging the series, and I can confidently say that this is one of the rare cases where I prefer the TV adaptation to the original book.
But before I explain why, let’s first get into a brief synopsis of what We Were Liars is about.
At first glance, We Were Liars is the story of Cadence Sinclair Eastman, who suffered a tragic incident at her family’s island two summers ago and almost drowned in the ocean. Now struggling with crippling migraines and selective amnesia, she decides to return to the scene of her accident to learn what happened to her on that fateful evening years ago.
However, in reality, We Were Liars contains much deeper messages about privilege, wealth, friendship, and family. It is a story of how wealth and privilege break the seemingly perfect and wealthy Sinclair Family.
Headed by patriarch Harris Sinclair and his wife Tipper, their three daughters Carrie, Penny, and Bess bring their families to the Sinclair’s private island on the Martha’s Vineyard Sound, Beechwood Island, every summer. Cadence, our narrator, is the daughter of Penny Sinclair and the favored eldest grandchild. Her cousins Mirren Sinclair Sheffield (daughter of Bess) and Johnny Sinclair Dennis (son of Carrie) are her same age, and together with their friend Gat Patel, the four of them are collectively known as The Liars. Gat, however, is not a Sinclair - he started coming to the island at 8 years old with his uncle Ed when Ed began dating Carrie. Together, The Liars enjoy getting together for their idyllic summers on the island. Yet, after the death of matriarch Tipper Sinclair, Carrie, Penny, and Bess engage in bitter and ruthless arguments for their parent’s inheritance. These arguments cause tensions on the island as the mothers attempt to use their children to persuade Harris for money and heirlooms. Gat and Ed become more aware and upset by Harris’s racist remarks and discrimination due to their Indian heritage, further adding to the conflicts on Beechwood. The tension finally reaches its peak one evening towards the end of the summer, culminating in Cadence’s accident.
Let’s start by discussing the book. The main reason I didn’t like the book was because of its writing style and simplistic story telling. Cadence Sinclair Eastman is a writer, and this definitely shows through in her narration style. She uses many metaphors and analogies to express her feelings, and I personally didn’t love this flowery writing. In my opinion, this book did too much talking and not enough showing.
She describes the Liars using abstract concepts rather than allowing the reader to get to know these characters via dialogue, actions, and backstories. Mirren is described as “sugar, curiosity, and rain”; Johnny is “bounce, effort, and snark”; and Gat is "contemplation and enthusiasm…ambition and strong coffee”. To be completely honest, I don’t know how a person can be rain, bounce, or strong coffee, so these descriptions did nothing to help me understand some of the book’s main characters. I wanted to hear the Liar’s backstories, understand their flaws and motivation, and learn more about their lives off Beechwood, but the book never really delves into this. As you know, one of my favorite parts of reading is getting to know the characters in the stories I read. In the novel, however, I felt like I didn’t really know any of the characters at all. It felt more like a statement of basic details for the plot rather than expanding on different character’s motivations, desires, and actions.
I also wanted stronger relationships between the characters. The Liars are supposed to be best friends, but the book doesn’t show a strong sense of their friendship. I wanted inside jokes and teenage shenanigans and deep conversations, and unfortunately I didn’t get any of that. Cady and Gat start a relationship, but it seems that all they do is make out and Gat comforts her when she’s upset and/or in pain. I wanted to see them have a deeper connection, but since their relationship isn’t well built upon it just came off as very shallow. Also - the entire time they’re together Gat has a girlfriend named Raquel. Honestly I don’t think Raquel is super necessary to the story, but I absolutely HATE cheating, and the fact that Cadence knows about Raquel yet still continues seeing Gat really pisses me off.
In the book, Cady uses many metaphors to help express her feelings of pain and heartbreak, such as when she describes her migraines as physical bleeding wounds and explains that her father shot her in the chest when he moved out after her parents divorced. Personally, I’m really bad at distinguishing sarcasm and it took me a second to realize that these were metaphors rather than actual events - maybe that’s why these metaphors came across as too strong for me? I also don’t understand poetry and deep imagery and flowery words to describe feelings - like just tell me that you’re sad instead of describing a meandering river in the woods, you know? Please don’t hate me for saying that. If you’re a fan of poetry and imagery and that style of writing, you’ll probably enjoy the book a lot. Personally, I didn’t.
Cadence also tells many stories throughout the book, often fairytales about princesses and castles and dragons. I actually really liked these stories - they had really interesting morals and messages that related to the events of the book, and they show Cadence’s potential as a storyteller. I loved that the TV show included these stories, since they’re crucial to the book’s essence.
Yet despite these flaws in the book, I felt that the plot had a huge potential that just wasn’t fully realized - it was so short and could have gone much deeper into the characters and family dynamics, and I was disappointed that it felt so surface level. The big mystery at the end was emotional in the book, but because I didn’t have a huge attachment to the characters of the novel, it didn’t pack the same punch as the TV show did.
I feel like the book’s main focus was on the mystery Cadence is trying to solve - how exactly did she end up alone, on the beach, nearly dead? We don’t learn many details about that summer besides some major events without much elaboration. The novel is very focused on Cadence’s return to the island after her accident as she interacts with her family and the island to discover the truth.
On the other hand, I feel like the TV show still maintains this era of mystery while also keeping a big focus on the events of the past summer. I would argue that most of the TV show details the summer of her accident rather than the summer of Cadence’s return to the island. I really liked this shift in the narrative because I was able to learn more about the Sinclair family and get to know the characters more deeply, while still being hooked by the mystery of Cady’s accident.
I think I liked the TV show so much because it perfectly captured the essence of Beechwood and the Sinclair family, elaborating on the message, characters, and plot of the book to let the story reach its full potential. It was literally like the book had come to life, and you have no idea how happy that made me. The casting, the outfits, the decorations in Clairmont, even the presentation of food at meals was like it was drawn from the novel. I loved these details in the TV show because they really helped to show the wealth of the Sinclair family, whereas I felt that the book simply stated this. However, I will admit that it is harder for the book to show wealth than a TV show because it lacks visuals and instead needs to describe a setting in elaborate detail.
As I previously mentioned, the TV show goes much more in depth into the characters. I’d argue that this manifested differently for the mothers and the Liars.
For the mothers Carrie, Penny, and Bess - we’re able to get a glimpse into their interactions and conversations as sisters. You can see how they constantly compete for their parents’ love and attention, and the pressure that they feel to be a perfect Sinclair. The TV show adds a layer of elaborate secrets to each of the sisters that also increases their motivations for their family’s money. In the book, Cadence explains that the mothers argue about how to share heirlooms and wealth, often using their kids as bargaining tools, but the reader never learns about why each sister wants the money besides a vague reasoning of privilege. Yet in the TV series, each sister has a deeper motive - Penny has a messy divorce she’s trying to hide from her ex-husband’s private investigator, Carrie had to spend her savings to cover up Johnny’s incident at school, while Bess’s husband Brody drained her trust fund and stole money from his clients. I think adding these extra motivations to each sister helped make their characters more complex and human, adding a deeper level of secrets and lies that their family’s expectations of perfection tried to hide. It really shows just how dependent these fully-grown women are on their parent’s wealth, and emphasizes how this gives Harris the power for his mind games. Their sisterly interactions showed how the privilege they grew up with forces the sisters to view each other as competitors rather than allies.
The best description we get of the Liars in the novel is when Cadence discusses each of them at the very end of the novel (like I’m talking like the last 20 pages). In the TV show, I actually got to know the personalities of each of the Liars, and I love every single one of their characters.
I enjoyed following Mirren’s struggle with her art and her desire to be perfect. I empathized deeply with how she’s always felt weird and never really fit in. It made me tear up when Mirren worries that nobody ever really saw her at the end of the show - I’d never thought about it that way before, but that scene helped me realize how beautiful human connection can be, and made me ask some questions of my own - What does it truly mean to see someone? Who do I see? Who sees me? I also loved the addition of Ebon in the show - I really enjoyed how they connected and how Ebon believed in her and helped her discover new sides of herself.
I also really liked Johnny - he reminds me of JJ Maybanks, in a way. While the viewer in the TV show gets to learn his flaws and his problems with rage and the terrible incident at his school, we also see a softer side of his character. It’s very clear that Johnny loves his family and friends, and he’s extremely loyal. I love that he tries to add humor to any situation and see the positive side of things. He’s a fun and light character who also has serious struggles, so his rare moments of vulnerability are very powerful. When he says that he believes that he’s messed up and never used his privilege for good, I really felt that he’s grown to understand himself and his flaws. I think that Johnny desires to become a better person as the show goes on - near the end, it seems that Johnny’s grown to realize that he isn’t a perfect Sinclair boy, and most importantly - that he doesn’t want to be.
Next, we have Gat. As I mentioned before, I absolutely hate cheaters. But ignoring the cheating, I really liked Gat’s character. I appreciated his honest and blunt nature, and I loved his intelligence and general personality. He’s very passionate and really tries to do good in the world, and I love how he helps the Liars grow as people by exposing them to their privilege and prejudice. The TV show really does a great job of showing how out of place Gat is made to feel at Beechwood because of the color of his skin and his family’s lack of riches, which adds more depth and understanding to his character. I feel that the book doesn’t give Gat any redemption after the whole Raquel-cheating thing, and since I never really got a good understanding of his character from the novel, I really didn’t like him. But I’m happy that I loved him so much in the TV series.
Lastly, let’s discuss our narrator Cadence. In the novel, we mostly understand Cadence as she recovers from her accident - so we read through her pain and confusion while she tries to figure out what happened to her on the beach. The TV show allows us to mostly learn about her character through the past, before her accident occurs, which I liked more. I loved how she struggled with the expectations of being a Sinclair, and I liked seeing how she dealt with the betrayal and pain that she felt when things with Gat initially go sour. I loved her loyalty and knack for storytelling, and the way that she supports her friends. My favorite thing about her character is that she really listens to the people around her and tries to become a better person. She reads books about social justice, starts standing up to her grandfather, and even points out the other Liars' privilege. This character growth in the TV series was amazing, while it was nonexistent in the book.
One of my favorite changes in the TV adaptation is Gat and Cady’s relationship. In the TV show, their connection is based on common interests and a shared intellect. They pass special notes to each other and read together, and Mirren even remarks that Gat and Cady can’t play Two Truths and a Lie because they know each other too well. The flashbacks to them as children also show how they’ve always had a special bond. I was rooting for Gat and Cady the whole series (assuming that Gat hadn’t made her the other woman, of course). Gat and Cady’s relationship is a huge motivating factor for Cadence’s actions in the book, so the fact that their relationship is well developed helps the viewers understand why Cady would go against her family for him, and why Gat would risk everything for her.
In terms of the Liars friendship in general - I really loved getting to see a teenage friend group actually act like a teenage friend group in the TV show. They chill in their floaties on the ocean waves together, host a secret Fourth of July rager, play games in Cuddledown, and sneak to a party boat. It felt so realistic and made their friendship seem genuine - similar to seeing the Pogues being Pogues in OBX. Yet they also have deep conversations and understand each other on a complex level. Watching them grow out of their youthful naiveté as they come to see the tension, discrimination, and mind games at Beechwood is really powerful. I love that Gat helps the cousins realize that they can choose to act like their mothers, controlled by the need for money and fighting for power, or they could band together for what is right. I really appreciated this character growth of each of the Liars! Watching them stand up to their grandfather together was one of my favorite parts of the TV series.
Lastly, some details in the TV show that I just really appreciate.
The soundtrack was absolutely amazing. Each song perfectly fit the essence of the show and the scenes they were used in. The songs were also super catchy and stayed stuck in my head for days. I’ve added four songs from the show to my playlist -“Same Days”, “Young Blood”, “What’s the Rumpus”, and “Feel It All”. The costumes were also gorgeous and Beechwood seems idyllic.
Something I read in a YouTube short comment by AlisaTaylor-n7i really stuck with me - a person in the comments pointed out that each character’s flaw is their downfall. Johnny, up in the attic, gets distracted with his rage and can’t escape in time. Mirren is obsessed with destroying her mother’s room because of her issues with her mother’s approval, and saves her painting rather than herself. Cadence’s desire for the pearls, a symbol of her family’s wealth and the parental love her mother and aunts fought for, causes her to put herself in danger. Gat will always chase after Cadence, which ultimately leads to his downfall. I thought this was a really cinematic and meaningful choice.
There are so many subtle details that hint at the ending of the show and the cause of Cadence’s accident throughout each episode, and these details go unmissed until your second (or even third) re-watch. I really appreciated these elements and details, it shows how well-written this TV adaptation was.
The cinematography of the show is also amazing - there’s a ton of juxtaposition of the past and present summers to highlight the changes in Beechwood, the Sinclairs, and the Liars before and after Cady’s accident. The lighting, scenery, and camera angles also add to this contrast as well, which I loved.
In the TV show, the viewer slowly learns the events that lead to the accident in the show, while I felt like the “big reveal” of the accident was much more abrupt in the novel. I felt that this added to the suspense of the show, and struck a more powerful and emotional chord with the final message and ending of the story. Personally, I wasn’t that moved by the book’s ending. I mean, I felt sad of course, but I didn’t have a strong connection to the characters so I wasn’t super emotional. On the other hand, I had such a love for all of the Liars in the TV series that its ending made me tear up.
Overall? I loved this TV show so much, and I feel like it does a better job of telling the tragic story of the Sinclair family than the original novel does. It has a really powerful message that I feel everyone should hear, and it strikes a powerful emotional chord with viewers. It’s currently the middle of June - a perfect time to watch such a TV series full of summer vibes!