Warning, spoilers ahead!Â
How do I begin? Tell Me Lies, the show, is based around a friend group that forms in their freshman year of college, following the main character, Lucy. She comes with a tough family past, but quickly forms bonds with her floormates and a boy named Stephen. Stephen turns out to be the worst man ever born, and well, everyone in the friend group turns out to be a handful. The story continues as we get to know Pippa, Bree, Evan, Wrigley, Stephen, and of course, Lucy. This show was a complete mess, a great watch though. The storyline itself was based mainly around the on-and-off relationship between Stephen and Lucy. Comparing the book and the show, the book switches between the perspectives of Lucy and Stephen. We didn’t learn much about the side characters, but a lot about Lucy’s thoughts, her family, her mental health and more. Reading Stephen’s perspective was a whirlwind, and yes, he is just as crazy in the book as he is in the show. There weren’t as many “lies” tossed around the friend group because of the lack of information we learned about them, but simply the lies between him and Lucy. Stephen, in the book, was described as a psychopath; no surprise there. He was never able to truly care about anything or anyone. I think he was doomed at the start, honestly. From birth, he just never felt guilt or shame about anything. He never felt guilt about cheating on anyone, lying or hurting Lucy continuously. Stephen, in the show, was truly insane, doing absolutely anything to ruin friendships and relationships- just to simply have something to hold over each and every one of his “friends”.Â
In the book, we didn’t learn much about Bree, but it still followed the storyline of her and Evan’s wedding. We don’t see her love story with Wrigley, Evan never cheats on Bree with Lucy, and Bree never has a relationship with a professor. I think almost every storyline of Lucy’s friends was not mentioned in the book. Including Pippa’s love for Diana, Wrigley’s brother and so on. Although the death and cover-up of Macy’s car crash still rang true in the book, Stephen was just as guilty. Stephen never told anyone, but Lucy had found out near the end of the book, giving Stephen a subtle hint on the last page.Â
I think the book’s purpose was to show how deeply Lucy had fallen for Stephen, allowing him to ruin her for years, continuously running back to him as he rips her heart to shreds multiple times. We read as Stephen goes from relationship to relationship, looking for another Lucy, that inevitably, he runs back to her too. But as soon as he gets her, he pushes her away once more, absolutely destroying any ounce of hope Lucy had.Â
In the book, Lucy dealt with an eating disorder, calories and carbs raced through her mind 24/7. I think this was partly from anxiety, as well as hopes that Stephen would notice her thin figure and pick her over his current girlfriend. I think that could be a trigger for anyone who has struggled with something similar, simply because of how consistently she mentioned things of the sort. It was difficult to read those parts, but you learn to understand the sense of loss she has felt most of her life- loss of self, family, friends and, of course, Stephen.Â
In the show, Lucy’s mom had cheated on her dad while her dad was battling cancer. This began her deep, deep hatred for her mom, whom she resorted to calling by her first name, CJ. While in the book, her dad was not battling cancer, but he and her mom were in a happy marriage. Lucy watched as they marveled in their deep love for each other, until she walked in on her mom with
Lucy’s tennis instructor, aka her big, fat crush. It was Lucy’s first crush; he was 23, and she was 14. They messed around after practice one day (which, ummm…), and then the next, she saw her mom having an affair with him. The hurt of the affair and broken heart turned Lucy to hate her mom.Â
So both the book and the show are all kinds of messed up, but definitely the most entertaining thing I have seen in a while. The book displayed their toxic love and on-and-off relationship, while the show portrayed the crazy, lying friend group. I learned more about Lucy as I read, but mainly about Stephen. While I was not surprised by his thoughts, they were still very well delivered in the show. I think both are worth your time, but please brace yourself before, because geez, what a whirlwind.