Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Pretty Little Liars (Pretty Little Liars, #1) by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars (Pretty Little Liars, #1)Title: Pretty Little Liars
Series: 1st in series
Author: Sara Shepard
Published: October 2006 by Harper Teen
Pages: 286
ISBN: 9780060887322
Source: personal copy
 





Description: Everyone has something to hide—especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna. Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.
How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and all the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what? I'm telling. 

I Give This ...
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I admit, I've had this book on my shelf for awhile now.  Then ABC Family decided to make it a television series.  My interest was caught, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to watch the series first or read the book (or the series).  I finally decided to read this one and go from there.   I'm so glad I did.  The rest of the series immediately went on my wishlist.

I think the setting is perfect for this time of story.  Rosewood reminds me of a very rich, and very snooty town.  It's the type of town were you keep your friends close but your enemies closer.  And this seems to apply just as much to the teenagers as it does the adults.  And these teens have plenty to hide.  The setting reminds me of the show The O.C.  Imagine what trouble these girls can cause!

The characters are devious and will stop and nothing to get what they want.  But, at the same time they are all afraid of having their deepest secrets devluged.  I felt sorry for Spencer is away.  She's always trying to get her share of the limelight.  Her sister seems like a royal pain in the a**.  I think I liked Aria the best.  She's not comfortable with being back in town and I think she's determined not to fall back into the stereotypes that labeled her before.  Hanna was the easiest to dislike.  For some reason, her personality and actions just didn't sit with me.  Emily seems like background character.  She's the follower and still not at ease with what happened before and what's happening now.


  The story is a guilty pleasure.  For teens, they sure have a lot to hide.  Quite a few secrets are laid out in this first book.  Each teen has something that A was keeping a secret from before she disappeared.  The new "A" also knows something that each teen has done in the present.  I was afraid some of these secrets might be over the top, but I think it's all within reasonable limits for teens.  There is some adult situations, but nothing that shocked me.  I really enjoyed the story.  I think it's an interesting setup for the rest of the series.  I will be looking forward to what the teens do in the next books and what other secrets can be uncovered!




 

1 comment:

  1. The series and the books remind me a little of Gossip Girl, so I'm a bit hesitant to pick it up (used to follow the series, but disliked the books for GG).

    Anyway, your review is awesome!

    ReplyDelete

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