Pretty Little Liars | Teen Ink

Pretty Little Liars

October 5, 2008
By Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
1044 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Pretty Little Liars, a novel by Sara Shepard, is a wonderful choice book to read over summer break or anytime you feel like solving a scandalous mystery that centers around five best girlfriends. The plot? Just complicated enough to keep you intrigued. The twists and turns? Not so complex that you have to annotate to keep up. The characters are richly described and well developed. Unlike many other novels whose protagonists are teenage girls, Shepard's characters are complicated, sympathetic, and deal with real life problems just like a typical teenage girl.

Pretty Little Liars is set in a fictional town called Rosewood. The name of the town has great symbolic meaning because like a rosebush, this town is beautiful but thorny. The events of the story center revolve around the mysterious disappearance of the Queen Bee of the group. Among these five girls are many different secrets that only one person knows about. The Queen Bee, Ali D'Laurentis.

Once Ali goes missing, the girls are publically sad but secretly relieved because with her die their secrets. A few years later, when Ali's body is found buried in her lawn, the girls start receiving text messages from a private number reopening their hidden pasts. Now the real mystery begins; who is this "A" person sending them threatening texts? Is Ali truly dead or is she alive?

A fun part about reading this book is that the narrator addresses the reader directly giving us clues about the mystery to which the characters are oblivious. For instance, at the end of each book of the series, the reader receives a note from "A" revealing a new clue about who "A" is and what is next on "A's" mind. This has the effect of making the reader anxious to begin the next series.

Pretty Little Liars is an addictive read full of secrets and scandals. The series is made up of five books and somehow Shepard manages to include new details, news diversions, and new dramas. I recommend this book for teenagers ages thirteen to seventeen who enjoy a thriller.


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This article has 9 comments.


-A said...
on Sep. 9 2011 at 9:16 am
Screw Glee I love this show!!!!

marialex98 said...
on Apr. 23 2011 at 11:37 am
The show is coming back on july 14 and its new night is tuesday but it going to interupt with GLEE.

marialex98 said...
on Apr. 23 2011 at 11:35 am
Oh My God! A IS MONA! Everything leads up to mona and her and hanna weren't close friends from the start.I have read the books and i watch every new show plus ali has a twin sister that no one knows about.

Peaceout! said...
on Jan. 23 2011 at 7:48 am
JEALOUS! PLEASE RESPOUND.

peaceout! said...
on Jan. 23 2011 at 7:45 am
but then you think about who ran over hanah. i personaly think it is noel and lucas.i am not reading the books but i am watching the shows every monday. i wish i had the books! please respound.

Tillybells said...
on Jan. 21 2011 at 11:33 pm
The books are really good. At first you think, 'for sure "A" is Ali, but then the body is found.

tombraider3 said...
on Jan. 21 2011 at 8:10 am
i love the series i read every book u know they have a show called pretty little liars

kenns said...
on Nov. 16 2010 at 8:04 pm
there are actually 8 books in the series...i absolutly love these books i am currently on the 5th one, but will be reading them all!!!

Tiara BRONZE said...
on Oct. 16 2010 at 5:23 pm
Tiara BRONZE, Princess Anne, Maryland
3 articles 6 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Don't look back,..but look beyond''.

I Love this show I t

wish it would come back on!