Sarah's Review of Flawless, Pretty Little Liars #2 by Sara Shepard

Flawless is the second book in Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars series and it’s just as good as the first one. The four girls, Hanna, Aria, Spencer and Emily, living in Rosewood Pennsylvania, find that they are still receiving threatening notes and texts from the mysterious A. They first thought that A was their old friend Alison who had gone missing a few years earlier after a sleepover, but then her body was found by the new family who moved into her old house buried underneath the gazebo. This book picks up right where the last one left off immediately following Alison’s funeral. So now they are questioning everyone around them. The girls are trying to figure out who A is and they think they figure it out…

The girls are still living their separate lives and trying to deal with their own issues. Hanna is dealing with her unfortunate breakup with her boyfriend Sean, and the fact that Aria has taken interest in him. Her problems in wanting to be perfect are literally making her sick and her friendship with Mona has deteriorated a bit. Spencer is rebelling against her family for a secret relationship with her sister’s ex-boyfriend. Aria attempts to confront her fears about the woman who had an affair with her father, but finds that it is more complicated than she first thought, while also dealing with her broken heart from Ezra, her English teacher. Emily is trying to figure out who she is and struggles with her sexuality and her feelings for Maya.

The letters from A continue and slowly bring the four girls back together, whether they like it or not. As the messages continue to come in the girls face losing it all, unless they can figure out who A is before their deepest darkest secrets are exposed to all.

I found the story-line of this book was wonderful. Each character kept adding to the main problem leading towards the ending where they thought they had figured out who A was, but all four were shocked to learn the truth about the person they suspected. I love how you get to know more about Toby and the whole Jenna thing, which is the big secret they all share, aside from all of their personal secrets.

The characters are very well-written. You get to learn even more about them in this book and understand a lot about their past and their personal lives.

I would definitely recommend reading this book, especially if you enjoyed the first one. This one builds perfectly on the first one and keeps you reading. I’m looking forward to reading the third one.

Sarah’s Review of Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

I really enjoy the television show Pretty Little Liars, so I decided it was finally time to pick up one of the books that started it all.

The book, Pretty Little Liars, takes place in a small, upscale town called Rosewood. Four best friends have gone their separate ways after their fifth best friend mysteriously disappears. The book then picks up three years later and the four best friends are going to be brought back together through a series of puzzling texts, emails and letters written from an unknown person, A. These four girls learn that secrets are not always hidden, but secrets can make you do unpredictable things.

The four main characters are so well laid out. You get to know each one of them on a personal level. The way Sara Shepard writes, you almost feel as though you are one of them, she writes so you feel as though you are a part of it. There is Spencer, the uptight, scholarly one who has secrets concerning her sister’s boyfriend. Aria is quirky and finds herself dreaming about her English teacher. Emily is timid but finds herself lusting over a new female student at Rosewood Day School. And Hanna has brought popularity upon herself but with an ugly secret as to how she got there. Allison was the one friend that bound them altogether and knew all of their secrets, but when she disappeared they fell apart. Now they are getting mysterious messages from someone known as A who seems to know all of their secrets and is watching them even now. The girls have to question, is Allison still alive?

Sara Shepard is an amazing writer. The book is read with such ease, the storyline is simple to follow. I could hardly put it down. And when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it, wondering what would happen next. I can easily see how this book was picked up and is now a hit television series.

I am now onto her second book in the series, Flawless.