Pretty Little Liars #1

It’s been three years since the night Alison went missing leaving Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hannah on their own. Alison was the glue that held them together and without her the girls drifted apart moving off on their own paths. Each girl has spent the last three years changing while Aria really had the chance to find herself in Finland, and Hannah lost all the weight to be the hottest girl in school. While Emily has worked hard at swimming and is already being watched by scouts and Spencer is focused on academics being better than her older sister.Alison was known for knowing a lot more than most about the girls and when start showing up only things that Alison knew the girls start to question what happened to her. Someone knows more about their lives and is threating to reveal all their secrets. The girls are wondering if Alison has returned after all this time gone. The case has long been cold but a new lead may just change everything.We have four points of view a little insight from each girl who happens to each being dealing with her own share of problems. I didn’t have a favorite girl who I was able to connect with like I did on the show but that could be because it’s only been a week in the book.I’ve been on the fence since I watched the first season of the TV show on ABC family. I recently got into a little chat about who could possibly be A on the TV show and decided to give it a shot. First off the girls don’t look like they do on the show and it kind of irked me a bit. It was interesting to see how it played out in the book and I honestly think it works better. I like that we get to see an insight into each of the girls lives and found it interesting that while it’s different from the show some things still are the same. Pretty little Liars is a YA mystery that mixes a coming of age story entwined with romance and tragedy. The author had done a great job of weaving a captivating story. I’m curious to see how the series plays out and I very well may read the rest of the books they are quick and fast paced reads.

I was extremely surprised to find how much I enjoyed this book. I thought it would be about whiny, spoiled teenagers suffering through high school drama, but I was definitely wrong. Sure, it is about spoiled teenagers in high school, but the story was strangely addicting! The girls are crazy! I cannot believe some of the things they did at such a young age. The story is pretty much centered around the secrets these girls have from before their friend, Alison, vanished in 7th grade. For 7th graders, they have a lot more secrets than I have ever had. It was interesting to see that those secrets still control their lives three years later.I loved how each chapter was in either Spencer's, Aria's, Hanna's or Emily's point of view. Spencer and Aria were by far my favorite characters. I found their lives more interesting and exciting than Hanna's or Emily's. I did not really like Hanna at times, and Emily was just forgettable to me. Even now, it was hard to remember her name.The creepy messages that the girls receive from a person known only as 'A' reminded of the show Gossip Girl. Every time I read one of them, I could not help imagining them being said in the same voice as Gossip Girl.Overall, Pretty Little Liars was fast-paced. It was extremely hard to put it down (I was only reading five chapters a day for the Read Along), and when I did put it down, I was thinking about it for the rest of the day. I wanted to know what happens next, and if I was not reading it as part of a Read Along, I would have finished it in a day. I would recommed this book to mature teenagers and up since there are many mature themes in this book such as drugs, alcohol, student-teacher affair, shoplifting, eating disorders, etc. In my opinion, it is more of a guilty-pleasure type of book, but I sure did enjoy it! I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

As I wandered through the hallowed high school halls, with a target on my back, being judged and ignored in equal parts, feeling like a space alien with three heads, my shoes squeaking on the hard linoleum, scared that I would be stuffed in a locker before third period and left for three more, I tried to picture a happier place and time, possibly being stuffed in a wooden coffin and buried six feet under, or chained to a basement wall by my ankles. No, high school wasn't that bad, but it could have been. Hormones raging like a banshee, peer pressure intercepting you from four directions, and the haves conducting their own form of discipline on the have nots certainly makes for a warped alternate universe, one that I am glad I can safely put in my rearview mirror.If not for high school, though, and the teasing by the jocks and trying my best to blend into the wallpaper, or the painted lockers, I wouldn't be the person I am today. But for Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna, they are just getting started, and I can't really say I'm envious. Even if I could go back and supposedly be one of the cool kids, I'd say not just no, but hell no. And then I'd proceed to punch the genie in the mouth and kick him in the balls.Despite the classification for PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, this novel felt more romance than mystery/thriller with all the teenage hormones bubbling to the top of the surface. Romance might not truly fit either because I never realized how much teenage girls thought about sex. I mean, I'm a guy, so we think about sex every 37 seconds. But gals think about it nearly as often as we do, probably about every 77 seconds. They're just better about hiding it.If you like a little Prada or Gucci or Coach, because you live near Saks Fifth Avenue, then this novel is definitely for you. As you pull on your Abercrombie skinny jeans and Von Dutch t-shirt, paint your lips with Chanel lip gloss, drop your Treo in your cherry-monogrammed coin purse, slide on your Miu Miu heels, stuff a Marlboro between your lips, and climb behind the wheel of your BMW, rumbling across the cobblestone streets of Rosewood on the way to your second student council meeting, the first major meeting since you lost the presidential race and ended up as vice-president, you can listen to this breezy read blaring through your bass speakers.Robert DownsAuthor of Falling Immortality: Casey Holden, Private Investigator

I absolutely loved (read: obsessed over) the PLL tv show, so it only made sense that I should read the books too. 
Title: Pretty Little Liars 
Author: Sara Shepard
Publication Date: 1st October 2006
Page Count: 243 Pages
Rating: 4*
Cover:

Summary 
Alison, Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hannah are the best of friends, they do everything together and they especially, keep each other's secrets. Although all the girls are part of the group Alison is the clear leader who bonds the group together, and sometimes she's a bit mean. In fact so much so that sometimes the others wish she wasn't around.
Then during a sleep over in 7th grade Alison goes missing, Lost without their leader the girls disband and go their separate ways. But 3 years later the girls are drawn back together when they begin receiving weird emails and texts from the mysterious A, could Alison be back to taunt them with the secrets they'd rather keep buried?

Review 
I was actually really worried about what I'd think about this book. Usually I like to read the book first before watching a show because it tends to end in disaster if I do it the other way round. Take The Vampire Diaries for instance. In fact I only bought the first 5 in this series just in case I hated it.
However, despite the obvious differences e.g in the books Emily has siblings and is Irish while in the show she is an only child and Asian, The hair colours, figures etc are different, the characteristics are the same so it's (excusing the pun) A OK.
I found Pretty Little Liars to be a really easy read, in fact I'd finished it in a couple of hours, it's a great YA novel with interesting characters, and it's a bit like Gossip Girl but with a killer/thriller twist.
Well structured and to the point, I didn't find myself getting bored even though there's not tons of action in the first book, it's more like a slow burn teaser of what's to come which fits in well with the story I know already.
I'm really looking forward to continuing with the rest of the series although it will be a few days before I get back to it.

I'm quite surprised that I even managed to finish this. I had such high expectations thanks to the amazing series... but this? No. I'm so glad that the creators of the series changed a lot of it because the book, I'm sorry to day, was quite boring. It's a shame because I had high hopes that it was going to be amazing; boy, wasn't I disappointed.It wasn't written very well, quite rushed and throughout, it felt like I reading a rich person's shopping list. This author also like describing what everyone is wearing all the time, and it made it quite tedious. I really, really wanted to like this but I didn't, and I have to be honest about that.I'm totally glad I watched PLL before deciding to pick up the book because I won't be reading anymore of them, I'm afraid.The 2 stars are because this author opened up a line of characters and plots that made an amazing series that in turn made it my favourite show. But really that's it.

theres a lot of drama in this series. sure, the first book is a little slow and drama free but its what to be expected from the first book in the series. the only thing i wish would be that the girls were closer like in the show. the show was amazing!!the series is gret, interesting and theres a thrill around each cornerplease make more books like this especially with the same characters.

This was a good book, the plot was okay. I came to this book because I began watching the TV series and decided I should read the books before I continued. The character descriptions are a different and it's a bit slow to begin with (I kinda expected this because it's the first). I think the TV show is probably more interesting and obviously more hyped. I think this would probably be better for people who are serious fans.

I had this book in my book cupboard for months before I actually picked it out to read, I really shouldn't have waited so long as it is one of my favourite books I have read this year.The 4 girls the story revolves around all have their own interesting stories going on so the book is really easy to read with a great mystery to keep you guessing, it ends on a real cliffhanger and I can't wait to start the second book Flawless.My only shame with it is the US book covers are WAY better than the UK ones!