Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars - Sara Shepard

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

I decided to read this book due to the fact that I watched the first episode of the TV show and really enjoyed it. I suppose in all fairness you should not judge a book by its cover. I for one was pleasently surprised that I ended up loving this book, in the first hundred and fifty pages I found myself almost bored. I wanted action and just wasn't getting it with this book, however the plot starts to move along at a nice pace after.

The story revolves around a set of privleged teens that were inseperatable until the leader of the group Alison goes missing. What this group does not however know is that the biggest secrets were all shared with Alison. Alison from reading this book was vicous! She wouldn't let anyone get one over her and she knew all the secrets they didn't want others to know. So in a way Alison going missing was a blessing in descise. The group falls apart pretty much after this point. Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily have all moved on from that night and three years later you would not think that they were one best friends. With all the secrets comes the biggest one, someone knows everything and is willing to tell! This person is A.

The pace of the book was rather slow, however it did keep you interested. The characters and all the lies and secrets they had kept made you want to carry on and find out who was behind it. Of course this being the first in a series you don't get to find this out. It did however make you want to turn the pages quickly and not miss a heartbeat. I found some of the characters a little annoying, for example I could have probably done without Hanna, it seems she takes a central role and I for one don't really like that I would have liked to see more of Emily. Although this book is centred around the four former friends the only two I felt I knew at all a little better were Aria and Hanna. Spencer and Emily didn't play that big a role I thought, however I would have liked to have seen more from both as I feel that their stories were the most interesting. Hopefully this slight issue can be resloved in the later books. Also was there a real need to describe EVERY designer item? I wasn't bothered what make the bag was or the trousers/jeans/t-shirt/shoes/earrings/necklace/bracelet you get the idea, it added nothing to the story.

Overall I loved this book and would recommend it, yes the first book is pretty much a re-run of the pilot, but it does give you an insight into the parts the pilot missed or what you may have been confused about. I can't wait to read Flawless, to try to figure out what the JENNA thing was and who A is? Could it be the long lost Alison? There is a great scene towards the end of the book, I don't want to spoil but it includes a very graphic dream about deadbodies!