Reviews with content warning for Child death - Pretty Little Liars

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

7 reviews

jenyakohnson's review against another edition

i buddy read this book with my friend bc we were bored and both fans of the tv show.

this book was def written in early 200s (not derogatory). if you read the clique books growing up then this is the next series. lots of mean girls & gay girls which was great ! lots of pedos and that made me v uncomfy 🫠

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katjuschae's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mulders's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I’m still here, bitches. And I know everything. —A

Iconic and fun and truly, thoroughly mediocre. Something I definitely would have eaten up back in primary. I was surprised by how seemingly uneventful it felt, but I guess that's why there are sequels. It's interesting to read now having watched the show as a tween and find all the differences, especially in the girls' characterisations. The relationship between Aria and Ezra especially stands out to me in the book, even if only because Aria reads as so much more of a child than Lucy Hale ever played her. Emily's character also stands out and to me, as the biggest upside of reading this, since she gave a whole lotta nothing in the show, so her point of view here was pleasantly surprising. My reviews tend to be a little deeper and a little more eloquent, usually, but there is simply nothing to take away from this past the surface level. A quick two-day read, but I don't know if I have it in me to read the rest of the series, even just for mindless entertainment.

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honben's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I'm a big fan of the show (completely aware that it is mostly garbage) and I wanted to give the books a shot and I am shockingly pleased. This book contains only what happens in episode 1 of the show (just a heads up) and when I realised I was thrilled. It gives you much more insight on the characters, and there are major differences with the show but I actually feel like I will like the books better (specially in the romance department) and though the writing style is very simplistic it makes it much easier to read.
Already started the second one.
P.S.: there is depiction of mental health struggles and there are moments when even the narrator is fatphobic, I remember a specific line from one of the last chapters. I attribute this to the year it was published, but obviously, it is not nice to read.

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bettyemanee's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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faesissa's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Oh wow. Okay. Where to start with THIS book.

I guess I’ll start by extending Shepard the benefit of the doubt. I think she was trying to write the most sensational, over-the-top, unrealistic and ridiculous teenagers ever. I think. I think this was on purpose and not bad writing. Right?

The next thing I’ll do it give Emily some props. Of all the characters in this nightmare of a novel, I think that Emily was the most… human? Her character is the only one here who I think could have had an actual, interesting, “doesn’t make me groan aloud and roll my eyes a lot” story. I more or less enjoyed the pieces from Emily’s POV, but she was not enough to save this book as a whole.

That aside. Wow. Pretty Little Liars is an absolute train wreck.

Lets make a list of some NOPEs, shall we?

Elitism
Fatphobia
Bullying
Adult/minor relationships
Infidelity
Homophobia
Just… really terrible parents? And friends. And boyfriends. And characters in general.

I am almost 100% sure I missed something there, but those are some of the things that made me want to hurl the book across the room… only this was an audiobook and my phone is expensive. Pretty Little Liars came out when I was in high school, near the age of these girls, and I’m so grateful I didn’t pick it up at the time because I was impressionable and already really really conscious about my weight, and the Hannah storyline was hugely problematic and probably would have been impressionable on 16 y/o me. So many of the characters in this novel make the most dramatic, unkind, unhealthy decisions possible. It was more disturbing than “thrilling”, I guess, with particular emphasis toward Aria/Ezra being a big fat NOPE, Emily’s boyfriend’s behavior bringing me SO MUCH rage, and of course, Hannah’s storyline.

Okay that’s the characters. Lets talk about some other things.

The pacing on this book was slow. It feels like it should be quick, but between the four POVs, I honestly felt like nothing was happening. We went through each of the POVs once and each of the girls did A Thing. Then went went through them again, and the girls did more or less the same thing again. Then through again, seeing the discovery. Again, reacting. End of book. Nothing happened, and it took forever to get there.

I have issues with the realism of everything, but again, that falls into the arena of giving Shepard the benefit of the doubt on her choices here.

The writing as well was just… sort of icky. There’s this scene early in the book where Spencer decides to strip down to her sports bra, underwear, and knee-high field hockey socks and go into the hot tub. And for some reason that scene bothered me an extra lot. Like it had it’s own problematic bits, but I honestly just couldn’t get past the fact Spencer went into the hot tub with knee-high socks. Why? Socks are the best thing to take off at the end of the day, especially after practice. I’m pretty sure Shepard did it just to allow Spencer to be mortified at her lack of glamour when A BOY OMG OMG OMG OMG sees her. For whatever reason, it was this scene that stuck with me as an example of the overall drama and ridiculousness that was this book.

There was a point as I was listening to it when I realised, Oh no. I’m going to have to read a bunch to find out who A is. Because the underlying story was intriguing. It was just everything else about the book that I disliked. Then I remembered – the series was over and I could Google the answer. Thanks Internet, you beautiful spoiler machine! Now I know the end of this series and don’t have to read any more… and wow was it anti-climatic. I would have been annoyed to read sixteen books and have it end there. Goodbye and good riddance, Pretty Little Liars!

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