REVIEW: Pretty Little Liars (Sara Shepard)

Title: Pretty Little Liars
Author: Sara Shepard
Series?: Yes
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.

Review: I really enjoyed this book. I've read it several times before but reading it again hasn't made a difference; I still get that crazy feeling when A does something knew to hurt one of the girls.

Honestly, I would have to say that I could relate to all of the main characters in the book (Even Alison). All five girls were the best of friends originally but once Alison disappeared, they all completely drifted apart. In a sense,I can really relate to that. I mean, no, I haven't had a friend disappear but I have been best friends with a group of girls and then all of a sudden we drifted apart and found new friends.

Spencer Hastings is the uptight, know-it-all who kisses her sister's boyfriend back in the seventh grade and then again in present day. I can really relate to her. Not that I've coveted my sister's boyfriends (which would be extremely weird because my sister's 10), but I'm definitely an uptight know-it-all. I love showing off my knowledge and if something doesn't go my way, there's a problem there.

Aria Montgomery is the weird, kooky (as Sara Shepard once described her as), girl who moved from Rosewood to Iceland shortly after Ali's disappearance. She hooks up with her teacher in the beginning of the novel without knowing it was him and then continues to do so throughout the book. No, I haven't made out with a teacher but I have been that girl that no one really understands. I've been that person that doesn't really fit in with the rest of the crowd.

Emily Fields. Oh, poor, confused Emily. Emily was the one who fell for the new girl. She was the girl that was very confused about her sexuality, and though I have never really been in that situation, I, obviously, know how it feels to be in that confused estate.

Hanna Marin is a character that, I think, any girl could relate to easily. She's the girl who has always been chubbier than the rest. The one with braces. The dorky girl that everyone only likes because she's friends with Alison. After Ali disappears, she decides to get in shape and be the more popular girl. Aside from sharing a name with Hanna (My first name is Hannah, but I go by Isabelle), I've also been that girl who would do anything to be "more popular". Obviously, that never works and it's never really worth it, but still.

Even Alison DiLaurentis, the stuck-up, in control, bitch that can rap everyone around her tiny pinky finger, I can relate to. I've been that girl who just wished I could be in control everyone and everything and when nothing went the way I planned, trust me, is wasn't funny.

Sara Shepard, in my opinion, is a great author. She did an amazing job at mixing mystery in with a love story, and doing it in a way that young girls would love. I swallowed this book whole, along with the rest of the series, and can't wait until Wanted, the 8th book, comes out in June!

Rating:

Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Ending: 4/5
Originality: 3/5

Overall: 22/25 = 88% = A!