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diereading 's review for:
Pretty Little Liars
by Sara Shepard
This was actually... really good????
I read these a longggg time ago, probably 9 years ago or so. I loved it at the time, but did not think I would actually genuinely like it now, I just wanted to reread it for fun and the audiobook was available ASAP on Libby so I checked it out. And I. Was. Hooked. It's been awhile since I was so sucked into a story that I actively wanted to stop partaking in my other hobbies and read instead. Especially a YA. I have trouble fully enjoying YA anymore as it always comes off a little too innocent and childish but this was exactly what I want in a YA book. The characters are not these perfect, bland teens who speak, act, and think as if they're 12. They all make mistakes, and major ones at that, they're sexually active, they drink, they smoke, they curse like normal humans. And that's not to say that all teens do those things but... let's be real, most do. And even if they don't partake in all of those things, they still are at least surrounded by them to some capacity. I have just been so goddamn over reading about the perfect little virgin who doesn't drink or smoke or talk to boys and her personality can be summed up by the words innocent and quirky. Like why is that every single contemporary YA character. It's so unrealistic and boring. These characters, while occasionally crossing into caricature territory, are generally more realistic than the majority of teen characters I read about. Hell I feel like this book gave more personality to Emily than the show ever did.
Oh also the characterization of Ally?? Hello?? SO MUCH BETTER IN THE BOOKS. In the show she's just shown as a bitch from day 1 and, while it's explained to us that the girls were lowkey scared of Ally hence why they acted as her henchmen, I think a lot of viewers were still left confused as to why the girls would've become her friend in the first place, why or if they liked and/or missed her, why she would've been friends with the Liars, why Emily would've been in love with her, etc. In the books, while heavily implied that there is a more mean and manipulative side to Ally, we are also shown that she could be a genuinely good friend and person, that she did truly care for her friends to some degree even if she wasn't always the greatest, that she helped them to become more confident in being themselves, and more. We were better able to see that Ally's mean girl manipulation was often out of a place of trying to conceal her own insecurities which, anyone with a background in mean girls could know that from watching the show, but that takes your own deduction and filling in of blanks, meanwhile the books are much better at alluding to Ally's own issues and how she projects them onto others and even onto her friends. And then, we can see a clearer picture of why the Liars are how they are now, and the dichotomy of that with their relationship to Ally. Spencer's main storyline in this book revolves around competition and feeling second best (especially regarding her sister) and how that leads her to make some really shitty decisions. It can clearly be seen that Spencer took a lot of these issues from her relationship with Ally (not necessarily that they started with Ally, only that they were amplified). Ally was the one who made the field hockey team, not Spencer. Ally was the one who got the boys, not Spencer. Ally was the one with the looks, not Spencer. Ally acted as if her morals were higher than Spencers. The list goes on. The only aspect in which Spencer was better than Ally was in academics, which is reflected in how Spencer's academic prowess becomes her defining feature and how she immediately sees Andrew Campbell as a threat, rather than someone to work together with. Hannah's main plotline in this book revolved around appearance, food, and sex. Again, this is clearly reflected in her relationship to Ally, who constantly made Hannah feel physically lesser, which, combined with Hannah's issues with feeling rejected by her dad and as if he has chosen Kate over her, who Hannah also perceives to be much prettier than herself and directly associates her dad's love with the way her and Kate appear, we can easily see why Hannah transformed into the new Ally over the summer, and why she is so desperate for the sexual validation from Sean, and why his rejection makes her lash out so intensely. Aria's main storyline was about her dad's affair, as well as Aria trying to fit back into Rosewood after having thrived in Europe. Aria always felt like the outcast of the friendgroup, with Ally poking fun at Pigtunia. To Aria, the expectations that she feels in Rosewood vs. the freedom she felt in Europe is representative of the restrictions to fit in under Ally, vs. the freedom to be herself without Ally. And lastly, for Emily, her biggest plotline was her sexuality and her autonomy, things that Emily was never truly able to explore under the thumb of Ally. While Ally may have encouraged individuality and choice on the surface, she was still constantly in control of the liars, and would use Emily's love for her as puppet strings, leaving Emily scarred and confused about her interest in girls, as well as feeling most comfortable when her life is controlled by someone other than her (in this case it's Emily's family, coaches, and boyfriend, where it used to be Ally). Maya is the antithesis of Ally. Maya is not only accepting of Emily and her sexuality in any form, but is open to exploring that stuff with Emily and encouraging it. Maya is not the cause for Emily quitting the swim team, she is just the reason Emily realized that she has a choice in the matter.
(TW for this paragraph: like all of them but especially self harm) I also wasn't expecting it to make commentary of social equality and broad morals and all that shit and yet it does. Don't get me wrong, this isn't some profoundly deep novel, it's essentially just episode 1 of the TV show, but I was still surprised at the slight references to racism, misogyny, homophobia, eating disorders, self harm and more, and even more surprised that it didn't absolutely botch these references. Like legit tell me why I felt like this book was more respectful about cutting than Seven Days in June was...
Writing this because I'm on hold for the 2nd book through Libby and all I can do is think about this first book and how much I want to continue on in the series. Hopefully it doesn't end up being a flop because I'm hoping the books can replace my insatiable need for a good ending that the show didn't provide. I remember the twist in the books as it is iconic asf and I was shook when I read it, but I'm still so excited to get into the nitty gritty of it all.
I could say a lot more but I lowkey think I might make a whole video on these books? If I'm able to finish the series because let's be real there's so many goddamn books in it.
I read these a longggg time ago, probably 9 years ago or so. I loved it at the time, but did not think I would actually genuinely like it now, I just wanted to reread it for fun and the audiobook was available ASAP on Libby so I checked it out. And I. Was. Hooked. It's been awhile since I was so sucked into a story that I actively wanted to stop partaking in my other hobbies and read instead. Especially a YA. I have trouble fully enjoying YA anymore as it always comes off a little too innocent and childish but this was exactly what I want in a YA book. The characters are not these perfect, bland teens who speak, act, and think as if they're 12. They all make mistakes, and major ones at that, they're sexually active, they drink, they smoke, they curse like normal humans. And that's not to say that all teens do those things but... let's be real, most do. And even if they don't partake in all of those things, they still are at least surrounded by them to some capacity. I have just been so goddamn over reading about the perfect little virgin who doesn't drink or smoke or talk to boys and her personality can be summed up by the words innocent and quirky. Like why is that every single contemporary YA character. It's so unrealistic and boring. These characters, while occasionally crossing into caricature territory, are generally more realistic than the majority of teen characters I read about. Hell I feel like this book gave more personality to Emily than the show ever did.
Oh also the characterization of Ally?? Hello?? SO MUCH BETTER IN THE BOOKS. In the show she's just shown as a bitch from day 1 and, while it's explained to us that the girls were lowkey scared of Ally hence why they acted as her henchmen, I think a lot of viewers were still left confused as to why the girls would've become her friend in the first place, why or if they liked and/or missed her, why she would've been friends with the Liars, why Emily would've been in love with her, etc. In the books, while heavily implied that there is a more mean and manipulative side to Ally, we are also shown that she could be a genuinely good friend and person, that she did truly care for her friends to some degree even if she wasn't always the greatest, that she helped them to become more confident in being themselves, and more. We were better able to see that Ally's mean girl manipulation was often out of a place of trying to conceal her own insecurities which, anyone with a background in mean girls could know that from watching the show, but that takes your own deduction and filling in of blanks, meanwhile the books are much better at alluding to Ally's own issues and how she projects them onto others and even onto her friends. And then, we can see a clearer picture of why the Liars are how they are now, and the dichotomy of that with their relationship to Ally. Spencer's main storyline in this book revolves around competition and feeling second best (especially regarding her sister) and how that leads her to make some really shitty decisions. It can clearly be seen that Spencer took a lot of these issues from her relationship with Ally (not necessarily that they started with Ally, only that they were amplified). Ally was the one who made the field hockey team, not Spencer. Ally was the one who got the boys, not Spencer. Ally was the one with the looks, not Spencer. Ally acted as if her morals were higher than Spencers. The list goes on. The only aspect in which Spencer was better than Ally was in academics, which is reflected in how Spencer's academic prowess becomes her defining feature and how she immediately sees Andrew Campbell as a threat, rather than someone to work together with. Hannah's main plotline in this book revolved around appearance, food, and sex. Again, this is clearly reflected in her relationship to Ally, who constantly made Hannah feel physically lesser, which, combined with Hannah's issues with feeling rejected by her dad and as if he has chosen Kate over her, who Hannah also perceives to be much prettier than herself and directly associates her dad's love with the way her and Kate appear, we can easily see why Hannah transformed into the new Ally over the summer, and why she is so desperate for the sexual validation from Sean, and why his rejection makes her lash out so intensely. Aria's main storyline was about her dad's affair, as well as Aria trying to fit back into Rosewood after having thrived in Europe. Aria always felt like the outcast of the friendgroup, with Ally poking fun at Pigtunia. To Aria, the expectations that she feels in Rosewood vs. the freedom she felt in Europe is representative of the restrictions to fit in under Ally, vs. the freedom to be herself without Ally. And lastly, for Emily, her biggest plotline was her sexuality and her autonomy, things that Emily was never truly able to explore under the thumb of Ally. While Ally may have encouraged individuality and choice on the surface, she was still constantly in control of the liars, and would use Emily's love for her as puppet strings, leaving Emily scarred and confused about her interest in girls, as well as feeling most comfortable when her life is controlled by someone other than her (in this case it's Emily's family, coaches, and boyfriend, where it used to be Ally). Maya is the antithesis of Ally. Maya is not only accepting of Emily and her sexuality in any form, but is open to exploring that stuff with Emily and encouraging it. Maya is not the cause for Emily quitting the swim team, she is just the reason Emily realized that she has a choice in the matter.
(TW for this paragraph: like all of them but especially self harm) I also wasn't expecting it to make commentary of social equality and broad morals and all that shit and yet it does. Don't get me wrong, this isn't some profoundly deep novel, it's essentially just episode 1 of the TV show, but I was still surprised at the slight references to racism, misogyny, homophobia, eating disorders, self harm and more, and even more surprised that it didn't absolutely botch these references. Like legit tell me why I felt like this book was more respectful about cutting than Seven Days in June was...
Writing this because I'm on hold for the 2nd book through Libby and all I can do is think about this first book and how much I want to continue on in the series. Hopefully it doesn't end up being a flop because I'm hoping the books can replace my insatiable need for a good ending that the show didn't provide. I remember the twist in the books as it is iconic asf and I was shook when I read it, but I'm still so excited to get into the nitty gritty of it all.
I could say a lot more but I lowkey think I might make a whole video on these books? If I'm able to finish the series because let's be real there's so many goddamn books in it.