We Were Liars

I had the absolute pleasure of going to the world premiere of the upcoming Prime series We Were Liars and I have nothing but praise!

I have been counting down to this show for years (yes, YEARS. Almost THREE, in fact), and while the details get fuzzy on how everything initially played out, I CAN distinctly remember where I was when I found out this book was being adapted: sitting in a restaurant parking lot in my hometown waiting for a to-go order.

To you reading this, I know that sounds like a little moment, but to me, it was one of those moments where I knew things were going to change for me.

At the time, I was a HUGE fan of Carina MacKenzie and Julie Plec and We Were Liars was on my radar, but I hadn’t read the book yet. All I knew was that if Carina and Julie were part of the project, I was going to be deeply invested in it.

I was just over a year out of college, determined to move to Los Angeles and forge my own writing career, and when anyone asked me who my inspirations were, my answer was firmly Carina MacKenzie, Julie Plec, and Kevin Williamson. The Vampire Diaries universe and Dawson’s Creek were a huge part of my adolescence and part of the reason why I wanted to pursue a career in writing.

After seeing the We Were Liars announcement, I immediately checked out an audiobook of the novel and on a single train ride a couple of days later, I started and finished the audiobook. I was HOOKED. Would I have lied to myself and still said I was excited for the project even if I didn’t like the book? Of course. But I listened to that book with tears streaming down my cheeks on the Amtrak and I ran to Goodreads to give it a 5 star rating (which is not an easy feat for me).

The book was powerful, it was poignant, it was socially relevant, it had romance, it made me laugh, it made me CRY, and in a single train ride, it became one of my very favorite books.

Later that fall, a company held their inaugural Vampire Diaries convention in Covington, Georgia and I was planning to attend. I had met Julie Plec in passing a couple of times, but never had the chance to have a real conversation with her and I had never met Carina before, and suddenly, announcements came that both of them would be in attendance and I didn’t even know what to do with myself.

As soon as tickets went on sale for meet and greets, I bought one with Julie. I wasn’t leaving anything up to chance. When you look up to someone the way I looked up to Julie, there is nothing in the world that could seem more important than the idea of just being in her presence, her genius. The meet and greet ended up being just myself, Julie, and two other people. It was an opportunity for us to meet her as much as it was an opportunity for her to meet us. I hadn’t envisioned THE Julie Plec ever asking me a question, and suddenly, there she was, curious to pick our brains. And of course, I found the time to ask about We Were Liars. She wasn’t able to give much detail, but here we were, getting the first little nuggets of information about the show.

Carina was a little bit more tricky. I couldn’t purchase a ticket to meet her, but I wasn’t going to let the opportunity to meet her, finally, pass me by. We were at the same event and I was going to meet her, goddamn it!

I remember asking everyone if they knew what time Carina would be signing. I had this notebook I wanted her and Julie to sign, a little nod to my budding writing career. I was in a writing rut and I figured there was no better way to get out of said rut than to ask advice from my favorite writers.

When no one had answers at the event about when and where she’d be signing, I tweeted her. I don’t remember how many I sent, I feel like it couldn’t have been much because I was too self conscious to spam her (I save that notorious behavior for close friends only), but when I did finally get the chance to meet her, Carina knew me by name. So… Maybe I did tweet one too many times, but like I said, I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass me by to meet her and she was so kind when we did finally get to meet face to face.

Since then, I’ve been been able to meet Carina a handful of times, and each time, I’ve asked her the same question: What can you tell us about We Were Liars? And the last few times, she’s laughed as she acknowledged the fact that I do, in fact, ask that same question every time we see each other.

I wasn’t trying to be repetitious, really. But as development and production and filming progressed, the more information (I hoped) there was to share. And each time, she was able to share more little details, and now, we’re FINALLY just days away from the show’s release.

When I got to the theater for the premiere, I didn’t know what to expect. I was alone, I felt a little bit out of place and WILDLY underdressed and sweaty after walking nearly 30 blocks to get there. I’ve only been to one other film premiere and it was years ago, so it felt surreal to me to be standing in front of the theater where all the actors and creatives were taking photos and doing interviews.

I was standing there, clutching my copy of We Were Liars and quite honestly, just holding back the tears that were threatening to spill out. To my friends or to Carina, it probably seems like I’m just a big fan of the book and that I’m excited for the show, which, yes, I am.

But it goes deeper than that. When a piece of art touches your heart the way that We Were Liars touched mine, no amount of excitement, press, or talking about the show is going to be able to capture what being there meant to me or what finally seeing the show in its entirety will mean to me. I can try here, but I can promise that it won’t do those feelings inside justice.

When I sat down in my seat in the theater, my hands were shaking and I couldn’t stop them. I felt so PROUD hearing Julie and Carina speak before the screening. To hear and to see that their hard work coming to fruition, to see an event being hosted that couldn’t have ever happened without them, to see their happiness and gratitude, to see how excited the people around me were… I could feel the threat of those tears even stronger now.

As the two episodes played, I sat there mesmerized. For nearly an hour and a half, I was on Beechwood Island, my heart pounding with Cadence as her romance with Gat started budding, my rage building as the Sinclair family acted as the Sinclair family does (iykyk), and to experience it with a whole theater of people was incredibly special.

For that hour and change, we shared laughs, we shared gasps, and my happiness for the team of individuals who were a part of this production swelled (and yes, the tears finally did spill, just a little).

I feel I can’t say much more about the specifics of the episodes because it would KILL me to spoil anything, , but what I will say is that I loved every moment of the two episodes we saw. This show was brought to life by fans of the book; it will hold up for the fans of the book, I can feel it in my bones.

I loved seeing the way little elements from the book came to life on the screen (I will say more on this once the show is released). Even things that didn’t necessarily seem like they could be brought from page to screen, I already felt them there, in the essence of the show, and I give the creative team major props for this. The music also has such an important role in these episodes, which I predict will continue. If you’ve ever watched a show Carina has worked on, you know the importance of music and I give her and the music supervisor(s?) major credit for it.

A fan of Julie and Carina or not, I will be recommending this show to everyone I know. I truly can’t wait to see how the twist(s) at the end of the novel are adapted for the screen, and while I am typically a defender of reading the book first, I will share what I have heard Julie say recently: If you want to watch the show and haven’t read the book yet, watch the show first.

The twists will blow your mind and I wish I could see your faces when you see how this thrilling story comes together in the end.

Carina, if you see this, I’m sorry I’ve asked you time after time to tell me more about We Were Liars. Maybe now you’ll understand a little bit more why I was doing so. I know you were joking when you said you didn’t know what you’d do if I didn’t like the show and when you teased after the premiere that mine was the only opinion you cared about, but when I told you how much I loved the episodes, I hope that you know that I wasn’t joking. You took such a special piece of art and adapted it into something equally as special. I feel so lucky to have been able to be at the premiere and to be supporting this journey you’re on and I’m so proud of the work you’ve put into this project. I can’t wait to see the show in its entirety, I will be supporting it ’til the very end.

For you who haven’t read E. Lockhart’s book yet, check it out here and don’t miss out on the show when it hits Prime on Wednesday, June 18th.