Pretty Little Liars (Pretty Little Liars, #1)

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Pretty Little Liars (Pretty Little Liars #1)

by Sara Shepard (Goodreads Author)

4.02 · rating details · 23,074 ratings · 2,653 reviews

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 recei...more

Hardcover, 286 pages

Published October 1st 2006 by HarperCollins Publishers

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Jan 05, 2011

Jessica rated it

Recommends it for: teenage girls, people who like young adult books/series.

"Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."
-Benjamin Franklin.

The first book in the series, Pretty Little Liars, is about five best friends - Emily, Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Alison. Alison is the girl everyone loves, but secretly hates because they’re envious. She is what you could call the secret keeper of the clique, the one that holds the deepest and darkest secrets of each of the girls that nobody else knows and that they wouldn't dare share with another...more"Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."
-Benjamin Franklin.

The first book in the series, Pretty Little Liars, is about five best friends - Emily, Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Alison. Alison is the girl everyone loves, but secretly hates because they’re envious. She is what you could call the secret keeper of the clique, the one that holds the deepest and darkest secrets of each of the girls that nobody else knows and that they wouldn't dare share with another person. During a sleepover in seventh grade, something happens, Alison has walked out the door after a fight and their best friend has disappeared. Rosewood doesn’t seem so picture perfect anymore…

Fast forward a few years later and the four girls are now juniors in high school at Rosewood Day. They have different social groups and none of them have talked since the disappearance of Alison. What brings them together again? Nothing they would have ever guessed. They're all receiving secret messages from an anonymous sender who goes by -A. Not just any messages though - but their secrets that vanished with their best friend and things that are going on in their lives today that they would rather keep hidden.

Emily is testing the bounds of her new friendship with Maya, Aria is doing a little extra credit for English with her teacher, Hanna had vanity insanity and went too far for perfection and old habits are hard to break, and Spencer is getting a little too close to what isn't hers which is her sister's boyfriend. Unless the girls do exactly what -A says, their secrets will become everyone’s news. Who is -A? Why are they doing this? Did their best friend, Alison, come back? What exactly is the big Jenna secret? These are all of the things that are itching to be answered. Read and find out.

This series is for teenage girls and found in the YA section, but I’m out of my teens and still enjoy them a lot. It's a light, fun and easy read that you can definitely read in one sitting because you don't want to put it down until you've found everything out to tie up all the loose ends of the story. Pretty Little Liars has drama and cliffhangers that keep you on your toes and at the edge of your seat.

Next book is Flawless.(less)

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Jul 09, 2010

Morgan F rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, mystery, 2000s, series, goodreads-author, harperteen, multiple, read-2010, medium-sized, e-book

Okay, I'm hooked. I started watching the TV show when it first came out, and liked it well enough. So I decided to see how the book series would compare.

This book follows a former group of friends three years after their leader, Alison, went missing. Now they are getting mysterious text messages from a person known only as "A". "A" knows secrets only Alison knew and trust me, these girls have plenty of them. Despite being only 16, these girls have more skelet...more

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Nov 19, 2011

The Holy Terror rated it

Shelves: color-yellow, borrowed, mystery, young-adult, surprised-i-didn-t-hate-it

This series feels like it'll be a total guilty pleasure. It really reminded me of some of the R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike books that I read as a teen, and that's definitely a good thing! It's not literary genius but it's fun and easy to read. I started watching the TV show based on this series and I wanted to find out more because the episodes weren't coming out fast enough for me. I didn't feel like reading and watching the same series was redundant, it felt more like they complimented each...more

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May 11, 2008

Jennifer Wardrip rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Safia Abdul for TeensReadToo.com

Alison, Emma, Spencer, Aria, and Hanna were once the best of friends back in the summer between seventh and eighth grade. They held private sleepovers, passed notes in homeroom, and shared their darkest secrets. Then a tragic incident shook the safe, suburban town of Rosewood: Alison vanished without a trace. Now years later, Alison still hasn't been found and the other girls are now in the eleventh grade, but are no longer friends.
...more

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Feb 08, 2012

Crystal Starr Light rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult

“I'm still here, b!tches. And I know everything."

Once upon a time, five girls were friends: Alison, the ringleader, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer. Then one day, Alison just up and disappears.

Three years later, the girls begin to receive threatening texts, IMs, and notes about their secrets, past and present. Aria is flirting with the English Teacher; Emily is hanging out more with the new neighbor girl, Hanna has a dirty way of keeping thin, and Spencer is out fo...more

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Jan 31, 2008

Victoria rated it

Recommends it for: Teenage Girls

Shelves: realisticfiction

Pretty Little Liars has been my favorite book I have read so far. It is filled with drama, suspense and mystery, but it also brings together friendship and bravery. Four best friends, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer, are separated by the death of their friend Alison DeLaurentis, as she has mysteriously disappeared. They each shared secrets with Alison and one very important one that nobody could find out: the Jenna secret. All four friends soon drifted apart, but were brought back toget...more Pretty Little Liars has been my favorite book I have read so far. It is filled with drama, suspense and mystery, but it also brings together friendship and bravery. Four best friends, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer, are separated by the death of their friend Alison DeLaurentis, as she has mysteriously disappeared. They each shared secrets with Alison and one very important one that nobody could find out: the Jenna secret. All four friends soon drifted apart, but were brought back together when they start receiving mysterious text messages from A. Could A. be Alison? Were all of their secrets about to become secret no more? They must work together to find out who it is soon, because all the information Alison kept confidential is no longer safe.
Aria Montgomery is a free spirit; she became best friends with Alison, Spencer, Emily and Hanna and made documentaries about their friendship. She is crushing on her English teacher and she used to live in Iceland. When she returns home and learns that her friends have all separated, she is shocked to find mysterious texts from A. Now she learns that she must work together with her old friends to find out who A. is, before they tell their old secrets and ruin their lives.
Hanna Marin is the most popular girl in school. She is dating Sean Ackard, the hottest guy in school and she is also best friends with Mona Vanderwahl, together they are the elite clique of the school and they are totally gorgeous, rich and popular, they never used to be though. In the seventh grade, Hanna was chubby, ugly and totally self-conscious about how she looked, and Mona was completely weird, clingy and she desperately wanted to be popular. They both decided that in the summer of seventh they would transform themselves into glamorous, beautiful and totally popular people and they would be best friends for life. They showed up freshman year looking totally hot, and nobody cared about the dirty secrets they used to stay beautiful, nobody that is, until now. Hanna starts receiving terrifying messages from A. that could ruin her perfect reputation and send her life spiraling out-of-control!
Emily is a pale-skinned, redheaded, swim jock. She is the un-girlish of all of her friends and she is constantly attending swim practice and striving to get a swimming scholarship and go to a good school like her sister Carolyn. Emily soon finds out that she is attracted to girls, and when a mysterious text message she receives from A. threatens to display this horrible secret, Emily is forced to stay away from the new girl and her new crush Maya. Will A. tell her deep dark secret? Only time will tell.
Spencer Hastings is your average over-achieving, well-rounded, athletic, smart, beautiful, rich teenage girl. She plays field hockey, does extremely well in school and lives in an amazing house, she has a picture-perfect life, except for one tiny flaw, her menacing older sister, Melissa. Spencer is always trying to live up to Melissa's greatness, be more successful then her, have a cuter boyfriend then her, but when Melissa catches her boyfriend and Spencer making out, Spencer's life is plummeted downhill fast. Then when mysterious text messages from A. start coming, it seems like Spencer's life couldn't get any worse, or can it? Read this totally awesome, action-packed book to find out!

(less)

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Sep 19, 2011

Jianne rated it

Shelves: borrowed-books, part-of-a-series, mystery, young-adult, chick-lit

Pretty Little Liars is the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard. And yes, there's a TV series adaption of the novel which I have not watch but WILL watch soon!

Alison, Hannah, Spencer, Emily and Aria are best friends. Alison, being the queen bee and leader of the group and the popular girl knows the secrets of her friends. Because what Allison wants, Allison gets, Spencer for the first time said no to her which eventually led to them arguing and Alison disappea...morePretty Little Liars is the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard. And yes, there's a TV series adaption of the novel which I have not watch but WILL watch soon!

Alison, Hannah, Spencer, Emily and Aria are best friends. Alison, being the queen bee and leader of the group and the popular girl knows the secrets of her friends. Because what Allison wants, Allison gets, Spencer for the first time said no to her which eventually led to them arguing and Alison disappearing. That was three years ago. After Allison's disappearance, the girls mourned but also felt relief because Alison no matter how an awesome friend she is, everyone is also scared of her. After she disappeared, the remaining girls drifted apart living life on their own. Hannah replacing Ali as the popular girl in school and is not longer chubby, Emily who is not quite sure whether she is a girl or a lesbian or a by, Aria who has lived in Iceland is now back in Rosewood and is not plain simple Aria, and finally Spencer who is now better than her older sister Melissa. Just when the girls think that things are not going to get worse, well it does. Mysterious messages from a person called A, have been bothering and being sent to the girls. As each of them shared their dirty little secret to Ali, the girls suspect that Ali has come back. But has she? What are these dirty little secrets they try hard to keep? And most of all, who is A?

After reading Trash which is also a YA mystery novel, I expected a lot from this book because Trash blew me away. Anyway, Pretty Little Liars is just as good! It is gripping, seductive, mysterious, devilish yet enjoyable. My mind the entire time was like "who the freaking hell is A?" and I know I'm not alone there. I am super lost for words! (Why is it hard to describe good books?) It is absolutely unputdownable! I read it for a day in school, and school being the reason why I read slower than usual. It is a very light, quick, fun and sexy read. And really OMG, I wanna know! Though I have not watched the series I had heard a lot of good things about it.

I love all the characters! They're all different, unique and easy to connect with. Though my favorite would be Spencer and Aria. This book emphases on "things don't end happily," and they don't do they? And yes, the tag line, Don't trust a pretty girl with a dirty secret. Yes yes, I would like to know what "The Jenna Thing" is! I'm running around in circles trying to figure out who and what! Moreover, I also love the boys here. Dreamy and oh so HOT! I enjoyed reading the narration, and I love the causality of it. The real life problems are present and definitely realistic. The insight of reality will sink you in. This is such a wonderful maze "A" has created. Compelling and I will say it again, UNPUTDOWNABLE (I have 9 classes everyday and I read it for 7 lessons!) wow, I am so happy! I laughed, I smirked, I smiled, I felt sad, just basically I am overflowing with emotions.

However, let me just say the flaws I found. Yes, realistic enough. But exaggerated at times? Not to mention the romance. Moreover, the narration was not deep in terms of emotions but I was able to appreciate it right? I just hope more clues on who "A" is.(less)

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Nov 02, 2011

The Itzel Library rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to The Itzel Library by: Publisher

Shelves: 2011, boring, bullying, contemporary, couples, cover-love, dating-violence, de-pesadilla, drugs-and-sex, dysfunctional-family, fiction, forgettable, free, fun, humor, lesbian, love-hate, men-and-women, mental-health, mental-illness, mistery, movies, promiscuo, raro, rev-itzel, romance, series, society, spy, suspense, telenovelesco, to-review, violence, witches, women, wtf, ya

Pequeñas Mentirosas da la pinta de ser un libro ñoño, en realidad es un poco más spooky de lo que se imaginan cuando ven la portada o leen la sinopsis.

Imagínense a un grupo de muy buenas amigas, cubriéndose unas a otras sus travesuras. Poco a poco van surgiendo problemas y un día después de una casi sesión de espiritismo, Alison desaparece. La buscan por todos lados, la prensa cubre todo el caso, pero nunca la encuentran. Y las demás chicas terminan siendo las "amigas de la chic...morePequeñas Mentirosas da la pinta de ser un libro ñoño, en realidad es un poco más spooky de lo que se imaginan cuando ven la portada o leen la sinopsis.

Imagínense a un grupo de muy buenas amigas, cubriéndose unas a otras sus travesuras. Poco a poco van surgiendo problemas y un día después de una casi sesión de espiritismo, Alison desaparece. La buscan por todos lados, la prensa cubre todo el caso, pero nunca la encuentran. Y las demás chicas terminan siendo las "amigas de la chica desaparecida".

Años después, con una amistad que se ha fracturado, cada una de ella ha hecho su vida a su antojo. Todas tienen diversos problemas, desde falta de atención por parte de los padres, preferencias sexuales, desórdenes alimenticios, etc., etc.

De pronto, una serie de mensajes más que reveladores de las vidas privadas de ellas empiezan a ser enviados en pequeñas notas, email's, mensajes de texto; y todos son firmados por "A".

Pero Alison nunca fue encontrada. Y sólo ella podría saber ciertas cosas. Cosas de las que nadie más debería enterarse. Cuando un descubrimiento de lo más extraño e inesperado les alcanza, Aria, Emily, Hanna y Spencer tendrán que unir fuerzas y descubrir quién se esconde detrás de todos los mensajes... antes de que sea demasiado tarde.

Éste es uno de los libros más raros que he leído. No deja nada bueno, no le encuentro ni pies ni cabeza, la más de las veces ya no quería leer y otras tantas sólo seguía por curiosidad. Siendo una serie muy larga, me intriga la "identidad" del mensajero, porque evidentemente, no se resuelve en este libro. Si bien la historia no estuvo tan mal, me siento un poco en conflicto porque no estoy segura de que me gustara pero tampoco me desagradó como para no querer leer nada más. Mmmm fue raro. Creo que es un libro entretenido y, desde que la serie ha tenido tanto éxito, algo bueno debe de haber. Entonces, me quedaré abierta a la posibilidad de leer los demás libros de la serie en algún momento.(less)

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Jan 02, 2011

Rita Walbridge rated it

Pretty little Liars is written by Sara Shepard and the book revolves around the lives of 5 friends at first, but then one of them mysteriously disappears. Her 4 other friends are determined to find out who and why wanted their friend dead or gone. As they try to figure out the author of this evil act they are being haunted/ stalked by a mysterious person named "A" with all their secrets that only their "dead" friend knew. The girls are now trying to deal with their friends de...more

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May 28, 2011

Lesleigh rated it

Shelves: randolph-co-library, series, favorites, would-recommend, reviews, suspense, chick-lit, kick-ass

Who would want to read a book with a doll on the cover? I mean, isn’t that for like middle graders? WRONG. Pretty Little Liars might start off with the characters in their middle grade years, but before long, they’ve already bloomed into full fledged high school students with personalities of their own.

Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily were all nobodies, until Allison found them. Together, they built a friendship, but it was all based on secrets. The only secret the girls didn’t realiz...more

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Jul 17, 2010

Alix rated it

Recommends it for: Young Adult Fans

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 30, 2010

Kat Alexander rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: arc, first-in-a-series, read-2010, reviewed, books-i-own

Ah, scandalous! Every now and then, I do enjoy the occasional fluffy, stereotypical trash novel. And upon seeing an ARC of it at a 50-cents-an-inch sale at a library, well, how could I resist?

Pretty Little Liars is typical of teenage-girl fiction. Five friends, one supposed dead. Lots of drugs/drinking, and some of that scandalous behaviour. Oh, and everything has to come crashing down on their pretty little heads--it IS a teenage girls' novel. Still, enjoyable enough to read. There ...more

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Jan 06, 2008

Karin rated it

Shelves: youngadult

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard is a story of four high school girls as they progress through their junior year of high school. Once best friends, they have now grown apart and have gone separate directions. Their friendship started to dissolve when the "queen bee" of their friendship, Ali, disappeared the summer between seventh and eighth grade. Ali knew everyone's deepest, darkest secrets, including one that ties them all together.

The story is told b...more

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Jun 13, 2010

Emily rated it

Scandal, treachery, and intrigue for the high school set. Pretty Little Liars kept me turning pages and on the edge of my seat. I'm not wholly emotionally invested in the girls yet, but I am interested in their story. How their secrets may come to light or whether they'll find a way to keep everyone in the dark. I'm going to be grabbing the next in the series and see if my interest in what happens to Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna continues.

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May 28, 2011

Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, chick-lit, young-adult, read-in-2011, series-or-companions, movies-or-tv, lgbt, too-much-hype, let-down

Eh, I'm not too sure how I feel about this one but I did have rather high expectations from the majority of reviews that I've seen. Right at the beginning, I didn't enjoy being bombarded with endless designer brands and clichés of rich kids. However, as the book progressed, I did relax, get more into it and found myself laughing at parts. As soon as I adjusted to the characters and learnt more about them, they did become more likeable. At around the halfway point, I really began to enjoy the boo...more

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Oct 15, 2007

Michelle rated it

Shelves: teens

Creepy...
Beda sama cerita-cerita remaja lainnya.
Menceritakan tentang 5 perempuan yang jadi "it girl" di sekolahnya. Pemimpin mereka namanya Alison, cantik dan ultra populer. Keempat lainnya pengikut Alison, yang punya hubungan benci-cinta sama Alison.
Pada suatu hari, Alison tiba-tiba menghilang. Daerah tempat tinggal mereka yang upper class itu pun jadi terguncang.
Tiga tahun kemudian, masing-masing dari keempat anak yang tinggal dapat surat, sms dan e-mail da...more

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Jan 21, 2012

Allison M. rated it

After Ally disappeared four friends, Aria, Hanna, Emily, and Spencer, get weird txt message from -A. The girls think A is Ally's ghost until they found Ally's body in her old backyard. The girls must find out how A is. And keep their secrets away from A and try not to get hurt. You should read the books and watch the show. Once you read one you read them all.

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Aug 06, 2010

Jen rated it

Shelves: paid-full-price, read-in-2010, books-i-own

WOW! I give this five stars on account of its sheer unputdownableness. I'm quitting life for the next few day and devoting all my time to reading the rest of this series.

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Nov 28, 2011

Kay Iscah rated it

I've really enjoyed the TV series, and I'm anxious to know who A is (DON'T TELL ME). So I thought I'd try reading the Pretty Little Liars book series, by Sara Shepard. There's supposed to be 12 in total, but after reading the first one, I don't think I could take 11 more.

The TV show has good writers. I was not impressed by the writing in the book. The TV versions of the characters are generally flawed but likable. The characters in the book are slutty or unpleasant in other ways o...more

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Jul 13, 2011

Lisa Mccombs rated it

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did.

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Jan 12, 2009

Shonda rated it

Shelves: read-2009

Imagine you are BFF with the most popular girl in school. Everyone else wants to be you. Of course you love the power you have that so many people are envious of you, but secretly you truly wonder if being her BFF is a blessing or a curse. Now imagine it's the start of the summer between seventh and eighth grade and you and your BFF are celebrating by having your annual summer sleepover. Things don't go quite as planned and the two of you end up fighting and she walks out of your house. The very...moreImagine you are BFF with the most popular girl in school. Everyone else wants to be you. Of course you love the power you have that so many people are envious of you, but secretly you truly wonder if being her BFF is a blessing or a curse. Now imagine it's the start of the summer between seventh and eighth grade and you and your BFF are celebrating by having your annual summer sleepover. Things don't go quite as planned and the two of you end up fighting and she walks out of your house. The very next morning you hear from her mom and you just know something terrible has happened. Suddenly days turn into weeks and before you know it the summer has ended, school has started and still no word from your BFF. She just simply disappeared off the face of the earth. Although you do not wish her any harm, you have to admit, there's a part of you that's relieved that she's gone. You start to feel freer and less burdened because all the secrets she knows about you, have vanished along with her. Horrible to think, some might say, but if they knew what she knew about you, they might feel exactly the same.

This is how it is for Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily. Alison, Ali, disappears during their slumber party. After her disappearance, the four friends gradually drift apart until no one can even recall they were once friends. It's now three years later and the teens are about to start their junior year. Spencer is very anal, in competition with her older sister about everything (and a certain someone); Hanna is now the new "it" girl, but carries a terrible secret about her drastic makeover; Aria is back from Iceland with her family and has a crush on a new boy, unfortunately she just found out he's her new English teacher; and Emily is the all-american good girl doing what she can to please her parents, that is until she meets Maya...

All four have secrets, secrets that they want to stay buried. Secrets that only one other person knows about: Ali. During the first week of school, each start to receive texts about their secrets, threatening to expose them. Each text is simply signed "A" and naturally the girls think Ali is back. But is she? Not only does "A" haunt them with their past, "A" knows what they are hiding now. It's as though each girl is being watched.

I really enjoyed this first book of the series and devoured it in one sitting. It's fast-paced, with short chapters and you just want to keep reading to learn more about what each girl is hiding. The story goes back and forth between past and present, but it's not confusing at all. After each girl receives a text, the author will go back to the past to explain its relevancy. Actually, I thought it added to the suspense.

Although this is a young adult novel, I have reservations about preteens reading it. There are mature themes discussed in the book and if younger children read it, I suggest the parents read it as well and have a conversation about these topics.(less)

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Jan 24, 2012

Maddie Browne rated it

Pretty little liars by Sara Shepard is a thrilling tale of four teenage girls, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, and Emily Fields, whose world is twisted and turned around when their leader Alison Dilaurentis goes missing. Alison was an extremely popular, beautiful, and nasty girl. Emily is a very shy girl with a lovable personality, who is committed to being the top swimmer at her school. Spencer is a very competitive girl who is willing to do whatever it takes to be just like her...more

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Jan 23, 2012

Newport YA Librarians Ya rated it

Shelves: ms-kathy

Hmmmm. Lots of readers love this series. But to me it read more like a shopping list than a novel: "He rubbed his fingers over the cuff of a hung-up pair of Joseph trousers. She slid her Tiffany Elsa Peretti heart ring up and down her finger . . . Spencer's Sidekick vibrated . . . Emily struggled to operate her Nokia." Even when a body is identified by a ring, it's not just any ring: "She remembered Ali's white-gold initialed ring. Ali's parents had gotten it for her at Tiffany's ...more

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Jan 09, 2012

Montana Madden rated it

" Flauless " is one of the first Pretty Little Liar books out of the series. Flauless pretty much opens things up for the series. It lays everything out, lets you meet all of the characters and their backgrounds. It also gets you excited to read all of the rest of the series.
In this book with each character Aria,Hannah,Spencer,and Emily it will show a chapter of whats going on in their life and what drama or situations they have going on. But it also shows how all of them be...more

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Dec 23, 2011

Erin rated it

This book is very good. It it probably one of in my opinion of the best books ever writen. There is so many things about this book that are just magnificient. If you are "into" the vampire books than this is not the series or book for you. I think that one of the main reasons that I love this book is because it is about major girl issuies that many teenagers face at this age. There is some things in this book that could in fact be happening to you as well so this book could possibly h...more

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Dec 12, 2011

KilaWoods rated it

When I first read this book about...four years ago?...I thought, WOW.It was something that I could pick up time and time again and never get bored of. I liked this first book, not only because I got it for free (at my local library), but because of her twisting plot and the characters. It seemed that once you figured something out, there was a slight twist and then things changed. The characters were unique in each and every way andn for most people, they were easily relateble. In all honestly, ...more

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Dec 11, 2011

Samolakisses rated it

Judging by some of the reviews I don't think a lot of people really grasp the idea of what fiction really is, therefore they're trying to relate the PLL series to their own lives. What teenage girls do you know actually live like this? None. These books are meant to be entertaining and filled with drama and they are. Does some of this stuff happen? Of course it does, but come on, how many truly interesting teen girls do you actually know that would be the center of this much intrigue? How many t...more

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Dec 10, 2011

Alina rated it

What would you do if your best friend disappears one night without a trace? What if she was with you before she went missing?
In the beautiful and quiet town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania lived five girls. They were the girls of a school named Rosewood Day in 2008. The five girls were Alison Dilaurentis, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, and Spencer Hastings.
Alison Dilaurentis was a blond, skinny, popular girl that every boy wanted to date and every girl wanted to be. She was ...moreWhat would you do if your best friend disappears one night without a trace? What if she was with you before she went missing?
In the beautiful and quiet town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania lived five girls. They were the girls of a school named Rosewood Day in 2008. The five girls were Alison Dilaurentis, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, and Spencer Hastings.
Alison Dilaurentis was a blond, skinny, popular girl that every boy wanted to date and every girl wanted to be. She was very manipulative and loved teasing people.
Aria Montgomery is a dark haired, weird girl who had no friends until she was chosen by Alison to be one of her friends. She is an artist and is often misunderstood and invisible.
Hanna Marin was a fat, unpopular girl until she became friends with Alison. After Alison died, Hanna went through a complete makeover and became the it girl with her best friend Mona Vanderwall.
Emily fields is a competitive swimmer who fell for Alison. She is lesbian and only recently came clean about it. She also fell in love with a girl named Maya and they are in a relationship.
Spencer Hastings is a goody two-shoes who takes about 6 AP classes, Participates in many extracurricular activities and clubs, and gets good grades all the time. The problem with Spencer is that she is pressured by her parents to be as good as her perfect sister Melissa.
I loved many things about this book but the thing I liked the most was that it was composed of mystery and back chilling events and I would not change anything because in my point of view this book is perfect.
What happens in this book is that on the first night of summer after seventh grade, the girls were having a sleepover in the Hasting’s barn which was converted into a loft. Alison got into an argument with Spencer and therefore left the barn. That was the last time they saw her. 3 years later the four girls started receiving messages from a mysterious person who went by A. Little did they know that their lives were going to fall apart. The messages contained information that only Alison could’ve known. But was Alison the one sending the messages?
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Dec 04, 2011

Amanda Cone rated it

This book is not for fourth graders. Just want to make that clear as one of my fourth grade students was walking around with it the other day. She thought it was pretty good and I wasn't sure she even understood what is going on. There is a lot of drugs and sex in this book. A lot. I thought it was a realistic portrayal of some of the antics teens pull but at the same time the parents don't seem to influence the girls as much as I think happens in reality. Kinda like those tv shows where t...more

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Dec 02, 2011

Megan McDade rated it

Shelves: books-read-since-blog-started

I gave this book 3/5 stars on my blog http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com

For all your guys that have never heard of Pretty Little Liars it's about five best friends, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Alison. One night at Spencer's house, Spencer and Alison have an argument and Alison leaves and disappears. The book starts three years after Alison's disappearance and all the friends have drifted apart and don't speak anymore. However all the friends have secrets that only Alison knew...moreI gave this book 3/5 stars on my blog http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.com

For all your guys that have never heard of Pretty Little Liars it's about five best friends, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Alison. One night at Spencer's house, Spencer and Alison have an argument and Alison leaves and disappears. The book starts three years after Alison's disappearance and all the friends have drifted apart and don't speak anymore. However all the friends have secrets that only Alison knew and they thought their secrets were safe now that Alison was gone. But suddenly the all the girls start to receive text messages, letters and email's signed A indicting someone else may know their secrets or is it Alison? This is the question that kept me hooked, was it Alison sending them or someone else. It also made me question some of the other characters because if it wasn't Alison sending them who was. One person I questioned was Maya am not sure why I just have a feeling something isn't right there.

At the beginning of the book you get an insight into the sort of person Alison is and this makes you think she could be capable of sending the messages. She seems very manipulating of the other girls, making little comments about their secrets, basically she sounds like a right B*itch! From the insight of Alison's character it made me think that one of the friends could have flipped with Alison and killed her by accident and covered it up!

All the characters are very relatable, Spencer just wants to be noticed by her family as her sister gets all the attention, so she works hard to achieve good grades, is apart of loads of clubs and societies, sometimes she tries to much. Aria is trying to find out who she is, she's tried "Punk Aria, artsy Aria, documentary film Aria...." Who is she really? Hanna is the girl that wants to be "popular" and she does achieve this but at what cost? And finally Emily she goes with the flow, is a swimmer and has good grades and a good boyfriend, some would see this as a perfect life however she is struggling with her sexuality.

Overall I thought Pretty Little Liars was a good read, with a good storyline and relatable characters. I will differently be picking up the next book in the series.
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About Sara Shepard

Sara Shepard graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. She currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. Sara's Pretty Little Liars novels were inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia's Main Line.

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“I'm still here, bitches. And I know everything." -A” — 450 people liked it

“I kind of have to go to the bathroom," Aria said woozily.
Ezra smiled. "Can I come?” — 88 people liked it

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