How would you feel if your whole life suddenly changed? Everything you knew changed in an instant.
In Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard four teenage girls struggle to deal with a loss of their close friend and their problems to keep everything they know a secret from each other. This suspenseful novel has enough to the plot to make you satisfied but not enough to fully make you want to read the rest of the series because of the lack of strong structure.
The main characters in the novel were all well thought out and had their own personality even though they all faced one dark secret. All of the characters were described to sound like any regular American teen. Even though some characters seem to be alike at times they each have their own opinion and unique background. As the days pass that the girls’ best friend, Alison DiLaurentis, has officially been announced as a missing person the girls start to go their own ways. Spencer Hastings is an intelligent, but flat character in the beginning. Emily Fields is a star swimmer on her school team and a “goody-goody”. Aria Montgomery is a gothic kind of girl in the beginning and isn’t really nice. Hanna Marin has a troubled past but can always try to see the good in things.
The plot was very evoking and believable. When Alison goes missing the four girls start to get strange messages about their lives. Each of the messages, emails, and IMs are signed from an anonymous person named “A”. The main problem is all the girls are wondering who “A” is and why “A” is harassing them with messages.
The theme of the story is all secrets are bad and one day they’ll bite you in the arse. In my opinion the girls all had it coming to them, all the lying, sneaking out, and gossiping was destined to get back at them at some point, right? The theme is relatable to me in some situations, but the story has really made me think twice about lying or doing anything devious. I find the theme overused, yet Sara Shepard did a great job making it original by sort of hiding the real theme from the readers. The ingenious plot helps the readers understand more about why the author chose this theme.
Overall I think this book is perfect for you if you just want a quick-read or are very interested in teenage drama/suspense. I’m not saying you should go out and buy it if you’re not fully interested but it does deserve to be put in your “to read” list. If you’ve watched the series on ABC this book might be a big let down to you but if you haven’t already seen the television show consider reading the book series first. If you decide to read this book, enjoy!
The main characters in the novel were all well thought out and had their own personality even though they all faced one dark secret. All of the characters were described to sound like any regular American teen. Even though some characters seem to be alike at times they each have their own opinion and unique background. As the days pass that the girls’ best friend, Alison DiLaurentis, has officially been announced as a missing person the girls start to go their own ways. Spencer Hastings is an intelligent, but flat character in the beginning. Emily Fields is a star swimmer on her school team and a “goody-goody”. Aria Montgomery is a gothic kind of girl in the beginning and isn’t really nice. Hanna Marin has a troubled past but can always try to see the good in things.
The plot was very evoking and believable. When Alison goes missing the four girls start to get strange messages about their lives. Each of the messages, emails, and IMs are signed from an anonymous person named “A”. The main problem is all the girls are wondering who “A” is and why “A” is harassing them with messages.
The theme of the story is all secrets are bad and one day they’ll bite you in the arse. In my opinion the girls all had it coming to them, all the lying, sneaking out, and gossiping was destined to get back at them at some point, right? The theme is relatable to me in some situations, but the story has really made me think twice about lying or doing anything devious. I find the theme overused, yet Sara Shepard did a great job making it original by sort of hiding the real theme from the readers. The ingenious plot helps the readers understand more about why the author chose this theme.
Overall I think this book is perfect for you if you just want a quick-read or are very interested in teenage drama/suspense. I’m not saying you should go out and buy it if you’re not fully interested but it does deserve to be put in your “to read” list. If you’ve watched the series on ABC this book might be a big let down to you but if you haven’t already seen the television show consider reading the book series first. If you decide to read this book, enjoy!
