Review: Pretty Little Liars series

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Young Adult
Published by Harper Collins on October 1st 2006
Also by this author: The Heiresses, The Perfectionists, Vicious, The Good Girls, The Lying Game, Never Have I Ever, Two Truths and a Lie, The First Lie, Hide and Seek, Cross My Heart, Hope to Die, Seven Minutes in Heaven, True Lies, The Amateurs, Follow Me, Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet, The Elizas
Format: Hardcover (286 pages) • Source: Purchased
Goodreads •

Three years ago, Alison disappeared after a slumber party, not to be seen since. Her friends at the elite Pennsylvania school mourned her, but they also breathed secret sighs of relief. Each of them guarded a secret that only Alison had known. Now they have other dirty little secrets, secrets that could sink them in their gossip-hungry world. When each of them begins receiving anonymous emails and text messages, panic sets in. Are they being betrayed by some one in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back? A strong launch for a suspenseful series.

Like I recently did for the Private series, I’m posting another brief review for an entire series. The FINAL book in the Pretty Little Liars series is coming out in December. In honor of the end of an important era in my reading life, I’ll debrief everyone on the series if they SOMEHOW haven’t heard of it. And no, the books are nothing like the TV show. The first few episodes were similar, but that’s where it ended. The characters’ names are the same and some of their personalities; the show’s general plotline is not the same as the books. I’m going to review all 15 books in one brief post.

Well clearly something’s working for me if I’ve been religiously reading the series since I was 15 years old. This is the one series I will read the book for IMMEDIATELY when it was released…even during my “reading dark ages” in college. Luckily they always came out in June and December, so I was able to read them over school breaks. BUT I digress. This series is great. Lots of people complain that they wish it would just end already, but I’ve been eagerly awaiting each new book just as much as the previous. It’s full of twists and turns. Just when the girls think they’ve figured something out, they are surprised by something else. It’s funny reading the description for the first book with all of the knowledge I have now, because things have changed so much since that first book. I love Sara Shepard’s writing style; I was always able to devour these books within the first day or two they were released.

It does get kind of tiring because you know that they never actually can be one step ahead of “A.” The story is always interesting with the craziness that’s bound to happen, but sometimes you really have to question the decision-making skills of these girls. I would stay away from 90% of the places and ideas these girls get themselves into!

Overall, as I’ve said before in plenty of posts, Sara Shepard is an auto-buy author for me. I own some of her other books and am anxiously awaiting The Perfectionists, but the Pretty Little Liars series will always hold an extremely special place in my heart. I would recommend these books to anyone who enjoys contemporaries mixed with a little bit of mystery and thriller aspects. If you’re in the mood to get started on a series that is basically complete, I’d highly recommend this one. I guarantee you can read all 15 books a lot faster than you’d think. Not to mention, the first book has been FREE the past few days! Check Amazon. I give the series so far five stars, like I did with Private, just because it has held my attention SO much since 2006. I can’t say that about a lot of authors/books/series! Now I just have to wait two more months for the final book!!

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