Reviews : Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable, Wicked, Killer, Heartless, Wanted
This will be a bit of a departure from my usual reviews, but I do hope you’ll still enjoy it 🙂
I read the Pretty Little Liar series by Sara Shepard a while ago, at the beginning of summer, and mostly enjoyed the books. The were highly addictive, prompting me to read them compulsively, yet somewhat forgettable. Revising my notes on my reading, I noticed my comments were very general and that it would be better to do a grand review of all the series rather than afflicting you with seven repetitive ones. I had already reviewed book 1 in May, and since I like to complete things, here are my thoughts on the following books.
Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable
Books 2, 3, 4
There is a clear cut in the series between the first four books and the last four ones. The conclusion of Unbelievable, though filled with action and twists, doesn’t answer all of the mysteries. There are two main questions haunting the novels : who killed Allison, and who is sending secret messages to the girls? And not all, if any, will get an answer by the end of book 4.
I was really impressed by how Shepard kept me guessing until the end. There were so many twists and turns, it was really hard to try to predict what would happen. I have to say, I did guess in Unbelievable who was partly responsible of what was going on, but I had no idea of all the how, what, why.
As for the characters, they were true to themselves. Even though they were a bit stereotyped, the author did a great job of writing story lines that suited them. It is as much as you can ask for such a crazy, fast-pace mystery series!
Wicked, Killer, Heartless, Wanted
Books 5, 6, 7, 8
In the last four books, the action continue and the girls can hardly catch a break. When you consider all the 8 books take place in a single year, it’s kind of crazy!
I think one of my disappointments was how Emily and her sexual orientation were dealt with. I don’t mind that she wasn’t only homosexual or heterosexual. Plenty of people are bisexual and it is, in fact, interesting to have a character who is somewhere in the middle, if I may say. But Emily falling for a man felt more like a cop out, something that happened so the story would move along more smoothly.
If you reach the end of Heartless, be ready with Wanted close to you! You’ll want to know what happens next!
Wanted was a very strong conclusion to the series, too. Shepard kept many more twists that are revealed in this last book, making it a suspenseful and hard to put down book.
In the end, I really enjoyed my time with the Pretty Little Liars. They were entertaining and their story was pure fictional, gossipy candy! I know I’m curious to discover more from the author.
My Rating :
Ah, I didn’t know if there were any spoilers, but I read the first half of this post. I have one book left to read in the series, and I’m loving it.
I agree that there was definitely a divide; like maybe Shepard didn’t know if she was going to get more books out of the deal? It seemed almost like an ending, no?
I love gossipy stories and I LOVE the covers, so colorful. Never read these books.
Jessica : I tried to be really careful not spoiling the books, so I think my review is safe. For sure I didn’t reveal any big twsit! And yes, I’m wondering if she thought it might have been the end after the fourth book. It feels like an ending, yet without revealing all the answers. Mmmm….
Violet : I love gossipy stories too! Not all the time, but they’re a welcome distraction when you need something light to read. I don’t really like these ones covers though, especially the first four!
I keep meaning to pick up the remaining books in this series — they’re such fast, light reads! — but keep forgetting! Thanks for reminding me; I enjoyed Pretty Little Liars!
i go through ya series phases every year or so. it started a bunch of years ago with the jessica darling series, then the mediator series, then i hopped on to gossip girl before it was a tv show. most of the books are forgettable but fun (megan mccafferty’s jessica darling is the exception). haven’t read this series but sounds more like a summer read to me. 🙂
This does sound like a fun series!
Meg : If you enjoyed the first one enough, the other ones pretty much follow a similar pattern. Scandals! Mysteries! Gossips! Romance! OMGs! It’s all light and fun! 🙂
Nat : I’ve read a lot of YA in the last years, more than when I was of YA age in fact lol, but I think it’s a need to balance between Serious Reading for school and Fun Reading. I still need to read the Jessica Darling series though : I have heard such great things about them, mainly from you and Meg! And, yes, the PLL are perfect summer reading.
Kathy : It really was!