Everyone makes mistakes - some mistakes are just bigger than others. Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Alison were best friends after seventh grade. They were popular to the extent of being untouchable by anything or anyone - until the night Alison disappeared. Nobody knew what had happened. Three years passed before Alison's body turned up and the remaining four of the posse discovered the truth: Alison had been murdered. Now Alison's gone for good - but Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna's nightmare is just beginning. The girls start to receive threats from an anonymous source going by 'A'. A knows about all of their secrets - Spencer's feeling for her sister's fiancé, Aria's relationship with her new English teacher, the fact that Emily likes girls as more than friends, and Hanna's kleptomania and dirty secret as to how she became thin so quickly. As A raises the stakes, the girls are put under pressure. Should they tell the truth about A? Or should they keep on being pretty little liars?
I read this book around the same time I started to watch the Pretty Little Liars TV series, which was based on this book. Half the time I couldn't remember what had happened in the show versus in the book, which is why I recommend no one else make this mistake. I found the changes made to the storyline in the show interesting, though. They made me consider why they'd been made. Sheer entertainment value? Having the same actors play their younger selves? Or so that when the show had covered all of the books' material, they could continue with their own storylines from then on? I'd say a combination of all of the above. I also found that the actresses playing the four main parts looked absolutely nothing like the book had described them, except perhaps for Aria, with her black hair. However, Hanna's hair was changed from brown to blonde, Spencer's from blonde to brown, and Emily's from red to black. If I hadn't read the book first and known which storyline was associated with which character, I wouldn't have been able to tell from appearances.
This book contained two things that I usually hate in an author's writing - third person and alternating between main characters - yet still managed to be the most entertaining book I've read thus far with those aspects. I would actually recommend this book to fellow readers because of how much I enjoyed it, which is something I don't usually do. The problem with books is that there are many good ones out there - but they're hidden under layers of bad ones that a reader must sort through before finding the true gems. I'm not saying this book changed my life. However, when reading, I didn't want to put it down! I haven't found a book like that in quite some time.
I really enjoyed the fact that Sara Shepard put so much effort into making this book seem like it really did come from a teenager's perspective. If their book is written from a teen's point of view, most authors put in small and random tidbits of text-talk (LOL, TTYL, C U L8R) that pretty much anyone could figure out. But this story had more obscure ones that weren't explained; the reader had to already know what they meant to understand the sentence. The characters were also very realistic; although their 'A' situation was a bit out there, their secrets were things that real teen girls face and deal with every day, all over the world. The circumstances were very relatable and understandable.
I sincerely enjoyed this book, a lot more than certain others I've read in the past. It was intriguing, secretive, and perfect for a relaxing yet exciting read. I would give it a rating of four stars. Above, I wrote I would actually recommend this book! Normally, my recommendations for readers don't actually mean I'm recommending the story; they just give out topics that a reader who enjoys certain genres could look for. However, when I recommend this book this time, I'm recommending it to every reader. It's a quick and enjoyable read for anyone looking for some romance, mystery, and good ol'-fashioned teenage drama!
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