diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # Revision history for property-matchers
 
+## 0.6
+* Add `Show` constraint to `equals` and other comparison properties to improve error messages in cases where rtti-derived printing is not as good.
+
 ## 0.5
 * Add `notEquals` property.
 * Delete `atIndex`, `endingWith`, and `startingWith`. These can easily be replaced by prisms via `match`, like with `match (ix k)`, `match _head`, and `match _last`.
diff --git a/property-matchers.cabal b/property-matchers.cabal
--- a/property-matchers.cabal
+++ b/property-matchers.cabal
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 cabal-version: 2.4
 
 name: property-matchers
-version: 0.5.0.0
+version: 0.6.0.0
 synopsis: A library for tests, based on transforming and writing properties
 description:
   This package provides ways to write properties for testing such that they compose nicely and are easy to debug.
diff --git a/src/PropertyMatchers.hs b/src/PropertyMatchers.hs
--- a/src/PropertyMatchers.hs
+++ b/src/PropertyMatchers.hs
@@ -471,45 +471,45 @@
 
 -- | The property of being equal to some expected value.
 --
-equals :: (HasCallStack, Eq a) => a -> Prop a
+equals :: (HasCallStack, Show a, Eq a) => a -> Prop a
 equals expected actual
   | expected == actual = succeed actual
-  | otherwise = fail (PP.pretty (anythingToTextPretty expected)) actual
+  | otherwise = fail (PP.viaShow expected) actual
 
 -- | The property of not being equal to some expected value.
 --
-notEquals :: (HasCallStack, Eq a) => a -> Prop a
+notEquals :: (HasCallStack, Show a, Eq a) => a -> Prop a
 notEquals expected actual
   | expected /= actual = succeed actual
-  | otherwise = fail ("not equal to " <> PP.pretty (anythingToTextPretty expected)) actual
+  | otherwise = fail ("not equal to " <> PP.viaShow expected) actual
 
 -- | The property of being less than some expected value.
 --
-lt :: (HasCallStack, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
+lt :: (HasCallStack, Show a, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
 lt expected actual
   | actual < expected = succeed actual
-  | otherwise = fail ("less than " <> PP.pretty (anythingToTextPretty expected)) actual
+  | otherwise = fail ("less than " <> PP.viaShow expected) actual
 
 -- | The property of being greater than some expected value.
 --
-gt :: (HasCallStack, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
+gt :: (HasCallStack, Show a, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
 gt expected actual
   | actual > expected = succeed actual
-  | otherwise = fail ("greater than " <> PP.pretty (anythingToTextPretty expected)) actual
+  | otherwise = fail ("greater than " <> PP.viaShow expected) actual
 
 -- | The property of being less than or equal to some expected value.
 --
-lte :: (HasCallStack, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
+lte :: (HasCallStack, Show a, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
 lte expected actual
   | actual <= expected = succeed actual
-  | otherwise = fail ("less than/equal to " <> PP.pretty (anythingToTextPretty expected)) actual
+  | otherwise = fail ("less than/equal to " <> PP.viaShow expected) actual
 
 -- | The property of being greater than or equal to some expected value.
 --
-gte :: (HasCallStack, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
+gte :: (HasCallStack, Show a, Ord a) => a -> Prop a
 gte expected actual
   | actual >= expected = succeed actual
-  | otherwise = fail ("greater than/equal to " <> PP.pretty (anythingToTextPretty expected)) actual
+  | otherwise = fail ("greater than/equal to " <> PP.viaShow expected) actual
 
 -- | Sugar for tupling.
 -- The intended use is something like
diff --git a/test/PropertyMatchersSpec.hs b/test/PropertyMatchersSpec.hs
--- a/test/PropertyMatchersSpec.hs
+++ b/test/PropertyMatchersSpec.hs
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 
 propertyFails :: P.Prop Text -> P.Prop String -> P.Prop (IO a)
 propertyFails expectedProp actualProp =
-  P.fails @P.PropertyException $ \(P.PropertyFailed _ (PP.renderStrict . PP.layoutCompact -> expected) (anythingToString -> actual)) ->
+  P.throws @P.PropertyException $ \(P.PropertyFailed _ (PP.renderStrict . PP.layoutCompact -> expected) (anythingToString -> actual)) ->
     expectedProp expected `P.and` actualProp actual
 
 check :: Testable IO a => Depth -> a -> IO ()
@@ -98,16 +98,9 @@
 
   it "fails" $ do
     P.fail "test string" 42
-      & P.fails @SomeException P.succeed
+      & P.throws @SomeException P.succeed
     P.fail "test string" 42
-      & P.fails @P.PropertyException P.succeed
-
-
-  it "bool" $ do
-    True & P.bool
-    propertyFails (P.equals "True") (P.equals "False") $
-      False & P.bool
-
+      & P.throws @P.PropertyException P.succeed
 
   it "equals" $ do
     1 & P.equals 1