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papermoons's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lottarjh's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
karenholmes's review against another edition
3.0
Guilty pleasure that sometimes makes me feel annoyed for some of the things that happen in the books storyline. I am reading this second book after the shocking mid season 3 of the TV show and I feel bad for both endings, the book and the TV show.
I hate that the girls haven't yet become as true friends and they the keep things from one another. I hate some reactions, like Hanna running to Foxy's just because of a random text. So what? She should have stayed and ruined Kate's life instead of the other way round.
And I hate some of the missunderstood conversations they have specially the one between Toby and Emily. Yes Sara pulls that over and it makes sense what each is thinking the other knows, but yet... it made me angry they didn't sort it out.
Also, although all of her glamorous grades, Spencer seems a bit dumb at times. She does some things that don't go well with her character. And I hate Wren! Not the cute British accent actor but the character. He is so creepy with his sneaking around wit both sisters.
Ok, enough rants.
I hate that the girls haven't yet become as true friends and they the keep things from one another. I hate some reactions, like Hanna running to Foxy's just because of a random text. So what? She should have stayed and ruined Kate's life instead of the other way round.
And I hate some of the missunderstood conversations they have specially the one between Toby and Emily. Yes Sara pulls that over and it makes sense what each is thinking the other knows, but yet... it made me angry they didn't sort it out.
Also, although all of her glamorous grades, Spencer seems a bit dumb at times. She does some things that don't go well with her character. And I hate Wren! Not the cute British accent actor but the character. He is so creepy with his sneaking around wit both sisters.
Ok, enough rants.
lelemontgomery's review against another edition
4.0
Alright, so basically what I thought was „how bad could it be?“
Well, the book wasn’t a good one and it was kinda hard to the end to finish it.
I think the whole „A“ thing is more complicated in the books then it is in the series.
I don’t like how Sara Shepard pretends that they gonna catch that killer but „oh hey guess what? I have 16 books for you to read before I tell you who the killer really is!“
At the start the book is about Toby Cavanaugh, who stalked the girls one night - the night Ali blinded Jenna Cavanaugh. That‘s the first thing I didn’t understand. If you follow the exact words in the book, Ali went out for lightning the firework and basically blinding Jenna totally at her own, but later all the girls are guilty?
The next thing I did not really understand was why was Emily thinking that Toby was cute but at the same time she was afraid of him? That doesn’t make any sense at all and it’s just a stupid „I want to fill some pages“ thing of Sara Shepard.
Next we have Aria, she‘s basically trying to keep her family at one place but Meredith is making it hard and in the end her father is thrown out by her mother Ella. And he loves to meredith, like how bad could it get now for aria?
Spencer used a essay of her sister for a competition because A told her so, still she‘s with Wren her sisters ex boyfriend and her parents declined all her credit cards and she’s not welcome anymore in her family after the thing with Wren? What is that? Yeah parents could be mad at you for all the things Spencer did, but what they do is just not it?
And Hanna? I don’t get along with her character in this book series and I still don’t get why she should be a bad person. Like all she has to deal with is a break up with her boyfriend, a wrecked car and some stolen shoes and other stuff, a mother not caring enough, a father marrying a other woman with daughter and working in a burnt clinic. She has to deal with most of the bad things in here not like the others.
Well, this is just not making sense for me and I still don’t know why I read this series and still go to the third book but we will see.
I think that the series is much better (I really like the series) but the books are not it.
The characters are so different from the tv series that you can’t really get along with em.
Also the fact that every little detail is written down like in 100 other sites, always just the same thing.
I really wanted to not finish the book but I had the audiobook around so I listened to it better than reading the book, because that would need much more time I wanted to spend with this book.
Now I‘m reading the third book/listen to the audiobook and I hope that the next one will be better.
I stick to my goal of reading all 16 books since I want to see how different they are from the tv series but I don’t think I will ever write a good review about them since they‘re not that good and I don’t like Sara Shepards writing style.
You better go watch the series and don’t stick around the books, they just consuming your time that‘s it
Well, the book wasn’t a good one and it was kinda hard to the end to finish it.
I think the whole „A“ thing is more complicated in the books then it is in the series.
I don’t like how Sara Shepard pretends that they gonna catch that killer but „oh hey guess what? I have 16 books for you to read before I tell you who the killer really is!“
At the start the book is about Toby Cavanaugh, who stalked the girls one night - the night Ali blinded Jenna Cavanaugh. That‘s the first thing I didn’t understand. If you follow the exact words in the book, Ali went out for lightning the firework and basically blinding Jenna totally at her own, but later all the girls are guilty?
The next thing I did not really understand was why was Emily thinking that Toby was cute but at the same time she was afraid of him? That doesn’t make any sense at all and it’s just a stupid „I want to fill some pages“ thing of Sara Shepard.
Next we have Aria, she‘s basically trying to keep her family at one place but Meredith is making it hard and in the end her father is thrown out by her mother Ella. And he loves to meredith, like how bad could it get now for aria?
Spencer used a essay of her sister for a competition because A told her so, still she‘s with Wren her sisters ex boyfriend and her parents declined all her credit cards and she’s not welcome anymore in her family after the thing with Wren? What is that? Yeah parents could be mad at you for all the things Spencer did, but what they do is just not it?
And Hanna? I don’t get along with her character in this book series and I still don’t get why she should be a bad person. Like all she has to deal with is a break up with her boyfriend, a wrecked car and some stolen shoes and other stuff, a mother not caring enough, a father marrying a other woman with daughter and working in a burnt clinic. She has to deal with most of the bad things in here not like the others.
Well, this is just not making sense for me and I still don’t know why I read this series and still go to the third book but we will see.
I think that the series is much better (I really like the series) but the books are not it.
The characters are so different from the tv series that you can’t really get along with em.
Also the fact that every little detail is written down like in 100 other sites, always just the same thing.
I really wanted to not finish the book but I had the audiobook around so I listened to it better than reading the book, because that would need much more time I wanted to spend with this book.
Now I‘m reading the third book/listen to the audiobook and I hope that the next one will be better.
I stick to my goal of reading all 16 books since I want to see how different they are from the tv series but I don’t think I will ever write a good review about them since they‘re not that good and I don’t like Sara Shepards writing style.
You better go watch the series and don’t stick around the books, they just consuming your time that‘s it
ihateprozac's review against another edition
4.0
If you're wondering where Flawless sits in terms of the TV show chronology, it centres around the dance, which has been changed from Homecoming to a socialite charity event called the Foxy.
One thing I noticed about Flawless was that it lacks the obnoxious product placements of Pretty Little Liars, and I'm relieved! It still mentions brands and products to convey materialism, but doesn't do so on a ridiculous level like its predecessor. Pretty Little Liars unnecessarily mentioned a popular brand every 2 seconds, but Flawless takes it down about 1500 notches. The brand mentions could still ensure Flawless is a bit dated in 5 years, but not to the extent of the first book.
I'm not sure if I failed to notice this in Pretty Little Liars since I was mainly looking at how faithful the TV show was, but Flawless showcases some really loathesome characters in Emily, Spencer and Hanna's families. Emily's parents are racist and overbearing, forcing her to keep swimming even when she doesn't want to. Spencer's parents refuse to speak to her for kissing Melissa's boyfriend, even when her best friend Alison DiLaurentis' body is discovered a few days later. After the memorial, they invite one of Melissa's exes over yet continue to exclude Spencer from dinner, on one of the most horrible days of her life.
Hanna's Dad invites her for what is assumed to be a 'daddy-daughter' weekend getaway, but then invites his fiance and stepdaughter and insists Hanna was stupid for thinking it would just be them. Then when Hanna needs to make an emergency trip back to Rosewood to check on the dance, stepdaughter/sister Kate says she'll cover for Hanna and asks for some of Hanna's stolen Percocet, only to turn on her and tell everything to Hanna's father. When Hanna returns, she's cornered by her father and berated for all her indiscretions, made even worse when her mother shows up at his request.
These girls really can't catch a break! It goes beyond the typical teenager-fighting-with-her-parents or teenager-messes-up-and-parents-are-mad, because these parents are plain evil! Potential racism aside, Emily's parents aren't too bad in the grand scheme of things, but Hanna and Spencer's parents might as well be the spawn of Satan. They're awfully reminiscent of the token abusive character(s) in Stephen King novels, where King makes you loathe them so much that you just want to jump into the pages and stab them yourself.
Spencer and Emily's parents partially redeemed themselves in the end, though it doesn't change how horrified I felt when I was reading this book! Alison DiLaurentis is painted as so evil that I'm glad she died, and I can't help but wish these parents would get offed at some point too. It sucks that the only nice family - Aria's - is probably going to implode due to infidelity.
And don't even get me started on Emily's ex, Ben! He has a lot in common (namely rape) with Tyler Smallwood/Lockwood from The Vampire Diaries, who's practically a rapist in the books but is made somewhat nicer in the TV show. Ben is AWFUL in these books, attempting to rape and humiliate Emily twice, and I hope he's made the target of A/Ali's killer eventually.
In terms of solving the mystery of Alison's death and identity of A, Flawless really doesn't contribute that much. The girls think it's Toby, then he commits suicide, and all A really does is make each girl confess some of her secrets. It doesn't make too much progress or reveal much at all, which I have to admit was frustrating. If these books weren't so short I would really have a bone to pick with the author. As such, I still wish that there were 4 longer books than 8 shorter ones.
I have to admit that the TV show is more faithful to Pretty Little Liars than Flawless, and its deviation from the second book is really messing up my suspicions about A/Ali's killer! (The show has lead me to believe that they're 2 different people, but I don't know what I should believe anymore XD). As I follow the show I'm suspecting Ezra, Lucas and Jenna, but Lucas hasn't even been introduced in the books and I'm suspecting Mona, Ezra and Jenna.
The reason I suspect Mona in the books is her presence at the plastic surgery/burns clinic. I don't imagine she would be so cagey about getting plastic surgery, so I suspect she's visiting someone in the burns ward. It would also make sense if she were tied to A, as Hanna got a text soon after arriving at the clinic and bumping into Mona. It would also make sense if Jenna received treatment at the burns clinic, being that burn scars are visible under her sunglasses.
On a completely different note, I wasn't even suspecting Toby and I'm kind of pissed that they killed him off. I'm glad they haven't done so (yet) for the TV show.
I'm maintaining suspicions about the "hypnosis" Ali put them under that night in the barn, tying in with very small flashbacks and Hanna's dream that I've seen in the show. Spencer's reaction was just too weird, and I don't remember Ali actually bringing them out of the hypnosis. Maya is also a bit of a wildcard, and I can't help but wonder if the ending will be a copout and blame it all on someone who isn't even present for half the books. I know I'll be really pissed if that happens ;]
I'm really happy that the epilogue from A seems to be a recurring thing, it confirms that they're not Toby (which I never believed in the first place, tbh), and keeps me guessing about Ali's killer. I love the hint about Spencer and the hypnosis that night in the barn, and it's making me wish I could just devour the remaining books all at once. It's killing me that I can't get through them fast enough!
Overall: Flawless doesn't contribute much in solving the mystery of A and Ali's death, though it does plant what I think will be important clues later on. It primarily shows the breakdowns in relationships between several of the characters, and really gets the reader to turn on some of them. It's not really a weak link in the chain, but I imagine some of the other books are more substantial at addressing the mystery.
One thing I noticed about Flawless was that it lacks the obnoxious product placements of Pretty Little Liars, and I'm relieved! It still mentions brands and products to convey materialism, but doesn't do so on a ridiculous level like its predecessor. Pretty Little Liars unnecessarily mentioned a popular brand every 2 seconds, but Flawless takes it down about 1500 notches. The brand mentions could still ensure Flawless is a bit dated in 5 years, but not to the extent of the first book.
I'm not sure if I failed to notice this in Pretty Little Liars since I was mainly looking at how faithful the TV show was, but Flawless showcases some really loathesome characters in Emily, Spencer and Hanna's families. Emily's parents are racist and overbearing, forcing her to keep swimming even when she doesn't want to. Spencer's parents refuse to speak to her for kissing Melissa's boyfriend, even when her best friend Alison DiLaurentis' body is discovered a few days later. After the memorial, they invite one of Melissa's exes over yet continue to exclude Spencer from dinner, on one of the most horrible days of her life.
Hanna's Dad invites her for what is assumed to be a 'daddy-daughter' weekend getaway, but then invites his fiance and stepdaughter and insists Hanna was stupid for thinking it would just be them. Then when Hanna needs to make an emergency trip back to Rosewood to check on the dance, stepdaughter/sister Kate says she'll cover for Hanna and asks for some of Hanna's stolen Percocet, only to turn on her and tell everything to Hanna's father. When Hanna returns, she's cornered by her father and berated for all her indiscretions, made even worse when her mother shows up at his request.
These girls really can't catch a break! It goes beyond the typical teenager-fighting-with-her-parents or teenager-messes-up-and-parents-are-mad, because these parents are plain evil! Potential racism aside, Emily's parents aren't too bad in the grand scheme of things, but Hanna and Spencer's parents might as well be the spawn of Satan. They're awfully reminiscent of the token abusive character(s) in Stephen King novels, where King makes you loathe them so much that you just want to jump into the pages and stab them yourself.
Spencer and Emily's parents partially redeemed themselves in the end, though it doesn't change how horrified I felt when I was reading this book! Alison DiLaurentis is painted as so evil that I'm glad she died, and I can't help but wish these parents would get offed at some point too. It sucks that the only nice family - Aria's - is probably going to implode due to infidelity.
And don't even get me started on Emily's ex, Ben! He has a lot in common (namely rape) with Tyler Smallwood/Lockwood from The Vampire Diaries, who's practically a rapist in the books but is made somewhat nicer in the TV show. Ben is AWFUL in these books, attempting to rape and humiliate Emily twice, and I hope he's made the target of A/Ali's killer eventually.
In terms of solving the mystery of Alison's death and identity of A, Flawless really doesn't contribute that much. The girls think it's Toby, then he commits suicide, and all A really does is make each girl confess some of her secrets. It doesn't make too much progress or reveal much at all, which I have to admit was frustrating. If these books weren't so short I would really have a bone to pick with the author. As such, I still wish that there were 4 longer books than 8 shorter ones.
I have to admit that the TV show is more faithful to Pretty Little Liars than Flawless, and its deviation from the second book is really messing up my suspicions about A/Ali's killer! (The show has lead me to believe that they're 2 different people, but I don't know what I should believe anymore XD). As I follow the show I'm suspecting Ezra, Lucas and Jenna, but Lucas hasn't even been introduced in the books and I'm suspecting Mona, Ezra and Jenna.
The reason I suspect Mona in the books is her presence at the plastic surgery/burns clinic. I don't imagine she would be so cagey about getting plastic surgery, so I suspect she's visiting someone in the burns ward. It would also make sense if she were tied to A, as Hanna got a text soon after arriving at the clinic and bumping into Mona. It would also make sense if Jenna received treatment at the burns clinic, being that burn scars are visible under her sunglasses.
On a completely different note, I wasn't even suspecting Toby and I'm kind of pissed that they killed him off. I'm glad they haven't done so (yet) for the TV show.
I'm maintaining suspicions about the "hypnosis" Ali put them under that night in the barn, tying in with very small flashbacks and Hanna's dream that I've seen in the show. Spencer's reaction was just too weird, and I don't remember Ali actually bringing them out of the hypnosis. Maya is also a bit of a wildcard, and I can't help but wonder if the ending will be a copout and blame it all on someone who isn't even present for half the books. I know I'll be really pissed if that happens ;]
I'm really happy that the epilogue from A seems to be a recurring thing, it confirms that they're not Toby (which I never believed in the first place, tbh), and keeps me guessing about Ali's killer. I love the hint about Spencer and the hypnosis that night in the barn, and it's making me wish I could just devour the remaining books all at once. It's killing me that I can't get through them fast enough!
Overall: Flawless doesn't contribute much in solving the mystery of A and Ali's death, though it does plant what I think will be important clues later on. It primarily shows the breakdowns in relationships between several of the characters, and really gets the reader to turn on some of them. It's not really a weak link in the chain, but I imagine some of the other books are more substantial at addressing the mystery.
joejonasateme's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
0liviamarie's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lovemydolphins's review against another edition
5.0
I don't remember "Flawless" very well (it's been a while) but I'll say that it was about on par with the first PLL book. I thought it was an awesome story, kept me reading. SPOILERS:
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RIP Toby :(
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RIP Toby :(
emgom329's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
pig_mania's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5