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caughtbetweenpages 's review for:
Wanted
by Sara Shepard
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This series is a wild ride and, if it continues on the trajectory it's been following, by the fourth and final 4-book arc, all of the Liars will have faked their own deaths, have secret hidden twins and/or be adoptees from royal/even wealthier families, and have actually committed murder at some point. As it stands, this arc was entertaining to read and definitely escalated the story post-"Mona as A" in the first arc.
What's a little frustrating with these books, and makes it so I need to binge them quickly in order to keep from DNFing in the middle of an arc, is that none of the characters ever really change. There's marginal improvement to Spencer's selfish power-seeking and moping about being worse than her sister, Hanna's bullying mean-girl behavior, Aria's and Emily's wishy-washy indecisiveness and inability to stand up for themselves (these two are the easiest to read about of the four in the order I've named them, but their lack of character growth just makes them boring rather than sympathetic)... and then they get right back to their standard toxicity, because the batshit plot can't really make a cohesive story if they grow. Now, is it cohesive in the strictest sense anyway? ...well, no, but at least it's entertaining, and since the Liars all kind of suck as people, I can let myself live in the wild nonsense and just feel schaudenfreude instead of the reading experience kind of just feeling bad.
With this arc, I feel like it took a little too long to actually find the identity of A. The entirety of the first book almost, most of the girls didn't even believe there WAS a new A, which, given the premise of the series, made it drag. However, with the introduction of Courthey, Alison's twin... but also not really? Because this Courtney is the real original Alison? And they got switched at some point everything went absolutely crazy. Spencer's adoption storyline wasn't of great interest to me, and I didn't love Aria's "uh oh my mom's boyfriend is a predator" storyline either, but the reveals of Hanna's time in rehab were wild, and Emily sneaking into an Amish village was the funniest thing I think I'll ever read.
And okay, considreing the end of this arc, I'm probably going to continue. I'm already halfway there, and I kind of want to see if it's even possible to escalate beyond what's happening here. Probably going to be a while until I'm in the place where this is a series I can allow to give me brainrot again, though.
What's a little frustrating with these books, and makes it so I need to binge them quickly in order to keep from DNFing in the middle of an arc, is that none of the characters ever really change. There's marginal improvement to Spencer's selfish power-seeking and moping about being worse than her sister, Hanna's bullying mean-girl behavior, Aria's and Emily's wishy-washy indecisiveness and inability to stand up for themselves (these two are the easiest to read about of the four in the order I've named them, but their lack of character growth just makes them boring rather than sympathetic)... and then they get right back to their standard toxicity, because the batshit plot can't really make a cohesive story if they grow. Now, is it cohesive in the strictest sense anyway? ...well, no, but at least it's entertaining, and since the Liars all kind of suck as people, I can let myself live in the wild nonsense and just feel schaudenfreude instead of the reading experience kind of just feeling bad.
With this arc, I feel like it took a little too long to actually find the identity of A. The entirety of the first book almost, most of the girls didn't even believe there WAS a new A, which, given the premise of the series, made it drag. However, with the introduction of Courthey,
And okay, considreing the end of this arc, I'm probably going to continue. I'm already halfway there, and I kind of want to see if it's even possible to escalate beyond what's happening here. Probably going to be a while until I'm in the place where this is a series I can allow to give me brainrot again, though.