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piamarie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
vanessa177's review against another edition
4.0
As the planned finale of this book series, Wanted works pretty well. Like a lot of the later books, there is the problem that there isn't very much going on. Aria especially is lacking a plot. However, that doesn't much matter due to the ending. The majority of loose strings are taken care of. There is only a handful of things that do not make sense, which is much better than I was expecting. The ending twist is good, if a little expected by the time it happens, but there is actually a little violence and gore. The girls' problems might be solved a little too neatly and quickly, but there is at least some character development. The final chapter was nice and spooky. Overall, it is a really successful end to the series. As long as you ignore that it isn't actually the end.
anikarajan's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
if these books weren’t 60% filler, i’d love them so much more
naya04's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
elliecaitlin16's review against another edition
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? No
3.75
karenholmes's review against another edition
3.0
I guess this was Sara Shepard's first intention to finish the series. And it would have been ok. Of course there are a few plot holes, this last one really had too much of them. One of the worse is laying off Bill whatever his name was because he had an alibi, when they don't really know which day/nor Alison (or Courtney, whatever) were killed nor the hour Jenna was.
The idea was good (somewhat cheesy and too soapish)and it could have worked but it was rushed and not well thought through.
Not sure to read ahead, as this seems the real ending that should have had.
The idea was good (somewhat cheesy and too soapish)and it could have worked but it was rushed and not well thought through.
Not sure to read ahead, as this seems the real ending that should have had.
lelemontgomery's review against another edition
4.0
Alright,
I started this book a few weeks ago and I have to say that although the seventh book wasn't that good I really like how this book is slowly turning into a pretty good one.
At first, the first thing that caught my eye and reminded me to still continue to read this book was the fact that Courtney showed up - and she never did in the series. Also that A is now gone, the girls have time to live their lives and have a great time, so everything can settle down a bit.
But when Courtney drops the bomb that she is Ali, the girls can't believe their eyes, since they all thought for seven books straight, that Ali is dead and buried. Courtney explains some details about that one night back then four years ago and the girls understand that she is indeed Ali. For some reason, they all back at it again, becoming friends and spending time together.
The only thing I'm not quite comfortable with is, that even though Ali's been gone for so long and has done so many bad things with them, they are still doing it again, also with their fresh start. The nod it game is back and I can only imagine that more things they used to did four years ago are coming back - which may be the cause for a new A turning up soon.
I don't know how to describe my feelings about this book here, but it's better than every other book of this series I have read so far - and still, with Ali being back, I think that things will turn bad slowly and get worse soon, but we will see
I started this book a few weeks ago and I have to say that although the seventh book wasn't that good I really like how this book is slowly turning into a pretty good one.
At first, the first thing that caught my eye and reminded me to still continue to read this book was the fact that Courtney showed up - and she never did in the series. Also that A is now gone, the girls have time to live their lives and have a great time, so everything can settle down a bit.
But when Courtney drops the bomb that she is Ali, the girls can't believe their eyes, since they all thought for seven books straight, that Ali is dead and buried. Courtney explains some details about that one night back then four years ago and the girls understand that she is indeed Ali. For some reason, they all back at it again, becoming friends and spending time together.
The only thing I'm not quite comfortable with is, that even though Ali's been gone for so long and has done so many bad things with them, they are still doing it again, also with their fresh start. The nod it game is back and I can only imagine that more things they used to did four years ago are coming back - which may be the cause for a new A turning up soon.
I don't know how to describe my feelings about this book here, but it's better than every other book of this series I have read so far - and still, with Ali being back, I think that things will turn bad slowly and get worse soon, but we will see
ihateprozac's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, if that's not a dramatic and confusing ending, I don't know what is! :|
I have to admit that overall, the twin storyline was really farfetched and confusing. If my friend hadn't accidentally spoiled it for me, I don't think I would've seen it coming. I would've been terribly confused about the girls seeing Ali in the forest during the fire, but I don't think I would've immediately clicked and been like 'she has an evil basement dwelling twin!' The number of switches and visits Courtney and Ali went through was confusing, and I'm still a bit iffy on when/how Ali got out the night she killed her sister.
I did like how the author linked it to past events though, like when the girls had supposedly seen Ali upstairs reading her diary, but then when she came out on the deck she had no recollection of it. Ali wasn't pretending not to know the girls' names, it was Courtney and she actually didn't. I liked that Shepard used this to explain why Ali had suddenly ditched Naomi and Riley, because I honestly didn't think the author was ever going to address that.
I also liked how the twin scenario explained some of the prophetic dreams the girls had, though not all of them. I was getting really annoyed that the story seemed to be taking a supernatural turn, so I'm glad at least a couple of the dreams could be explained. Though Hanna had a dream in the Preserve hospital that she linked to Iris - was this an actual dream and Hanna just managed to connect it to real life events? And didn't Spencer have a dream where Ali said she was dumb for not figuring it all out?
I thought the climax where Ali kidnapped Melissa and tried to burn the girls alive in the Poconos house was wonderfully dramatic! It was so evil, and I can't wait to see what they do with it in the show, as it's definitely a scene that lends itself well to a more visual medium. I can't help but feel it was a little too overdramatic for the book series though. Despite the fact that the series is about a murder and should have this really sinister overtone, it's surprisingly light. It just doesn't quite fit with how dramatic and dark the conclusion was.
Right before I started this series I looked through Goodreads to see how many books there were, having been told there were 8. I saw that the author was writing more and skimmed the "review" sections for these, which were basically peoples' thoughts about what the books would be like since they haven't been published yet. A lot of people were confused as to how the author could continue the series since it was all wrapped up so well in Wanted. I beg to differ!
I think the ending is beautifully open-ended, and offers up a tonne of possibilities for Ali to torment a new set of friends, or return to Rosewood to wreak havoc on the girls. If I didn't know the series had originally ended with Wanted, I would've assumed that the author had always intended to carry on Ali's story. I can't find any information on the next book, so I have no idea where it's going to be set. As much as I loved following Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna, I think it'll be exciting to see Ali torment a new set of friends.
I'm also hoping the new books will answer a few questions that I don't think the author addressed well enough or at all in the series. What happened to Leah? Wilden claims he didn't kill her, but where is she? Is she just living a carefree "English" life somewhere else? Is Ali going to come across her in the next few books? I'd love it if Ali made friends with Leah and then it linked back to Rosewood? >:D
And why is Jason DiLaurentis so randomly angry all the time? I can understand he has family issues, but he gave so many angry knowing looks that just weren't addressed.
Did he hear Emily addressing Courtney as "Ali" in their Yarmouth home and that's why he spazzed out? And what did Wilden have to confess at the church? Was it something to do with Leah, was he struggling with keeping the secret about Courtney, or was he just wanting to unload? And this is a bit trivial, but how did Emily's Iowan aunt and uncle really find out about their kids sneaking out to the party? I wondered if A/Mona had told them, but I don't think it was ever clear.
I'm glad Hanna got away from her awful father and Kate in the end, though I wish I'd gotten to see Hanna's mum tear him a new asshole and pwn Kate. Tom put Hanna through so much shit and never believed her, and as far as I can tell he never even fucking said sorry. He's one of those assholes in Stephen King novels where you're just itching for him to get murdered or brutalised, but unfortunately in this series it never happens. Kate is still as big a bitch as ever, and she deserves 1000x more humiliation than she got.
Like I mentioned before, I found the twin storyline to be very confusing, though it was wonderfully dramatic and cliche. I would've preferred the omission of the twin and Ali's murder having been a crime of passion over bullying or stealing boyfriends, but then we wouldn't have got the great open ending that we did, and no more books following Ali's continued torment.
I think the author could've added in more weird occurrences earlier in the story, like more incidents where Ali seemed confused or couldn't remember doing things with the girls. While I was reading those scenes I was like 'hmm, that's odd' but didn't think much of it, and I wish the author had really highlighted how weird it was. I never even noticed/couldn't remember that Ali was wearing a different outfit that time the girls saw her in her room and on the deck, until the author blatantly pointed it out in Wanted. Again, I think the author could've pushed these points a bit harder.
I also feel like the author shouldn't have bothered with Spencer's father's affair and making Spencer related to Alison and Courtney. It worked to get Spencer on Ali's side and actually helped Spencer's family become normal, but I feel overall it was a bit pointless. Spencer finds out she has 2 extra sisters, but 1 is dead, and the other one supposedly dies soon after. That's a whole lot of effort and drama for nothing. I love how the affair and attempted murder actually healed Spencer's family, but I think that a similar result could've been achieved without dragging the DiLaurentises into it.
On the other hand, I loved that it took all these murders, torture and general drama to bring Emily, Spencer, Hanna and Aria together. In the show they all magically become friends again after they start receiving the texts, and I liked that in the books they have to endure a lot more to reach that stage. They got a happy ending that I didn't feel was too cheesy, and while they all reunited they didn't become Queen Bees or the Plastics like you'd expect. I loved that Hanna found peace and doesn't care that she's not ~popular, or that Riley, Naomi and Kate are supposedly in power. Everybody seemed to reach a peaceful ending, and it was just nice. ^__^
Overall: I really really really really enjoyed this series. Some books were a bit weaker than others, but I adore the concept and loved every minute reading them. I usually go for paranormal romances or sci-fi, and I'd never reading anything like this series before. Now I'm happy to say that I'm hopelessly addicted, and will no doubt be checking out Sara Shepard's other books and trawling Goodreads for other similar series.
It was so much fun trying to figure out who A and the killer were, though it was frustrating to have every single theory quashed in the next book! Sometimes I wish the author hadn't tried to convince the reader whole-heartedly that it was a different person in every book, though I imagine that if there weren't so much misdirection I would've figured it out much earlier, and it would've been so much more predictable.
I loved following the girls' dramas and teenage issues, and that said issues went beyond their parents not letting them go out to the movies. No one girl was perfect, and they all had elements you could relate to. For some reason I felt most attached to Emily, though I imagine every girl (or boy) reading this series would connect to a different character. I liked that while they had this big murder mystery to solve, their underlying issues were still there and they still had to deal with trivial drama. It was definitely an interesting juxtaposition.
I have to admit that overall, the twin storyline was really farfetched and confusing. If my friend hadn't accidentally spoiled it for me, I don't think I would've seen it coming. I would've been terribly confused about the girls seeing Ali in the forest during the fire, but I don't think I would've immediately clicked and been like 'she has an evil basement dwelling twin!' The number of switches and visits Courtney and Ali went through was confusing, and I'm still a bit iffy on when/how Ali got out the night she killed her sister.
I did like how the author linked it to past events though, like when the girls had supposedly seen Ali upstairs reading her diary, but then when she came out on the deck she had no recollection of it. Ali wasn't pretending not to know the girls' names, it was Courtney and she actually didn't. I liked that Shepard used this to explain why Ali had suddenly ditched Naomi and Riley, because I honestly didn't think the author was ever going to address that.
I also liked how the twin scenario explained some of the prophetic dreams the girls had, though not all of them. I was getting really annoyed that the story seemed to be taking a supernatural turn, so I'm glad at least a couple of the dreams could be explained. Though Hanna had a dream in the Preserve hospital that she linked to Iris - was this an actual dream and Hanna just managed to connect it to real life events? And didn't Spencer have a dream where Ali said she was dumb for not figuring it all out?
I thought the climax where Ali kidnapped Melissa and tried to burn the girls alive in the Poconos house was wonderfully dramatic! It was so evil, and I can't wait to see what they do with it in the show, as it's definitely a scene that lends itself well to a more visual medium. I can't help but feel it was a little too overdramatic for the book series though. Despite the fact that the series is about a murder and should have this really sinister overtone, it's surprisingly light. It just doesn't quite fit with how dramatic and dark the conclusion was.
Right before I started this series I looked through Goodreads to see how many books there were, having been told there were 8. I saw that the author was writing more and skimmed the "review" sections for these, which were basically peoples' thoughts about what the books would be like since they haven't been published yet. A lot of people were confused as to how the author could continue the series since it was all wrapped up so well in Wanted. I beg to differ!
I think the ending is beautifully open-ended, and offers up a tonne of possibilities for Ali to torment a new set of friends, or return to Rosewood to wreak havoc on the girls. If I didn't know the series had originally ended with Wanted, I would've assumed that the author had always intended to carry on Ali's story. I can't find any information on the next book, so I have no idea where it's going to be set. As much as I loved following Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna, I think it'll be exciting to see Ali torment a new set of friends.
I'm also hoping the new books will answer a few questions that I don't think the author addressed well enough or at all in the series. What happened to Leah? Wilden claims he didn't kill her, but where is she? Is she just living a carefree "English" life somewhere else? Is Ali going to come across her in the next few books? I'd love it if Ali made friends with Leah and then it linked back to Rosewood? >:D
And why is Jason DiLaurentis so randomly angry all the time? I can understand he has family issues, but he gave so many angry knowing looks that just weren't addressed.
Did he hear Emily addressing Courtney as "Ali" in their Yarmouth home and that's why he spazzed out? And what did Wilden have to confess at the church? Was it something to do with Leah, was he struggling with keeping the secret about Courtney, or was he just wanting to unload? And this is a bit trivial, but how did Emily's Iowan aunt and uncle really find out about their kids sneaking out to the party? I wondered if A/Mona had told them, but I don't think it was ever clear.
I'm glad Hanna got away from her awful father and Kate in the end, though I wish I'd gotten to see Hanna's mum tear him a new asshole and pwn Kate. Tom put Hanna through so much shit and never believed her, and as far as I can tell he never even fucking said sorry. He's one of those assholes in Stephen King novels where you're just itching for him to get murdered or brutalised, but unfortunately in this series it never happens. Kate is still as big a bitch as ever, and she deserves 1000x more humiliation than she got.
Like I mentioned before, I found the twin storyline to be very confusing, though it was wonderfully dramatic and cliche. I would've preferred the omission of the twin and Ali's murder having been a crime of passion over bullying or stealing boyfriends, but then we wouldn't have got the great open ending that we did, and no more books following Ali's continued torment.
I think the author could've added in more weird occurrences earlier in the story, like more incidents where Ali seemed confused or couldn't remember doing things with the girls. While I was reading those scenes I was like 'hmm, that's odd' but didn't think much of it, and I wish the author had really highlighted how weird it was. I never even noticed/couldn't remember that Ali was wearing a different outfit that time the girls saw her in her room and on the deck, until the author blatantly pointed it out in Wanted. Again, I think the author could've pushed these points a bit harder.
I also feel like the author shouldn't have bothered with Spencer's father's affair and making Spencer related to Alison and Courtney. It worked to get Spencer on Ali's side and actually helped Spencer's family become normal, but I feel overall it was a bit pointless. Spencer finds out she has 2 extra sisters, but 1 is dead, and the other one supposedly dies soon after. That's a whole lot of effort and drama for nothing. I love how the affair and attempted murder actually healed Spencer's family, but I think that a similar result could've been achieved without dragging the DiLaurentises into it.
On the other hand, I loved that it took all these murders, torture and general drama to bring Emily, Spencer, Hanna and Aria together. In the show they all magically become friends again after they start receiving the texts, and I liked that in the books they have to endure a lot more to reach that stage. They got a happy ending that I didn't feel was too cheesy, and while they all reunited they didn't become Queen Bees or the Plastics like you'd expect. I loved that Hanna found peace and doesn't care that she's not ~popular, or that Riley, Naomi and Kate are supposedly in power. Everybody seemed to reach a peaceful ending, and it was just nice. ^__^
Overall: I really really really really enjoyed this series. Some books were a bit weaker than others, but I adore the concept and loved every minute reading them. I usually go for paranormal romances or sci-fi, and I'd never reading anything like this series before. Now I'm happy to say that I'm hopelessly addicted, and will no doubt be checking out Sara Shepard's other books and trawling Goodreads for other similar series.
It was so much fun trying to figure out who A and the killer were, though it was frustrating to have every single theory quashed in the next book! Sometimes I wish the author hadn't tried to convince the reader whole-heartedly that it was a different person in every book, though I imagine that if there weren't so much misdirection I would've figured it out much earlier, and it would've been so much more predictable.
I loved following the girls' dramas and teenage issues, and that said issues went beyond their parents not letting them go out to the movies. No one girl was perfect, and they all had elements you could relate to. For some reason I felt most attached to Emily, though I imagine every girl (or boy) reading this series would connect to a different character. I liked that while they had this big murder mystery to solve, their underlying issues were still there and they still had to deal with trivial drama. It was definitely an interesting juxtaposition.
lucyphilpott's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- 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
Wow. This was it. The original end of PLL. I can't believe that it almost stopped here, cause stopping here would've been perfect. But no, it just had to continue. Sigh. Well, I should probably start reviewing the darn book before I start ranting.
Anyways, this book is the greatest whirlwind of the series. You start to believe one thing, but then you get a plot twist, and you don't know what to believe. The story moves pretty fast, and the plot is so good, it's a page-turner. Get ready for more answers than you've ever had before. (Yes, even more than in "Unbelievable".) So much fun. There is a 99% chance you will love it if you're a PLL fan.
Anyways, this book is the greatest whirlwind of the series. You start to believe one thing, but then you get a plot twist, and you don't know what to believe. The story moves pretty fast, and the plot is so good, it's a page-turner. Get ready for more answers than you've ever had before. (Yes, even more than in "Unbelievable".) So much fun. There is a 99% chance you will love it if you're a PLL fan.