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mandalyn_99 's review for:
Pretty Little Liars
by Sara Shepard
I was excited to read this, or rather, reread it. It had been years so I came into it with mostly-fresh eyes. I think it would've been 5 stars had I not watched the show first, because I spent most of the time reading, comparing the two. I already knew most of the plot, but seeing how differently things were played out was fascinating. I felt the -A messages hit harder in the book, as I felt they dug under the character's skin. Shepard also had much more room to work in the book, than the writers on the show had, and it's obvious. So many storylines went deeper, because they were expanded on so deeply. For example, Hanna's bulimia. When watching the show, I didn't connect much with it because the show was so fast-paced, but I really felt for her when she started relapsing. I was so proud of her for resisting the urge later on in the book, because Shepard made the bulimia a big part of Hanna's character. It didn't feel like a throw-away plotline like it did in the show. There's also the bluntness and how mean these characters are in the book. Between the "Not it!" joke they used to bully Mona with, to how much harder Spencer's parents were on her after she made out with Wren. Like, "I am so mortified you're my daughter right now." OUCH! And Melissa calling her a whore, it just felt more real. My only issue is that I believe it could've been longer, but other than that, it's close to perfect.