Pretty Little Liars

... by Sara Shepard

Welcome to the upscale town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, home to Alison, Hanna, Spencer, Aria, and Emily. All five girls are spoiled, over-privileged private school girls, whose lives revolve around designer clothes, luxury cars, and their dark secrets that make them the little bad girls that they are.

Following an argument gone wrong, Alison vanishes into the night to never be seen again. The four other girls are left confused and heartbroken over the loss of their close friend … but also relieved. Alison was the one and only that knew every single one of their dark secrets they have tried to burry for so long, secrets that would now stay buried forever … hopefully.

During the three years following Alison’s disappearance, the girls drift apart and go their separate ways. Hanna turns herself from the ugly duckling into the town’s it-girl, while spending her leisure time with shoplifting and crashing her boyfriend’s Mercedes. Spencer tries to be the ueber-daughter, ultimately botching her picture perfect image by getting caught while engaged in a serious round of necking with her sister’s boyfriend. Aria returns from a two year stay in Island, discovering that Rosewood is still full of stuffy, stiff rich people and compensates her disappointment of being back by dating her English teacher. And last but not least, Emily recovers from being in love with Alison and the fact that she is much more fond of girls than boys, only to fall in love all over again with Maya, the new girl in town that just moved into Alison’s old house.

All four are perfectly content ignoring each other to only keep their past buried, until they receive mysterious messages threatening to reveal their secrets. The messages are all signed by “A.” But who is A.? Could it be Alison? Is she still alive?

I very much enjoyed reading this book and had a hard time putting it down between chapters. Sara Shepard has found a way to engage the reader into the lives of these five brats to an extent that you will have to know what will happen next. This book is a great buy for anyone looking for a light, snappy, funny read. But beware, the book does not reveal who “A.” is and even though “The Jenna Thing” is mentioned multiple times, it is not revealed who Jenna is and what happened to her. But no need to despair, this book is such a great read that buying the sequel won’t be too much of a stretch. I know I will!