Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Nov 22, 2009 by shanyn

Title: Pretty Little Liars
Author: Sara Shepard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: August 21, 2007

Gossip thrives amid the Mercedes-Benzes, mega mansions, and perfectly manicured hedges in the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Behind their big Gucci sunglasses, beneath their perfectly pressed Polos, everyone has something to hide, especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna. Spencer covets her sister’s gorgeous new boyfriend. Aria is having an affair with her English teacher. Emily is infatuated with the new girl at school. And Hanna is uing some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. Deeper and darker still is a horrible secret the girls have shared since sixth grade – a secret they thought was safe forever.

Then the girls start receiving threatening messages signed by someone named “A.” Could “A” by Alison, the ultra-popular girl who disappeared three years earlier? Alison was their best friend. She knew everything about them. But if Alison isn’t “A,” who is? And how could anyone else know so much about the bad girls they were and the bad girls they’ve become? Suddenly, their secrets – the big ones, the little ones, even the long-buried ones – no longer seem so secret. Suddenly, nothing is safe in Rosewood.

I was able to pick this one up at my library after several tries, after reading about the series on another blog. I am a sucker for series, and since there are several in this one, I thought I should at least give them a try (even though my library only has the first one).

In the beginning of the book, I was getting very frustrated with how snobby the girls were. All of the situations they had gotten themselves in were annoying to me, because they are all things I would never do and they all thought they were perfectly okay.

After we learn about the girls and what they have been doing in high school, the mystery of “A” is brought in – I will admit I had no idea where that was going. Some of the statements from “A” are silly, but it did turn the end of the book around for me – I am actually interested to see how the mystery is solved.

While I probably won’t rush out to get the next books in the series (I do have Catching Fire to read, after all), I wouldn’t mind getting the rest of them one way or another. I have a feeling the other books in the series will go over better with me, because I think the girls may start to learn some lessons.

Book Cover: 7/10
Book Title: 9/10
Plot: 7/10
Characters: 6/10
Ending: 7/10

Overall: 7/10

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