Pretty Little Liars (Book 1) Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars is escapist literature for teen girls at its best.  There is nothing but drama for every character.  And, I found, it was hard to even like any of the characters, which may actually be the point.

I found that two of the five main characters stood out the most to me.  Emily comes from a strict upper class family, but is dealing with the realization she might like girls.  Her family is so Pale, Male, Stale, Yale (thanks Father Neilson for that term), that her mother doesn’t want her hanging out with the new girl simply because the new girl is Black.

The other main character who stood out to me is Aria.  She reminds me of a couple of my close girl friends.  She’s different and hates where she lives because of the conformity.  She loved Iceland more than her town in the USA.  The first couple chapters (once the book catches up to current time and not flash backs of seventh grade) is Aria moving back to the States.

The other three main characters were just too stereotypical for me to really enjoy: although Spencer is so anal and such a perfectionist she reminds me of my best friend. lol.  There is Ali, the girl who kept the five together as best friends.  She is typical Queen Bee, Mean girl, and she never moves past the seventh grade!  but the one thing about Ali?  She knows hurtful secrets about each of the others that nobody else in the group knows.  Finally Hannah, has always felt inferior, so to feels superior she changes her appearance, and attitude to become uber bitch.

There is one character, whom we only ever see, in the form of text, who only goes by “A”.  You’ll understand his/her importance only if you read the book.

The author does a good hook job.  She hints at things, but keeps the story going so you’ll read the next book.  I did find the separation of chapters, where each focused on the story of one of the girls more compelling then mashing them all together.

I gave this book 3/5 stars, but the next two books get 4.