Our narrator is Cadence Sinclair Eastman, a rich girl with a killer headache and memory gaps the size of the Grand Canyon. She summers on a private island off Martha’s Vineyard, where her family—the Sinclairs—are basically royalty who smell like salt spray and repressed anger. Everyone is beautiful, blonde, and apparently allergic to happiness.
Cadence hangs out with her cousins Johnny and Mirren, plus a mysterious hottie named Gat. They call themselves the “Liars,” which sounds cute, but it’s really just four teens drinking wine and occasionally having moral crises. The Liars are tight, but there’s a big, gaping hole in Cadence’s memory from “Summer Fifteen.”
What Even Happened in Summer Fifteen?
Here’s the thing: Cadence doesn’t remember anything from that summer except waking up in a bathtub after a seizure. She’s got migraines, a limp, and a family that treats her like a ticking time bomb. Her mom acts like she’s made of glass, her aunts are passive-aggressive nightmares, and her grandfather—the family dictator—drives everyone crazy with his inheritance rules.
So, what did happen? Over three summers, Cadence pieces it together like a detective who forgot her own notebook. She has creepy flashbacks of fire, a shattered boat, and water so cold it steals your breath. Spoiler alert: It’s not good.
