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I don't think it's possible to discuss Wanted without breaking out the spoilers. Mostly because some jackass on the PLL site elsewhere spoiled me. But I am not that cruel.
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Start...now. It all comes down to an evil twin. You probably guessed this before, but it's one thing to guess and another thing to have this confirmed. Ali's twin, Courtney, spent most of her life in various psych wards, only they're the nice, rich varieties.
The summer Ali befriended the Pretty Little Liars, Courtney was home for a few days before being switched to a different facility. The one Hanna later ends up staying in due to A's trickery. C managed to pull the ultimate twin switch that weekend and Ali was sent to the funny farm in C's place.
C, as Ali, befriends people she's sure will not truly question her leadership and dumps anyone who might have known she wasn't really Alison. Because C is crazy, although we're not really given a real diagnosis here, she acts out.
Towards the start of the book, Ali's family reveals Courtney to the world via a press conferance. Only Courtney, remember, is really Ali. Ali convinces her friends that she's the real deal and that she's spent the last few years living her life as Courtney because no one would believe the truth. Her time in the nuthouse has reformed her and she wants to be a better friend to them.
In Spencer's case this means she wants to be the best sister ever. In Hanna's case, she's finally acknowledged as fabulous by the ever fabulous Alison, and Ali also helps get even with Kate. Emily is given hope that Ali really does want to be with her romantically. Only Aria refuses to buy what nu!Ali is selling. Too much weird stuff has happened to just start all over, and this might be the single most realistic thing in this book.
Thing is, the guy who revealed as "Ali's" killer? Has an alibi for the other crimes he supposedly commited. And a picture surfaces of the night Ali disappeared, only the person who took the picture is reflected in the Polaroid. And that person is decidedly female. For a minute we're supposed to believe it's Melissa, but unlike a lot of other fake outs in the series, this one doesn't really ring all that true. Bitchy and hyper-competitive, yes. Capable of that level of psychosis? Yeaaaaaah. Not so much.
And so Ali recreates the night 'she' disappeared. Only now she's going to kill the PLLs because...
Because...
Why, exactly? She's crazy. That's all the motivation we're given. Yeah, sure, Courtney picked absolute losers (one of whom the twins were related to, however) but how does anyone make that a case for murder? Seriously? That's where my big problem with Wanted comes in. It's a hell of a ride until it winds down and you realize that this whole thing was built on top of a really shaky premise. "Girl's twin takes her life. Girl kills twin, spends a year or so stalking twin's "friends" and ultimately attempts to kill them. No real reason given."
The best part of the book is the moment you realize that their Ali was never really Ali at all. The girl they mourned this entire time was actually Crazy Courtney. Poor Court may have been nuttier than fruitcake, but not one single shrine was erected in her honor, and that makes me kind of sad.
S
E
R
I
O
U
S
L
Y
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Start...now. It all comes down to an evil twin. You probably guessed this before, but it's one thing to guess and another thing to have this confirmed. Ali's twin, Courtney, spent most of her life in various psych wards, only they're the nice, rich varieties.
The summer Ali befriended the Pretty Little Liars, Courtney was home for a few days before being switched to a different facility. The one Hanna later ends up staying in due to A's trickery. C managed to pull the ultimate twin switch that weekend and Ali was sent to the funny farm in C's place.
C, as Ali, befriends people she's sure will not truly question her leadership and dumps anyone who might have known she wasn't really Alison. Because C is crazy, although we're not really given a real diagnosis here, she acts out.
Towards the start of the book, Ali's family reveals Courtney to the world via a press conferance. Only Courtney, remember, is really Ali. Ali convinces her friends that she's the real deal and that she's spent the last few years living her life as Courtney because no one would believe the truth. Her time in the nuthouse has reformed her and she wants to be a better friend to them.
In Spencer's case this means she wants to be the best sister ever. In Hanna's case, she's finally acknowledged as fabulous by the ever fabulous Alison, and Ali also helps get even with Kate. Emily is given hope that Ali really does want to be with her romantically. Only Aria refuses to buy what nu!Ali is selling. Too much weird stuff has happened to just start all over, and this might be the single most realistic thing in this book.
Thing is, the guy who revealed as "Ali's" killer? Has an alibi for the other crimes he supposedly commited. And a picture surfaces of the night Ali disappeared, only the person who took the picture is reflected in the Polaroid. And that person is decidedly female. For a minute we're supposed to believe it's Melissa, but unlike a lot of other fake outs in the series, this one doesn't really ring all that true. Bitchy and hyper-competitive, yes. Capable of that level of psychosis? Yeaaaaaah. Not so much.
And so Ali recreates the night 'she' disappeared. Only now she's going to kill the PLLs because...
Because...
Why, exactly? She's crazy. That's all the motivation we're given. Yeah, sure, Courtney picked absolute losers (one of whom the twins were related to, however) but how does anyone make that a case for murder? Seriously? That's where my big problem with Wanted comes in. It's a hell of a ride until it winds down and you realize that this whole thing was built on top of a really shaky premise. "Girl's twin takes her life. Girl kills twin, spends a year or so stalking twin's "friends" and ultimately attempts to kill them. No real reason given."
The best part of the book is the moment you realize that their Ali was never really Ali at all. The girl they mourned this entire time was actually Crazy Courtney. Poor Court may have been nuttier than fruitcake, but not one single shrine was erected in her honor, and that makes me kind of sad.