Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Pretty Little Liars Series

Title: Pretty Little Liars
Author: Sara Shepard
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller and Romance 
Plot:
This book is about a group teenagers who were once best friends. It's about Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Hanna Marin, and Spencer Hastings who were best friends until their leader Alison DiLaurentes  was murdered. Since then, these girls were keeping their distance, they weren't best friends anymore, until, three years later, annonymous texts came from somebody known to be "A". This person threatens to expose all their secrets, even the long-hidden ones they thought only their best friend Allison knew. Spencer Hastings is an extremely competitive girl who strives for perfection in everything she does. A high-strung over-achiever, Spencer is willing to do whatever it takes to win, often to the detriment of herself and others. She is often quick to jump to conclusions. Spencer was half-sister with Alison and Courtney DiLaurentis, her father had an affair around the time of Spencer's conception; her parents divorce when the affair comes to light. When she attends a summer program at Penn to improve her GPA, she becomes addicted to speed, leading her to frame a friend for possession in order to get admitted to Princeton. She experiences hallucinations and paranoia while suffering from withdrawal and guilt over her actions. Hanna Marin is a pretty, popular girl who struggles with both bulimia and anorexia due to insecurities about her appearance. Occasionally air-headed, Hanna often acts purely on impulse. In Alison's absence, she became best friends with Mona, not knowing that Mona was "A". Hanna's parents divorced when she was younger, after her father had an affair. Hanna dislikes her father's new wife, Isabel, and her daughter, Kate, with whom she forms a rivalry. For a short time Hanna is sent to a mental institution, her father believing her eating disorders would resurface due to stress. Hanna is involved in a car accident, which leaves another girl badly injured; she covers up her involvement with the help of the Liars. Aria Montgomery is an artistic, independent girl whose family moved back to Rosewood after her father took a three year move in Iceland. Prior to Alison's disappearance, Aria became aware that her father was having an affair with a student of his (Meredith); having promised to keep it a secret, she is kicked out of the house after the first "A" reveals the affair to her mother. Her parents divorce and Aria's father marries Meredith, and she becomes pregnant. Aria often feels out of place in Rosewood and tends to be attracted to older, more worldly men, which frequently causes conflicts for her. After a near-death experience, she is overcome with guilt and decides to confess to accidentally killing Tabitha (unaware she was not responsible for Tabitha's death). Emily Fields is a dedicated swimmer and a shy girl with a sweet personality. She is bisexual, a fact which she takes great pains to hide until she is outed by the first "A". Although at first her parents make attempts to "de-gay" her, they eventually come to accept her. Best friends with Alison, Emily was also in love with her, which caused her great anguish and continuously affects her judgement in the present, as she had loved "both" Alisons. It was revealed in Twisted that she had hidden an accidental pregnancy from her family, giving her child up for adoption though she later confesses the truth to her parents. She receives an academic scholarship to attend UNC. Alison is an extremely popular, beautiful, and cruel girl. Alison is best friends with Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna, and in one way or another, she learns all of their deepest secrets. She often used the girls' secrets against them in order to keep them in line, along with "The Jenna Thing", making them promise to never tell anyone what really happened. Alison mysteriously disappears one night at a sleepover, at the end of seventh grade. Three years later her body is finally discovered buried under the gazebo on her family's former property, launching a murder investigation. It is revealed in Wanted that the person the girls had all been friends with back in seventh grade was in actuality Ali's secret twin sister, Courtney, and that the real Alison had murdered Courtney for stealing her identity. Finally, "A" is The main antagonist of the series. A is privy to the Liars' deepest and darkest secrets and uses these secrets to exact revenge on the Liars for (often) perceived wrongdoings. There are three different "A" characters throughout the series. The first "A", Mona Vanderwaal, was able to discover the Liars' secrets by reading Alison's old journal. During a physical confrontation with Spencer Hastings, Mona was pushed over the edge of a quarry and died. The second "A" is the "real" Alison DiLaurentis, who was sent away to a mental hospital in place of her twin sister, Courtney. She later dies in a house fire, while attempting to kill the Liars. A third "A", whose identity is currently unknown, begins tormenting the girls following an incident in Jamaica during spring break, prior to the events of Twisted. My favorite quote from this book is one of "A's" texts to them: “She knew too much. -A” this text was sent when Hanna was in a car accident, she was very close to finding whose "A" but "A" set up a car crash for her and al most killed her. 

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