We Were Liars

After reading a lot of negative reviews, I did not expect much from this series. I'm not familiar with the book at all, so I went in watching this with no idea what it was about.. I felt the first few episodes were pretty slow, and I actually was fast-forwarding a bit. The ending made up for the slow story. I did not see that coming at all.

It also leaves an open for a season 2 , which I would definitely watch.

The acting is pretty good, especially the four teenagers. I've never seen any of them in anything else. The three sisters were annoying. I think one of them was Meryl Streep's daughter. I binged this in 2 days and I recommend giving it a try without all the haters reviews.

I grew up as one of the "poorer" cousins to old money from the east, so I am very familiar with the mindset, settings, attitudes, and behaviors of the wealthy. So far this does, in fact, portray them accurately. Yes they pretend to be perfect, but are far from it in reality. Maybe they're not portrayed favorably, as some critics would hope for, but accurately. I'm not here for that though, what I am here for is the mystery of regaining memories, rediscovering family, and character growth/development. Even though some people seem to be too idealistic in their views of the world, that's how some people are. I didn't get the sense that this show is being preachy at all. One character's views are not propped up as the only correct view. People believe different things, share different insights, get upset over petty issues, and it all comes together in a kaleidoscope of personalities. And "news flash" most people are disgusting, fallible, and stupid, whether they are in a trailer park, or in a mansion. It's just that some mask it better than others, and some try to control things so much to overcompensate for it, that the control bleeds over into invading the lives of others. I think if anything, so far, the show tells us that lies have consequences, no matter who you are. That is universal.

I'm usually really picky with TV shows. I can tell within a few minutes if something isn't for me. But this show grabbed me almost immediately. Maybe it was the visuals, or the divergent storyline, but something about it just clicked. The dynamic between the three Sinclair sisters was the highlight for me, their squabbles, their raw honesty, and the beautiful chaos of their lives. It felt authentic. Familiar, even reminiscent of Succession, but still fresh in its own way.

I expected the flashbacks to throw me off, and at first, I thought I was more drawn to their pasts, the lives they lived before the accident we knew little about. But as the episodes unfolded, I found myself just as invested in what had happened as I was in what was coming next. It surprised me how much I cared. It made perfect sense.

I want to say that I think the majority of people who are disappointed in this didn't read the book or don't know that its based off of a book. For those complaining about the writing, it was a young adult novel that was a pretty average book to begin with. I read it as a teacher because my middle school girls were obsessed with it for a period of time. It's creative and not perfect. I think this is a solid adaptation of a pretty good book. I just hate to see some people giving the show so much hate. For those of you who read and came here first to check out reviews, see if you can get a hold of the book and read it before watching the show!

When I started watching this show, I had literally no expectations since the little I had heard about the book wasn't that good. But it was an excellent surprise! The mystery of what happened to the protagonist, her pain and confusion trying to remember the year before and her sweet romance was incredibly hooking. It took me basically one sitting to watch it all. Emily Alyn Lynd does an excellent job as a trauma survivor and is able to made me sympathize with her pain despite of my reality being as far as possible from a white rich girl. I liked most of the other actors, too, and my only reason to not giving 10 stars is the unnecessary length of the show giving the fact that there were not so much plot beside of what happened to the protagonist. But, in sum, I was completely hooked from the start and entirely devastated at the ending of it.