Alison, Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily are all deeply bonded through their twisted secrets. One day, the five spend the night at Spencer’s barn and play a game. Ali finds herself upset with what was said, and takes a step out to get some fresh air. Spencer chases after her to help mitigate the hard feelings, but after a few hours she explains that Ali is nowhere to be found. Ali then becomes classified as a missing case, but after no signs of success her family holds a funeral for her. The girls separate into their own lives, but rejoice once again in high school when they are receiving messages from an anonymous person named “A”. “A” blackmails them with information only Ali knew, yet the remaining four girls believed she was already dead. The four face the drama of high school life and are haunted with their past through the messages of A, and throughout the course of the book they plan to solve the mystery identity of this anonymous sender.
I would recommend this book because Shepard accurately depicts the vocabulary and tone of teenage girls in her narration. This makes the book more relatable because it truly sounds like a high schooler. Furthermore, Pretty Little Liars takes on several serious topics, like divorce, heartbreak, eating disorders, grief, and identity crisis. By bringing awareness to these problems, teenagers can understand that they are not alone. They can also learn more about themselves by reading someone else’s experience and viewing it from a different perspective. This book is also incredibly suspenseful, and it can be difficult at times to predict what will happen next. It certainly intrigued me to keep reading with several plot twists.
-Ella
