Customer Reviews

Pretty Little Liars Box Set: Books 1 to 4

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Most of you have probably watched the show on ABC Family but I have to say you will enjoy the books so much more. I think personally with all the detail that is written in each and every 4 books, you get to see at all aspects of what each girl is going through.

As for the first book - You get to meet each of the girls and get to know who they all are individually and its great to meet each and every one of them to see how different they have become since their very close and dear friend Alison's dissapearance. The book starts out a little slow and then it starts to pick up more when it comes to discovering Ally's body. All the girls get together and talk about her but are never really all that close since each of them has changed so much through the years. Aria moves back to Rosewood and isn't to thrilled about it due to her father's affairs and Alison's disappearance but she meets this handsome english teacher and her life all it seems to be different. As for Hanna, she becomes what Ally was; THE QUEEN BITCH and is on top of the world with her bestfriend Mona in which they both had lost tons of weight and revampped themselves as girls that everyone wants to be and be friends with.

Emily is this sweet and loving girl who has a huge secret about herself hidden in her that is wanting to break out but the fears of what people think of her is what is holding her back but things happen and things change for her and as for the brillant Spencer; shes on the verge of something and no one knows where it is going.

All the girls become closer in each book trying to figure out who is secretly sending them and their family about secrets on A knew but somehow they kept thinking that the body that was found was not A it had to be her but all in all someone is playing bad tricks on them and its making them all question who is really the killer and who would really want Alison dead and why??

Please read the first few chapters before giving this book to your middle school girl. The characters (juniors in highschool) drink alcohol, smoke pot, pick up men (a teacher) in a bar, take their clothes off for boys, steal and do many other things you may not want your child to think is acceptable behavior. If you want to have a frank talk about sex, alcohol, drugs, sexual identity, stealing and eating disorders you may find the book a good starting point.

Title: The Pretty Little Liars Series (Pretty Little Liars, Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable, and Wicked)

Author: Sara Shepard
Publisher: HarperTeen
Edition: First HarperTeen Paperback Edition: 2007
Back Cover Summary: Everyone has something to hide--especially high school Juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna. Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.
How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and all the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what? I'm telling. -A


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Disclaimer #1: The Pretty Little Liars Series has 8 books out so far. I have only read the first 5. So, this book review will only cover the first 5 books. I'll cover the last 3 when I read them.


Originally, I was attracted to these books because of the "Pretty Little Liars" television series ABC Family aired based off of these books. I honestly haven't enjoyed many shows on ABC Family...ever. And the one show I adored, the hilarious remake of "10 Things I Hate About You," was cancelled after its first season. (Bad move ABC Family!) Anyway, I was in no mood to watch another show based around teenage sex and pregnancy where some stupid girl gets knocked up, then falls in love with another guy, who is really in love with her little sister, who ends up impregnated only days after her older sister gives birth, but not by the guy who knocked up the first sister or who loved the younger sister, but the mysterious foreign exchange student for Switzerland who's really a... I'm getting carried away and that sentence is not grammatically correct, but it doesn't deserved to be fixed. You get the point.

The point is that I was skeptical of the "Pretty Little Liars" television show, but I was willing to give it a go. What I found was clever, funny, and intriguing. So, I continued with the show, watching every single episode, and when it ended (soon to return on January 3rd) I turned to the books to fill the void.

The first book followed the show to a tee and I was quickly getting bored. However, the second book veered off course entirely! Soon, I found that the book and television show were two different entities with only minor similarities and there were things I enjoyed and disliked in both.


High Notes: One of the best things about the book is the number of different perspectives you are able to read. Each chapter focuses on one of the girl's point of view, allowing you a deeper look into their inner thoughts and schemes. The girls definitely develop differing personalities that are more unique than the ones in the show. There is also so much more detail in the books than there is in the show. (Obviously! Books always go into so much more detail.)


Disclaimer #2: Nearly all the low notes have to do with elements I enjoyed in the show that were not present in the books.


Low Notes: It is rare, especially in the first four books, to read about all four of the girls hanging out together. A lot of time, each girl is on her own, dealing with her own problems by herself. However, in the show, they are always together, working things out with each other. There is more ground for camaraderie and you feel like these girls truly were the best of friends at one point in their lives, and are now finding their way back to each other.

Also, the love affairs in the book are more scandalous and less believable in the books, especially the relationship between Aria and her teacher. In the books, their relationship just feels like two people's hormones firing at the same time, but in the show, they meet, find common ground, and then begin to fall in love. It feels less wrong in the show because they knew each other before they knew they were student and teacher.

The final thing that really bugged me was all the brand dropping the book does. I mean, Prada this, Chanel that. It gets old after a while.

Nevertheless, I have enjoyed both avenues, especially since the show and books have begun to differ more and more. It's as though I am getting two different storylines to imagine instead of duplicates.


Disclaimer #3: I know I have mentioned a lot about the television version of "Pretty Little Liars" but my ratings are strictly based on the books.


Ratings:

Character Development: 5/5
Dialogue: 5/5
Prose: 4/5
Believability: 4/5
Style and Grammar: 4/5
Overall Rating: 88% Entertaining!

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I am 16 and I never read books. After seeing the pretty little liars show I became obsessed and wanted to read the books. I just finished the fourth book and I bought them a month ago. They are so addicting. By far the best books I have ever read! I cant wait to get the rest in the series!!

First off, let me say I hopped on the bandwagon after catching a marathon of the TV show on ABC Family. Lucy Hale's brief role in Scream 4 led me to check the series out and I gotta say, it's one of my favorite guilty pleasures at the moment. The whodunit style of the show is very appealing and both the acting and writing make it a notch above other typical teenage dramas and the best series ABC Family has ever produced (which, given such trite shows as The Secret Life of the American Teenager, isn't that hard).

I eventually decided to read the source material and bought this box set to see if the books were as engrossing as the TV series. The first book, simply titled Pretty Little Liars, sets up the main story - it's condensed into the first episode of the television show. Flawless, the second entry, continues the storylines from the first book, and while a little slow at the beginning, picks up steam when it reaches its conclusion. The third novel in the series, Perfect, does a better job balancing the suspense with lighter moments and also divides the four lead character's involvement more evenly. The fourth installment, Unbelievable, is a solid conclusion but suffers from something I'll address momentarily.

There are several aspects of the books I enjoyed, primarily that the chapters are short (usually less than ten pages) and the POV shifts between the four girls à la the TV show. It's also worth noting that the television show and books' storylines aren't completely identical. For someone who began to follow the series on TV first, I appreciated the plot curveballs in the books instead of always knowing what was coming next - one character's death in the second book completely threw me off guard.

There are some shortcomings, though. The second, third, and fourth books often reiterate past events from the first book and while this is probably done to help new readers understand what's going on if they're starting out of order, it feels like unnecessary padding for those who read the books in sequential order. Another thing I initially wrote off but then began to notice again was that these girls tear up at just about anything. For example...

The following phrases appear in the first 15 chapters of the fourth book:

1. Emily was sobbing with fear (Ch. 2)
2. Tears dotted Emily's eyes (Ch. 3)
3. Emily felt hot tears stream down her face (Ch. 3)
4. "Hey," Ezra said, noting the tears spilling down Aria's cheeks (Ch. 5)
5. ...Suddenly afraid she was going to start crying again (Ch. 6)
6. She willed herself not the cry, talking big, gulping breaths...Emily's vision blurred with tears (Ch. 9)
7. Tears bloomed at the corners of Emily's eyes (Ch. 12)
8. Her eyes welled with tears (Ch.13)
9. Tears brimmed at the corners of Hanna's eyes (Ch. 15)

While it's understandable that these characters are emotionally damaged, it starts to become comical when, in just about every other chapter, one of the four leads breaks down over smelling a scent that reminds her of a memory. I almost expected to read something along the lines of, "Spencer opened the window. A breeze came in and her eyes watered - the cold draft reminded Spencer of Ali flying past her on her bike. She began to sob uncontrollably." It feels like lazy writing on Shepard's part, and I'm surprised nobody who edited the books picked up on this and approached her. "Sara, the amount of crying in your books rivals the compressed estrogen of something Stephanie Meyer would write."

Despite those quibbles, I do recommend reading the books if you're a fan of the show. After the second book, I made a game out of tallying the "crying/tear" phrases and it made the novels all the more enjoyable. Hell, I'm looking forward to highlighting the next set of books when they come next week.

Personal Ratings:

Pretty Little Liars: (7.5/10) Lays down the framework for what's to come. Not the most eventful entry but a necessary introduction.

Flawless: (7/10) Lots of retreading at the start, but hard to put down in the final chapters.

Perfect: (8/10) Good balance of humor and shock. The ending is easy to predict but immediately entices you to read the next book.

Unbelievable: (7.5/10) Emily's a blubbering mess in this one, as evidenced by the list above. The title basically sums up my opinion of her and everyone else's caterwauling.

Overall: 7.5/10

I was so excited to read these books because I love the TV series and had read in reviews that if you like the show you will LOVE the books. I started reading the first one and I made it to about 80 pages before I closed it, never wanting to open the cover again.

First of all, I don't think it is appropriate for anyone in the age category of "young adult" where this it targeted to. (I'm in my mid 20's) Within those first 80 pages the F Bomb was dropped like 3 times (and I didn't even get past half of the book so I can only assume there were more)If you think about that if a movie has more than one incidence of this then it is rated R, which by law you have to be 17 to see. hummmm. And I wouldn't say that the characters are wholesome by any means in the show but they are much MUCH worse in the book with language and actions.
Also I thought the writing was not the greatest in the book. Granted it is a "young adult" book but from what I read the characters seemed a bit flat and maybe the author was trying to make it sound like a teenager, and I liked the Twilight books so i'm ok with sounding like a teen, but there were times I thought "really? she wrote that?"
So ANYway, if you have any problems with major swearing and bad writing then just stick with the tv show.

I enjoyed this series so much. The characters each have their own personality and they are all easy to relate to. My favorite part about the books is the note at the very end left by "A" just for us. I think that's really unique, and it definately made me want to read the next book that much faster. I hope that I'm able to pick up the rest of the books from this series soon and I'm really looking foreward to the TV show that's coming out in June.

Yeah, you read that right. I started watching the show on ABC Family, and I decided, "Hey! Why not try out the books?" I know why I shouldn't have, addiction. Yep, to a book. I couldn't stop, I was half way done with the first book when I ordered the 5-8 AND I finished all 8 in about a month and a half. Quick, I know. You will too, they're super quick reads, captivating and a complete 180 from the show, which was awesome because it was like two separate drugs. Yeah, at least they're positive influences on me! Or are they? Argh, read them let me know what you think.

I started reading this book series after the tv show on ABC Family ended for the season. In about 2 months I read all the books that were out. It is entertaining, although I wish the series would end instead of having another 3 (books at least) scheduled for release. It is very different from the show but just as good. And the box set is a convenient way to get the first 4 books.

If you have seen the series, then you know how much drama there is in the books. But there are some twists the show does that ARE different than the series (example HANA'S SECRET) there is more to to it! The show doesn't show it all, I don't want to give it away. There are quite a few differences, but all in all the books are really good. I just finished the first four and am on the fifth. :) I don't like drama in my life, but reading about it and watching it are different! Everyone loves to watch drama, think about it all the good shows have drama! At the end of the fourth book you find out who A is and who Ali's killer is. I am still on the first chapter in the fifth one (Wicked) So I'm not exactly sure what that book is about yet. But I have a few idea's, The book series was ruined for me :( but it is still fun reading them :). Which is why I didn't want to give it away for you guys. But if you like the t.v. series then I highly recommend you read these books! Even, if you don't watch the series you can get the books and read them!