The book and the television show have many differences and some similarities. In both the book and t.v. series Emma is the poor foster kid who takes Sutton’s place and Sutton was adopted and lives a privileged life. Also in both Sutton’s best friends Madeline and Charlotte and her sister Laurel have the same characteristics of being popular teens and of being loyal to their group leader Sutton. Ethan who was Sutton’s secret boyfriend in both the book and show finds out that Emma isn’t really Sutton and helps her keep her cover as being Sutton.
A major difference in the book includes that Emma Becker learns she has a twin sister Sutton Mercer, but when she meets her, she finds out that she's dead, and the story's quest is Emma's search to find the killer. In the show Sutton is alive but departs shortly thereafter to locate the twins' birth parents, leaving Emma behind to cover up for her absence. Another major difference is that in the show the lying game is brought up at different times, but as something they did in the past and in the book the lying game pranks are brought up multiple times to lead to as a possible cause of why Sutton was murdered. Adding on, a difference is that in the book Ethan does not have a brother, but in the show he has an older brother named Dan who is a cop, so Ethan could have a male figure to talk to. Many of these differences were made for the show due to the decision to keep Sutton alive and therefore changing the purpose of the girls switching places.
A major difference in the book includes that Emma Becker learns she has a twin sister Sutton Mercer, but when she meets her, she finds out that she's dead, and the story's quest is Emma's search to find the killer. In the show Sutton is alive but departs shortly thereafter to locate the twins' birth parents, leaving Emma behind to cover up for her absence. Another major difference is that in the show the lying game is brought up at different times, but as something they did in the past and in the book the lying game pranks are brought up multiple times to lead to as a possible cause of why Sutton was murdered. Adding on, a difference is that in the book Ethan does not have a brother, but in the show he has an older brother named Dan who is a cop, so Ethan could have a male figure to talk to. Many of these differences were made for the show due to the decision to keep Sutton alive and therefore changing the purpose of the girls switching places.