Bro. First of all. Why is everyone absolutely hating on this TV show? I really enjoyed it, but, in full disclosure, I did read the book so I knew what was going on the whole time. Also, just to tell you how much I liked it, I cried like a BABY at the end. And somehow, Amazon timed their ads at just the right times to piss me off. 

Alright, so before getting into the book vs. movie, I just want to make a quick comment that most of my review is going to be based off my experience with the book as well, but I do think they did an amazing job at following the book (for the most part). 

Now, as far as the story goes, I do think that some of the antics of the Sinclair family were INSANE. Like, someone please tell me because I’m not rich, but are rich people really that unhappy? Are they really that shallow? I’m sure not all of them are, but man, you guys, this family was messed up on every level of messed up you can think of. You’re basically following the Sinclairs as they fight for inheritance, and then the poor children who are left buried in the consequences. The original Sinclair sisters are Bess (Caroline Forbes *ahem*, sorry, I mean Candice King), Carrie (Mamie Gummer), and Penny (Caitlin Fitzgerald). Penny is Cadence’s mom, Carrie is Johnny’s mom, and Bess is Merrin’s mom (sorry Merrin, you literally got the short end of the stick on that one even though all the sticks were pretty short). You also have Ed (Rahul Kohli), who is Gat’s uncle and Carrie’s partner. A LOT goes on in this first season (which corresponds, for the most part, with the book of the same name written be E. Lockhart), so I’m not going to detail it all especially before the spoilers, but I honestly hardly ever lost interest in the show. If you like YA dramas with a little bit of mystery (and I loved The Vampire Diaries, which show runner Julie Plec worked on as well), then you’ll love We Were Liars. 

As far as acting goes, I think everyone did a stellar job. I really enjoyed every character except Harris Sinclair (David Morse). Like, they couldn’t have given his character a little more depth? I don’t remember him being this horrible in the book…. Anyway, Emily Alyn Lind had to be the PERFECT Cadence Sinclair and the same goes for her counterpart, Shubham Maheshwari as Gat. I loved every moment of them onscreen together and I don’t think I could’ve picked better actors/actresses. Johnny, oh sweet, dear Johnny, was probably one of my favorites (aside from Ed). Like Joseph Zada did phenomenally and seriously reminded me of JJ from Outer Banks. 

Honestly, you guys, I really don’t have that many things to complain about for this adaptation and TV show. It was entertaining. The romance was so sweet. The sisters had enough drama to have their own reality TV show. I don’t see why there’s so much hate for this show. I will say a few of the things that I really disliked once we get to the spoilers below. 

Spoilers ahead!!!

Aright, as far as spoilers go, I have a lot to say. 

So, at first, I felt bad for Bess. Her husband was horrible and literally stole from their children’s trusts, but it did not take long for me to completely not care a bit about what happened to Bess. At times, I felt bad for each sister, but the things they did were so petty and horrible that I just didn’t care about them at all by the end. If you want me to rank them in terms of likability? Carrie, Penny, and Bess falls DEAD LAST. I hated her so much by the end. 

I also hate HATE how they made Gat look like a cheater and a liar in the first few episodes. That did not happen in the book at all. Cady knew about the girlfriend back home in the book and so the TV show made him look terrible when all he ever had been was “contemplation and enthusiasm” and “ambition and strong coffee” 😭. 

Okay, here is a bullet-point breakdown of the differences in the book vs. the TV show (and this is only what I noticed because there was probably a lot more than this):

• Gat and Cady meet in the boathouse, not Gat on the dock chasing after Cady as she met him. 
• The accident happens during summer 16 and not summer 15. 
• There’s no gap where Cady is in Europe. She goes back to Beechwood the next summer, during summer 17 since the accident happened in summer 16. 
• Apparently there’s a new sister named Rosemary who died and no one talks about? I’m assuming it has something to do with what Bess mentioned during her summer 16, but honestly have no idea at this point. 
• Granny Tipper dies during summer 16 while they’re on the island.
• The lemon hunt is new. 
• Cady suspected Johnny and Merrin at times for her accident, but I seriously didn’t like that because, um, what? She loved the liars. She wouldn’t have ever suspected them of hurting her. 
• Gat stayed outside during the fire and only went back in to save Cadence. 
• Harris Sinclair made everyone else think the fire was an accident. 
• Carrie apparently sees Johnny, too (predicted that one and honestly made sense since she just walked up and down the beach every night by herself).

So, here are my predictions for the next season:

• We’ll get to find out what happened to Rosemary. 
• Harris “butthole” Sinclair will continue to blackmail Cadence and potentially tell the family the truth about the fire. 
• Something about Bess’s “summer 16” and the lies that they have. I haven’t read Family of Lies yet, so maybe following that storyline?

Regardless of what happens next season, I’d feel perfectly fine not continuing to watch because it honestly wrapped up nicely with how the book goes. I really did enjoy this adaptation and I cried like a baby when Johnny said “I don’t want to burn again”. Like WHATTTTT. Why break my heart like that??? My dog literally came over to me to put her head on my lap because I was sobbing so hard. Excuse me while I go find some decorum. 

Overall, I enjoyed this show so much and had fun binging it at home. It was a great summer romance, mystery, thriller (whatever you want to call it honestly), and the actors/actresses were great. They seriously brought the Sinclairs to life and I loved watching everything play out onscreen.