Wanted by Sara Sheppard | Rating: ★★★★★ “Or perhaps all those things you missed upon first glance mean much more than you could ever guess.”
In the eighth novel in the bestselling Pretty Little Liars series loose ends begin to tie themselves up as revelations are put front and center. Wanted is one of the best of the seemingly never ending series; as questions are answered regarding the murder and disappearance of Alison DiLaurentis, four little liars are more than ready for the chance to put their dramatic pasts behind them and start fresh. Little do they know that A is only just getting started--and they're about to be blindsided by a secret none of them saw coming.
Shepard crafts, again, a deliciously dark tale of luxury, mystery and lies. Pretty Little Liars is known--and beloved--for the way the plots are woven in quick, but still neat, tell-alls and secrets. As always, it's equal parts to the point and dancing around the inner-workings to keep readers on their toes. What I, personally, liked most about Wanted was the tone it set and how the plot unraveled a bit differently in comparison to past installments. Still soap-opera-friendly, Wanted has more of a trail to explore than its predecessors and Sara Shepard crams a world of questions, answers and intrigue in this one.
The Amateurs by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★☆Raise your hand if you're utterly addicted to anything that Sara Shepard writes! ME! That's me. I'm a self-proclaimed uber fan of Sara Shepard's work and probably always will be. She is one of the few authors that I've carried over from my teenage years (has it REALLY been ten years since PLL was first published?!) and still frequently return to. There's something so devilishly feel-good about her indulgent mysteries. From Pretty Little Liars to The Lying Game and everywhere in between, Shepard dominates her genre and has continued to show us her story telling skills.
The Amateurs is no different and may be her best release in recent years. Fans who found themselves disappointed in The Perfectionists will find their Queen of Stylish Suspense once more with this delightful young adult mystery that reminds us why she's been a bestselling author for so long. I think we all know by now that nothing is ever what it seems in Shepard's books and The Amateurs will slap you down with a huge plot twist, I promise you: your head will be spinning.
I love that the pace was really solid: quick but not too quick, the relationships were set up perfectly. And the typical Sara Shepard signature "I've got you now, don't I?" because, let's face it. It's Sara Shepard's world and we're just living in it.
Original posted to my Tumblr.
Earlier this year, I found myself drowning in Sara Shepard's awesome and thrilling (and stylish!) The Lying Game books. Even months after finishing up the series, I still find myself with a bit of a book hangover--oh, how I miss Sutton Mercer and Emma Paxton and all the horrible things that occurred throughout the series. The Lying Game is spooky, luxurious and incredibly heartbreaking, it's impossible to not love/miss it! Long live the queen of fluffy and suspenseful young adult fiction, Sara Shepard!
Reading (and in some books cases: rereading) the series lead to one of my funnest edits via Tumblr, a picspam of what I envisioned the books to look like, had they had a proper adaptation. This isn't to say ABC Family's take on the books all those years ago wasn't good, it was just--you know--absolutely nothing like the books.
(I do miss it, as well, for obvious reasons. It was one of ABCF's better shows and was cancelled far too soon. R.I.P.!)
But here we go! You can reblog from my original post here, if you have a Tumblr account. Or you can simply view it, here, on my blog.
I understood then. We were a constellation.
We would always be together.
Pretty Little Secrets (PLL #4.5) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★☆☆ Next up on my Christmas friendly list of recommendations and reviews is a collection of holiday stories set in the Pretty Little Liars universe, planted between the first A arch and the second. It’s Christmas time in Rosewood and our girls are up to a lot. Sara Shepard brings us four short stories, one for each of our liars, and shows us just what the girls were up to between gaps in time.
“But what’s the point of it?” it serves no real substance to any plots in the future of the series. Here’s the thing, kids: it’s just a collection of holiday stories. Short stories set in the winter, in between the darkness that they face. It is meant to give us a glimpse of what they are like when A is only in the shadows and Sara succeeds at that. It’s cute. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to, you won’t get lost if you choose not to.
But it’s still fun for the holidays!
That’s all you need to know, really. Think about that time you wrote a fluffy fanfiction about your OTP, or a subplot to a story you were working on or something that just was for fun and enjoyable. That’s essentially what that is. A little treat in between timelines to lighten the load. It does its job and is just a treat for longtime readers.
When I heard about this little guy–I was surprisingly oblivious towards it for at least a year and I only found out about it because it was only $3 at BAM in the bargain bin–I did a little embarrassing happy dance in the bookstore. No, don’t look at me like that, I’m not embellishing. I really did do a little jig.
Killer (Pretty Little Liars #6) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★ Four little teenage liars residing in Rosewood, Pennsylvania are only just beginning to be the pawns of a big game. After months of torture by the hands of an anonymous threat, A, the girls thought things were over the mystery of their best friends death was solved. They thought they were safe and back to the comfort of their designer digs and romantic little lives.
Emily, Aria, Spencer and Hanna are still as scandalous and sweet as ever. Lying is like second nature to each girl and their drama is only just beginning. With the resurrection of their pasts and the return of A, a new one, their lives are quickly going south. Rosewood better prepare themselves for more heat–the fire is only just beginning.
Killer is jam packed with mystery much like all previous installments and it’s impossible to put down. Yes, the sixth book still has that spark that makes it so fast paced and all the more intriguing. As a whole, the series is a bit prone to drag on–just look at how many books there are that have been published–but the fabulous thing is that it remains entertaining in the way that you’d expect.
Sara Shepard pens a tale of glamour, love, friendship, loss and danger perfectly. Pretty Little Liars surely has its flaws, but it’s not meant to be perfect. It’s merely a fun little romp. Campy, dramatic and filled to the brim with teenage angst.
Wicked (PLL #5) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★
I suppose I could let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget, yadda yadda. But where's the fun in that? These pretty little bitches got everything I ever wanted, and now I'm going to make sure they get exactly what they deserve.
In the small and luxurious town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania four little liars think they are safe at last. Alison’s killer is in jail and the anonymous stalker that spent the last weeks harassing them is gone. But the thing about comfort is that it never lasts for long in Rosewood and these four liars are about to get another rude awakening.
After the death of their best friend, Alison DiLaurentis, the girls went from as close as sisters to strangers. Friendships fell apart and years after their friend goes missing, life came back around to bite their asses in their designer jeans.
Spending years apart proved to be too good for each girl as they grew and then their junior year changed everything: the girls were begrudgingly brought back together with the news of Alison’s body and the appearance of a mysterious stalker named A, who seemed to know all of their dirty little secrets.
A certainly wasn’t afraid to use them against each girl. Every little step that Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer made, A was a few dozen ahead of them. When the taunting turned dangerous and they were constantly on the line. But you just can’t keep a bad girl down–and these four girls certainly are bad in a delectable light.
Seven Minutes in Heaven (TLG #6) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★ I understood then. We were a constellation. We would always be together.
I was so not ready for the finale of The Lying Game but here we are. Fresh on the heels of Nisha’s untimely death, Seven Minutes in Heaven opens with Emma as she struggles through the passing of her friend and can’t help but to wonder what the girl wanted to tell her in her final hours. It sounded so urgent and as if someone wanted to shut her up, for good. Could she have somehow figured out that Sutton’s dead?
Did she discover who killed her sister?
Or who she really is?
The Mercers and Sutton’s friends now have the knowledge, as well, of the existence of a twin sister. Sutton’s parents are more determined than ever to track the mysterious girl down to complete their family–little do they know she has been living with them the whole time and their daughter was dead.
Just as Emma begins to grow more and more devastated and concerned, with only Ethan to confide in; her suspect list seems to be growing shorter. Who killed Sutton Mercer? Emma fears the only logical suspect could be Sutton’s ex-boyfriend and his temper.
Cross My Heart, Hope to Die (TLG #5) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★
“The best you can do is be honest with the people you love and hope that they’ll care enough about you to listen.”
I’ve been sitting here for a while trying to figure out how I want to start my review for Cross My Heart, Hope to Die. I’m still horribly intrigued and HEARTBROKEN. Sara Shepard, how could you do this to me? Better yet, how can I continue to let her plots fuck me up?
If anyone knows the answer, let me know. I guess I just like the pain, he-he. Anyhow, we are nearing the end of The Lying Game series and I’m going to be so sad to say goodbye to the characters. I’m nowhere near ready, yet incredibly ready at the same time. I need answers!
Emma Paxton has transformed herself into a grand impersonator of her long lost and tragically dead twin sister, Sutton Mercer, and has been walking in the girls luxurious shoes for months. So far, she has convinced her sisters friends and family that she is Sutton; but things are growing more and more tricky.
Emma’s gig is almost up and her life is thrown in jeopardy once more–you can feel her getting closer to solving Sutton’s murder and know that things will be heating up fast. And now, a new girl at school somehow is able to see right through who she is.
Hide and Seek (TLG #4) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★
Hide and Seek, the fourth novel in The Lying Game series, is just as fast paced and mysteriously chilling as the first of the series. Fortunately for readers, it picks up right where the last book left off and is perfect for binge reading. Sara Shepard once more makes its terror and the luxury of Sutton's life blend together in a dark and fascinating way.
There’s no path of safe return for Emma Paxton at this point, who has taken the place of her long lost twin sister to solve the teenage girls murder. In order for Emma to do this, she must put on a successful front and impersonate a girl she hardly knows. Sutton Mercer was the girl to be at Hollier High; now no one knows she died weeks prior to this.
She was no saint, she was shallow and spiteful in a way that only rich teenagers can be. It isn’t an easy front for Emma to put up, but so far so good. And with every week that passes, the further Emma dives into her sisters shoes, the higher the stakes are for her.
Emma has fooled Sutton’s family; Kirsten and Ted Mercer as well as Sutton’s little sister Laurel. She has even fooled Sutton’s friends, her classmates and secret boyfriend. Emma has become Sutton in order to bring her sisters killer to justice and risks what little she has to do so.
As a matter of fact, the only people who know her true identity are the killer and Emma’s new boyfriend, Ethan Landry.
Two Truths and a Lie (TLG #3) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★
Picking up where Never Have I Ever left off, Two Truths and a Lie opens us up to a whole new can of mysteries and surprises. In this world, nothing is ever simple and with every answer comes a new question. You don’t know who you can trust and nearly everyone is keeping secrets. But who’s harmless and who’s a walking nightmare?
Still being pulled into a dangerous position by the hand of blackmail, Emma Paxton must successfully continue to live out the life of her twin sister, Sutton Mercer, all the while playing a twisted game with the anonymous person who killed Sutton. Emma has so far been able to impersonate her twin with grace and even has Sutton’s friends and family fooled.
The only person who knows Emma’s real identity outside of the killer is Ethan Landry, the cute and mysterious friend that Emma has sparked with from the start. Both Emma and Ethan have developed feelings for one another–but can Emma pull off having a relationship and solving her sisters murder?
Things are about to get even more complicated with the return of Sutton’s ex-boyfriend, and Madeline’s brother and Laurel’s best friend, Thayer Vega. With his return comes more memories of Sutton’s, more tension and more answers. Emma is spooked and suspicious by Thayer’s behavior more than once, and he instantly becomes her number one suspect.
Never Have I Ever (TLG #2) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★“My enemies are everywhere. And sometimes, those we least suspect turn out to be our biggest threats.”
Emma Paxton’s life is growing more and more complicated as she races to solve the murder of her long-lost twin sister, Sutton Mercer. Sutton’s spirit is tied to Emma’s and is forced to follow her twins every move in the afterlife; allowing her to to know the sister she didn’t know she had and longing for closure. Silently, both girls are given the chance to know each other even though death separates them.
It’s all very sad and scary but very, very intriguing.
In order for Emma to solve this unexpected murder-mystery, and get back to life as she knew it, she has had to take her twins place unknown to anyone besides the cute-and-mysterious Ethan Landry and of course the murderer.
And although Sutton is there with her in spirit, she has no recollection of what happened the night she was killed and has no way of communicating with Emma. Everything is one giant mystery for both girls and it’s surprising the way it unfolds.
Making the stakes higher than ever, Emma is blackmailed into playing a convincing Sutton–for all those in Sutton’s world, they don’t know that she is dead. And in order for the killer to get away with murder, Emma is the key to everything.
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★ "I understood we used to be close. But they were like books I'd read two summer ago; I knew I'd liked them, but I couldn't tell you now what they'd been about."
In true Sara Shepard fashion The Lying Game is filled with style, wit and mystery to the highest degree. All made simple in its fast pace and entertaining tone. Armed with her easy-to-read and suspenseful style, Shepard glides through the first installment of her under appreciated series smartly and leaves readers with a heavy, dark and vivid image of what is yet to come.
Much like Pretty Little Liars, the series starts with a spooky and mysterious tone: death and possible betrayal is at a high. Sara Shepard will fuck with your mind and pull the rug out from under you every time you think you've got it solved. For The Lying Games, our narration is split into twos: Emma’s thoughts in life and Sutton’s in the afterlife. It’s a refreshing twist to her writing and Sara covers ground pretty well with both girls thoughts.
Emma Paxton is a kind, intelligent, sarcastic and down-on-her-luck teenager who is fast approaching her eighteenth birthday. Ever since her mother, Becky, left her to fend for herself at the age of five she has bounced back and forth between foster homes.
The Good Girls (The Perfections #2) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★ "I mean, that's where you're going with this, aren't you? Just because we rattled off some names doesn't mean we have any control over them dying or going missing or whatever."
What are my thoughts on The Good Girls? Good question. Okay, okay. Hang on. Let me catch my breath in time for this one because let’s be honest here: Sara Shepard threw me on my ass with her plot twists in the sequel to The Perfectionists. This isn’t the first time she’s done this but in this novels case… it was mind blowing. I was so shocked; my jaw hit the fucking floor.
I’m going to urge anyone who hasn’t read the conclusion of this novel to not read on when it comes to this review, because–HELLO!–spoilers.
You know those books where you think you have everything figured out? Or at least an inkling of where the plot will go, when the big reveal will come? This is absolutely one of them–I’m still in complete shock over who the killer was. I feel as though I’ve had the rug pulled out from under me.
It’s true that Sara is the master of suspense, of manipulating our emotions, of giving us a false sense of comfort only to tear it away. So I think it’s safe to say that everyone was expecting a twist of epic proportions, but I am surprised. Delightfully so.
The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★☆It’s no secret that I am a massive fan of Sara Shepard and have been for years. Devouring The Lying Game and Pretty Little Liars series has been a bit of an addiction for me since my teens; so it’s no surprise how thrilled I was when I heard about The Perfectionists, Sara’s latest dive into young adult suspense and glamour.
Not only is the cover gorgeous, the plot shows promise in the same way that all her books do. Although Sara’s writing isn’t the best in all the land, she makes reading fun and each story oozes scandal, luxury, death and mystery. It’s easy to see why her work is adapted frequently and why she dominates her portion of the genre.
Sara’s mind is filled with ideas, this much we know. She just knows what she’s doing to make readers crawl back. But while The Perfectionists was a fun, thrill filled read that shined bright with dark air and mystery, it wasn’t her best work. I keep noting that some of the characters felt less alive than her previous works.
This isn’t to say that The Perfectionists was boring or a chore to read. It’s fast and fun and very delicious in its own right; it just had moments where you felt very unattached to some of the characters.
Almost like they weren’t quite fleshed out beyond a brief summary of interests and physical appearances. It was odd.
Ava, Caitlin, Mac, Parker and Julie were all entertaining in their own rights and it was easy to get wrap up in their drama, yet more often than not I found myself feeling rather underwhelmed by their plots and characteristics. Mostly, they were forgettable.
Unbelievable (PLL #4) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★ Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the naughtiest of them all?
Sara Shepard’s bestselling series Pretty Little Liars continues on with its fourth installment: Unbelievable – with more drama and revelations than the last. It should be noted, too, that a good chunk of our questions are finally answered and the identity of the notorious anonymous texter is revealed.
And with every answer, with every turn, the title proves to be a proper fit. As with the last three books from the series, we pick up right where we left off in the residents lives of Rosewood. Now, answers are near the point of being revealed when it comes to discoveries on who killed Alison and who is tormenting the girls anonymously.
Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna have all suffered from the harassment of A and in Unbelievable we can sense that this was only the beginning. A’s little game is far from over. Each girls lives have been changed drastically over the years and the gap between them all has only grown since the death of their clique leader all those years ago and now the wrath of A.
Can they escape this vicious circle? Is it possible?
Hanna is currently in the hospital after finding out the identity of A; who had promptly hit Rosewood’s resident It-Girls with a vehicle to shut her up. Life as Hanna knows it had already been on the rocks, as she lost everything she’d worked so hard for.
Perfect (PLL #3) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★★ She knew too much. -A
Sara Shepard’s completely addictive bestselling series Pretty Little Liars continues down its dark and delicious path of Rosewood through its third installment, Perfect, and picks up right where Flawless left off.
Everyone’s favorite liars and readers alike have hardly had a chance to breath, and things are only looking more dramatic from here on out. Trouble is certainly brewing in the beautiful, exclusive town of Rosewood -- what could possibly happen next?
Pretty Little Liars is wildly entertaining in the vein of Cecily von Ziegesar's Gossip Girl book series, for its exploits of rich, mysterious and beautiful teenagers, with dashes of a good old vintage young adult thriller reminiscent of Lois Duncan. With every clue, with every description and development, with every answer comes about a dozen more questions.
And that, my friends, is what makes the suspense of A and who killed Alison DiLaurentis so fun.
Ali's Pretty Little Lies (PLL prequel) by Sara Shepard | Rating: ★★★★☆ "Sometimes, a family is like an ear of summer corn: It might look perfect on the outside, but when you peel the husk away. every kernel is rotten.”
I'm the first to admit that I'm very, very skeptical about prequels. They can often be wonderful and informative and keep the same magic of the original series while providing us with a history. And then there's the ones that are bland and provide us nothing but frustration and even taint the original series. Ali's Pretty Little Lies fortunately is one of the good seeds and is just as spooky and entertaining as Pretty Little Liars.
The story takes place primarily before and during the summer which Alison DiLaurentis goes missing. Although the characters are in middle school when this prequel takes place, the story doesn't make us feel too ridiculous for reading about these girls in their younger years. Not much has changed and there's still a certain mature air to them that doesn't make us feel too awkward about the age difference between us and them. My biggest twitchy concern is the fact that a certain older boy takes to spending time chasing Ali and clearly lusting after her. I mean, gross, right? She's practically a child.
Back on track. Ali's Pretty Little Lies takes us back to the lie that started it all. I'm talking the formation of these pretty little liars as well as the moment Courtney and Ali officially switch place. As we know, the Ali that the girls knew was actually Courtney DiLaurentis and Ali's twin sister. It's very soap opera and very deliciously creepy; getting an idea of the twins relationship we grow to pity Courtney and are thoroughly frightened by the real Ali's actions.
