Pretty Little Liars
Written by Sara Shepard
Fiction
Reviewed by Maddy Byrne
Rated 4.5 out 5 stars
Alison, who was she? What was she? Some might refer to Alison DiLaurentis as mean, manipulative and greedy. Others might refer to her as beautiful, popular, and a role model. Alison’s posse consisted of four other girls, Hannah Marin, Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, and Emily Fields. It was the summer before 8th grade when something happened that they never thought possible in small-town Rosewood; Alison disappeared. After this occurred, the girls drifted apart. Until three years later when the girls started to receive mysterious text messages, instant messages, and letters from someone signed as “A”. They all thought it must be Alison. Was she back? “A” knew all the secrets that only Alison would know. Maya, a new girl, moved into the old DiLaurentis’ house which Alison’s family had sold shortly after Alison disappeared and they had given up. One day, Maya’s mom had been digging in the back yard and screamed at a terrifying sight. It was Alison’s decomposing body. Alison’s entire posse was reunited again at her memorial service, where they were they found out that all of them had been receiving messages from “A”. With the discovery of Alison’s body they knew “A” couldn’t be Alison. The ex-best friends were reunited is when they needed each other most. Hannah was trying to keep her new “queen-bee” reputation; Spencer was infatuated with her sister’s boyfriend, Emily was crushing on Maya, confused about her recent feelings, and Aria was dating the English teacher. Some days the girls were living a seemingly perfect, normal, teenage life, while other days, a tale of drama and deceit unfolded. “A” is threatening to reveal all of the girls’ secrets. They just hope that “A” doesn’t reveal their biggest secret of all, “the Jenna thing”. Jenna was the girl that they had blinded, literally! If anyone found out about this their lives would be ruined. Alison always said “you’re always better off with a really good lie”. “A” is capable of anything even murder. The liars have to find out who “A” is before it’s too late but “A” is always one step ahead!
Pretty Little Liars is a mysterious, suspenseful, and sometimes twisted novel. This book is the first one in Pretty Little Liars series. I love how author, Sara Shepard, wrote the book to make you never want to put it down. This book will leave you hanging at some parts and wondering at others. There is also a television series based on the books. I love the TV show, but while reading this book I was sometimes confused about what was happening in the book and what was happening on the show. Others who might have read the books or seen the show might say the series is for girls. I would disagree saying boys or girls might like it because it’s suspenseful and a mystery. I got so into this book that I thought “A” was stalking me too! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and novels written specifically for teens.
