Customer Reviews

Pretty Little Liars #2: Flawless

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alison "Ali" DiLaurentis had the four B's of popularity: beauty, brains, body, and boys. She also had four amazing best friends - Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, and Emily Fields. As if their friendship weren't enough, she also knew secrets about all of them. Secrets that no one else even suspected, from bulimia to unfaithful parents, and everywhere in between. Then, one day, just as the summer was beginning, Ali disappeared, leaving four friends weeping in her wake. While their sorrow was strong, Ali's sudden disappearance was also a bit of a relief. After all, now their secrets would never be revealed. But the fact that Ali's body had never been uncovered always left a slight hesitation in their mind. That is, until she was found under a pile of cement, proving that their secrets would stay dead and buried. But maybe they spoke too soon. After four long years, Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily are brought back together to mourn at the funeral of their long lost best friend. But things hit a sour note when the mysterious "A" contacts all of them once more, threatening to reveal their secrets and pin the blame on them for "The Jenna Thing." As if the eerie note isn't horrifying enough, each girl is shocked to see that the police have re-opened Alison's case. Only this time it's being treated as a murder, leaving the four former friends open for police questioning at any time. To make matters worse, Toby Cavanaugh - Jenna's reform school brother - has returned to the quiet town of Rosewood, attending nearby Tate Academy. And, while the former geek turned hottie seems harmless enough this time around, there's a mischievous glimmer in his eye that's leaving everyone on edge. It doesn't help that, since Toby's sudden arrival, "A" has been sending more and more notes. Making threats, demanding them to perform certain acts, and even spying on their every move. While the girls know that they should confide in one another regarding "A's" sudden attacks, they can't bring themselves to reveal such intimate, and oft-times embarrassing, details to one another. It doesn't help that a sense of mistrust has grown between all of them over the years, pushing them more into the acquaintance category, as opposed to the friend category; or that they're all facing certain dramas in their lives right now. Dramas that could tear them apart, and ruin their lives in a heartbeat. From the arrival of a deadbeat dad, to the rekindling of a forbidden romance, and even moving into trusting a former enemy territory. Spencer, Hanna, Emily, and Aria think that they'll be able to handle the newest drama on their own. But, as "A" moves closer in their direction, they begin to realize that if they're not careful, they may just be buried alive by their many scandalous secrets.

While Sara Shepard's debut, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, gave readers a character sketch, a surface look, if you will, at Hanna, Spencer, Emily, Aria, and even the missing Ali; FLAWLESS brings us back to where the first installment left off, the day of Ali's funeral, and instantly moves in to dissecting each of the aforementioned characters, giving readers the chance to get to know them better. Shepard has a talent for making the reader sympathize with, yet, at the same time, dislike certain people introduced. Her ability to make secondary characters memorable is amazing, and truly makes for a delightful read. While I find Aria and Hanna to be the most enchanting characters, simply because I can relate to both of them in various ways, I must admit that both Emily and Spencer are captivating in their own ways. The vulnerability that Hanna shows as she comes to terms with, and attempts to defeat bulimia, while giving into the pressures of anorexia nervosa, are addicting; while Spencer's inability to resist her older sister, Melissa's, boyfriends is jaw-dropping. Emily, like Hanna, is attempting to come to terms with the "real" her, which many readers will relate to quite well; while Aria is wacky and wonderful, and just working to keep her family together. Combined, each girls story presents a wonderful topping to the underlying truth: Ali's mysterious disappearance. With "A" moving in closer on every page, it's obvious that Shepard is working on revealing his or her identity sometime soon - or so we can hope. Riddled with suspense, and a captivating cast of characters - a 'flawless' sequel.

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

To start off with, this series is much better than what I've read of the Gossip Girl series. It's more indepth, the characters have each a conscience, their actions have direct consequences, and they inspired pathos. Four privileged young women hide a deep secret. They are just fine going about their lives until they started receiving strange text messages from a mysterious person who only refers to themself as "A". "A" seems to know way too much about each girl- private, personal stuff, as it happens.

The last novel was an introduction to each of the characters. Aria continues to shoulders the burden of the secret of the last novel, Spencer continues to carry on a love affair with her sister's ex-boyfriend, Emily meets a boy that she sort of likes despite her sexual identity issues, and Hanna tries to turn over a new leaf, but, as usual, "A" threatens all that.

I'm begining to suspect Spencer. She witnessed Toby's response to The Jenna Thing, and she discussed what happened while all the other girls were asleep at the slumber party with Ali.

In the last book, I hardly sympathized at all with Hanna, but in this book, we're getting deeper into her psyche and relationship with her parents and how it affects all the other relationships in her life. I began to totally identify with her- can't please her parents, they're angry with her, but don't know the whole story and they won't listen to her side of the story, she can't do anything right. The portion of Spencer's story left me shaking my head at the end. A portion of Aria's story arc is done, but the original one, the one with her teacher, is promised to spice up. Emily's problems with her ex-boyfriend are going to explode in the next book, I'm sure.

Each character is very unique and has their own voice and problems. I think Sara Sheperd is doing a great job with the writing on this. It's like Harry Potter suspense- I can't wait to see how it ends!!

This book picks up right where the first book leaves off. You can understand Aria's relationship wih the men in her life. Hannah's relationship with her father and her absentminded mother are the source of all her problems with food and how she sees herself. Mommy buys her whatever she wants so she doesn't have to bother with her. Spencer's parents are always comparing her to her sister. They think her sister walks on water, even though there really isn't anything special about her. Her parents' reaction to Spencer's incident with Wren was a bit over the top. No wonder she goes after all that's Melissa's. And as for Emily's racist mother, who has every second of the rest of her life planned out for her. She needs to actually sit down and hear what her daughter has to say. The story continues to unfold, and you get more in depth with the secrets (very very disturbing secrets). The story is alot of fun. There are alot of twists and turns, and you really start to wonder who A is. Just when you think you may have figured it out, YOU'RE WRONG. As I said in my review of the first book, I wouldn't recommend this book to the younger crowd, but certainly the older crowds. There is still all of the same age-inapropriate things that were in the first book. This book talks about rape and drug use as well as the sex, smoking and drinking.

for the people that watch the show on abc family things may not come to shock u. i give this book a three for people who watch the show but a four for people who havent seen it. but even if u have seen the show still read it cuz it has a very big twist at the end that will help u understand later on.

lawless started off sort of slow for me, but it quickly picked up speed. I enjoyed each of the girls' point of views. There were definitely many twists and turns that I did not see coming. I really thought I knew who 'A' was, but it became clear in this book that I was completely wrong. I really want to know who 'A' is though! How can this person know so much about these girls? I need to know!

Aria and Spencer are still my favorite characters. I just find their lives more interesting than Hannah and Emily's.

Like Pretty Little Liars, Flawless was strangely addicting, but not as much as the first one. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Perfect. I have already ordered the third and fourth book in the series, so I hope to read them soon.

Flawless immediately begins where Pretty Little Liars ends: the afternoon of Ali's funeral service. Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna are still stunned that their former friend's body was found. The police have reopened the case and now consider it as homicide. Each girl admits to receiving texts and e-mails from "A" and agree to disclose if any more are received. All four have secrets that they have kept from each other and the only other person who knows is Ali. Now Ali is dead and that leaves no explanation for how "A" knows all about these secrets.

Flawless goes more in depth with each character and her back story. Spencer constantly feels inferior to her older sister, Melissa. When Melissa catches Spencer with her boyfriend, her parents shun her and barely speak to her. They are nonchalant about Ali's death and hardly acknowledge Spencer's grief. Feeling ousted by her family, Spencer resumes her relationship with Wren and soon her perfect facade begins to crack. Spencer also feels guilty about what really happened the night the Jenna thing occurred, but remains silent. Her silence may eventually put her friends in harm's way.

Hanna is desperately trying to hold it together. She no longer feels like the "confident, popular" Hanna, but more like the "insecure, overweight " Hanna of years ago. Hanna continues to make poor decisions and tries to live with the consequences. Her dad is back in her life, but he comes with his soon-to-be bride and Hanna's nemesis, step-sister Kate.

Emily is trying to understand her feelings for the new girl, Maya. She begins to avoid Maya and soon finds herself on a date with someone she never considered dating potential. She's also dealing with her ex-boyfriend's hatred after he caught Emily kissing Maya.

Aria is trying to get over her feelings for her teacher. She finds a new love interest, but isn't quite sure what to expect. In the meantime, she's also carrying the burden of the real reason why her dad moved her family to Iceland and realized the problem hasn't gone away at all.

So, you think each girl has enough to deal with, right? Well, apparently "A" doesn't think so. "A" not only continues to send texts and e-mails, no, he/she has upped the ante and begins leaving notes on their car windshields, in their textbooks and at school. "A" is carrying out his/her threats and forces the girls to do the unspeakable to protect their secrets.

Honestly, I can't believe how much I like this series! It's very quick reading and the more I learn about each girl and their secret, the more I want to know "A's" identity. I've narrowed it down to two people, so we'll see if I'm right. "A" definitely turned up the heat at the end of Flawless, so I can't wait to see what happens in book 3, Perfect.

FLAWLESS, the second book in the PRETTY LITTLE LIARS series, creates some serious questions for readers. But like many books in a series, you should only read this second book if you've read the first, to get the full effect! You wouldn't want to ruin a good book!

In FLAWLESS, an unexpected person dies, and the girls continue to get more notes from someone named "A." The identity of "A" is still the big, looming question in this book! Some unanswered questions about Aria, Hanna, Emily, and Spencer are answered. Some of the things that we all wondered from the first Pretty Little Liars book are also answered. But there are definitely still things that I wanted--and needed--to know!

After I read PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, I knew I had to read the sequel! But now, with FLAWLESS, there are still so many unanswered questions at the end that we'll have to read the entire series, including book three (Pretty Little Liars #3: Perfect (Pretty Little Liars)), to find the answers!

Reviewed by: Taylor Rector

I found this book to be a very fantastic read and really enjoyed the story, the characters, and the excitement of it all. This book added to the story line and helps peak the interest of the reader. Reading the books of the Pretty Little Liars series was more enjoyable then watching the tv series. The books flowed really nicely and showed how the story should truly be told unlike the tv series. Highly recommend to all...

I read the book Flawless by Sara Shepard. I thought it was good and I recommend it to girls who like mystery books. This book was about five girls who all had secrets. One of them went missing and the other four girls got text messages from someone named A. A knew all of their secrets and blackmailed them. I liked this book because it was interesting and you always wanted to know more.This book was a mystery as well as a friendship story. The mystery part of the story is when Ali went missing, and the friendship part of the story was when they got the messages and how they had to stay together.My favorite part of the book is how it kept you wanting to read more and it didn't make you board.

In the book "Pretty Little Liars Flawless," by Sara Shepard four girls are getting followed by a person named A. A sends the four of them text messages and emails telling them to do bad or embarrassing things so one of their secrets won't be told. None of them know who this person is and A knows all of their deepest secrets. They also are trying to find out who murdered their long lost friend, Alison. The five of them had been friends for a very long time and one night Ali had gone missing. You should read this book if you like books that have a lot of gossip in them and if you like mysterious books.