- Introducing the Liars: Carrie's son Johnny, Bess's daughter Mirren, Johnny's friend Gat, and Cadence.
- (Getting confused? There's a map and family tree in the front of the book.)
- They're all close in age, and they're all cousins, except for Gat. He's Johnny's friend, and he's the nephew of Ed, Carrie's partner, and he happens to be Indian.
- Gat first came to the island when everyone was eight, and he's been coming every summer since.
- The family calls them the Liars because they're always causing trouble—and because, you know, they lie.
- Tipper and Harris were mortified to have brown people come to Beechwood as anything other than servants, but they put on a brave face.
- As for Cadence, she was transfixed by Gat the minute she saw him.