tashfa's review
3.0
(*2.75 stars)
You can also read this review on my blog.
I’m a huge fan of mystery and suspense in fiction so when my best friend recommended PLL to me, I obviously had to read it. I started reading this book expecting it to be a stirring story with lots of suspense that’ll keep me at the edge of my seat… unfortunately, this book was not exactly what I expected it to be. As far as I know, many flaws in this book have been fixed in the TV show but I have to admit that I did not love this book, even though I did sort of enjoy it. So, read on to know why I gave this book about 3 stars.
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 someone in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back?
I want to start by talking about the characters. There are characters who are annoying or morally-grey but are still quite likeable and then there were Hannah, Emily, Aria and Spencer who somehow managed to make me roll my eyes so hard at least 37 times while reading this book. I totally get it that they are teenagers and are supposed to behave like they did but I still had many issues with their characters. Firstly, I could not relate to them at all. They were unrealistically rich and I felt like this book was just an advertisement of 200+ pages for brands that are famous enough to not need ads. Secondly, they didn’t have many likeable qualities. I’m someone who’d be absolutely OK with reading a book that has a mediocre plot and ordinary writing as long as the characters are complex and well-developed—which they were not in Pretty Little Liars. Yes, I know that there are like more than 10 books in this series and the characters will probably develop as the story progresses but if I feel like the first book is not compelling enough, why would I read the rest of the series?! Honestly, I couldn’t care less about these characters and that is probably the biggest reason why this book was such a disappointment.
I did not like Shepard’s writing style; some unforgivably cringeworthy dialogues and the not-so-good pacing exasperated me a lot. I also felt that this book had some super irritating, timeworn clichés and the book would have been so much better without them.
And don’t even get me started on the romance in PLL. At times, it felt more of a romance novel with a dash of mystery instead of a mystery thriller with romantic sub-plots. Most of the love interests had like 0% personality and the relationships were somewhat problematic. Again, I almost eye-rolled to another dimension because of the romance.
No, I did not dislike everything about this book; there were a couple of things that I did like. I appreciate that there’s some diversity in PLL. The mystery was intriguing but, as I said earlier, it did not appear to be the major element of the story. It was not the OMG-I-don’t-need-sleep-I-need-answers kind of mystery but it was better than the other things in this book.
Overall, Pretty Little Liars was just… meh. And I probably wouldn’t read the rest of the books in this series. 😊
You can also read this review on my blog.
I’m a huge fan of mystery and suspense in fiction so when my best friend recommended PLL to me, I obviously had to read it. I started reading this book expecting it to be a stirring story with lots of suspense that’ll keep me at the edge of my seat… unfortunately, this book was not exactly what I expected it to be. As far as I know, many flaws in this book have been fixed in the TV show but I have to admit that I did not love this book, even though I did sort of enjoy it. So, read on to know why I gave this book about 3 stars.
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 someone in their circle? Worse yet: Is Alison back?
I want to start by talking about the characters. There are characters who are annoying or morally-grey but are still quite likeable and then there were Hannah, Emily, Aria and Spencer who somehow managed to make me roll my eyes so hard at least 37 times while reading this book. I totally get it that they are teenagers and are supposed to behave like they did but I still had many issues with their characters. Firstly, I could not relate to them at all. They were unrealistically rich and I felt like this book was just an advertisement of 200+ pages for brands that are famous enough to not need ads. Secondly, they didn’t have many likeable qualities. I’m someone who’d be absolutely OK with reading a book that has a mediocre plot and ordinary writing as long as the characters are complex and well-developed—which they were not in Pretty Little Liars. Yes, I know that there are like more than 10 books in this series and the characters will probably develop as the story progresses but if I feel like the first book is not compelling enough, why would I read the rest of the series?! Honestly, I couldn’t care less about these characters and that is probably the biggest reason why this book was such a disappointment.
I did not like Shepard’s writing style; some unforgivably cringeworthy dialogues and the not-so-good pacing exasperated me a lot. I also felt that this book had some super irritating, timeworn clichés and the book would have been so much better without them.
And don’t even get me started on the romance in PLL. At times, it felt more of a romance novel with a dash of mystery instead of a mystery thriller with romantic sub-plots. Most of the love interests had like 0% personality and the relationships were somewhat problematic. Again, I almost eye-rolled to another dimension because of the romance.
No, I did not dislike everything about this book; there were a couple of things that I did like. I appreciate that there’s some diversity in PLL. The mystery was intriguing but, as I said earlier, it did not appear to be the major element of the story. It was not the OMG-I-don’t-need-sleep-I-need-answers kind of mystery but it was better than the other things in this book.Overall, Pretty Little Liars was just… meh. And I probably wouldn’t read the rest of the books in this series. 😊
boredomandwordsofbooks's review
4.0
This book is the first of the series Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard. It follows the lives of 4 teenage girls who have a lot of secrets to hide, but one thing links them together. Alison DiLaurentis. She was the girl to be before she disappeared at the end of their 7th grade year. The girl that kept the four of them together, but also the one that each told their secrets that they didn't want the others to know.
Aria: In love with her English now had even bigger secret to keep. But this one involved her dad. Emily: Could she have been in love with Alison way back when? Who is she in love with now? Spencer: Always stealing things from her sister, but did she take things too far? Hanna: How did she really get that skinny? There was only one person who knew; or so they thought. Could A be Alison come to haunt them? Or is it someone new?
This book was good, not exactly like the tv show, but that's to be expected. I'm not quite sure if it's better than the tv show though. There were some places where I didn't like certain phrasing that Shepard used, places that stood out as bad. Normally that wouldn't bother me in a fantastic book, but here it did. As far as plot goes however it was just as good as the show and it kept me turning the pages which awarded it the 4 stars. I read this in a very small amount of time for someone who has college to contend with, and I desperately want to read more. I don't normally like realistic fiction type books, but these have become my new guilty pleasure of sorts. Definitely recommended if you want a guilty pleasure.
Aria: In love with her English now had even bigger secret to keep. But this one involved her dad. Emily: Could she have been in love with Alison way back when? Who is she in love with now? Spencer: Always stealing things from her sister, but did she take things too far? Hanna: How did she really get that skinny? There was only one person who knew; or so they thought. Could A be Alison come to haunt them? Or is it someone new?
This book was good, not exactly like the tv show, but that's to be expected. I'm not quite sure if it's better than the tv show though. There were some places where I didn't like certain phrasing that Shepard used, places that stood out as bad. Normally that wouldn't bother me in a fantastic book, but here it did. As far as plot goes however it was just as good as the show and it kept me turning the pages which awarded it the 4 stars. I read this in a very small amount of time for someone who has college to contend with, and I desperately want to read more. I don't normally like realistic fiction type books, but these have become my new guilty pleasure of sorts. Definitely recommended if you want a guilty pleasure.
fitzwilliam's review
2.0
It was okay...maybe I was less enthusiastic than I could have been because it's been a while since I read the first book and in the mean time I've watched some episode of the Tv series which is quite different sometimes from the books. So I was a little confused sometimes, when I thought I remembered something that had happened, but then it turned out I was either too far ahead or it had happened differently in the series. But a good read, although the teen language baceme, like, a bit too much sometimes!
jackiewaykay's review
3.0
This book was hard for me to start but once I got into it I enjoyed it. I found Shepard's writing to be bland (everything is described as bluish-black or reddish-brown and her writing is simple). She also goes into detail about things I don't care about, like their outfits and the types of phones they're using every time they show up in the book. It adds a lot of unnecessary length.
That being said, I love the story. I'm a sucker for a good mystery and this is one. I love their individual stories too, even if I can't really relate to them. Some of the things that happen in the book are sketchy, like the seventh graders getting drunk and dating high school seniors, but not so much that the take away from the story.
Overall it's an enjoyable and easy read. It might not appeal to older readers though.
That being said, I love the story. I'm a sucker for a good mystery and this is one. I love their individual stories too, even if I can't really relate to them. Some of the things that happen in the book are sketchy, like the seventh graders getting drunk and dating high school seniors, but not so much that the take away from the story.
Overall it's an enjoyable and easy read. It might not appeal to older readers though.
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