Pretty Little Liars

Hello Mean Girls!

Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna were all friends with Ali. They loved her and loathed her at the same time. She always managed to get secrets out of them, and then lord that fact over their heads.

But Ali disappeared.

Two years later, the girls are juniors and have changed drastically since junior high. Aria is back from Iceland and is more bohemian than ever. Hanna lost all that weight and wears the latest fashions. Emily is trying to love her boyfriend, while she is lusting after new girl Maya. And Spencer is still trying to surpass her older sister.

An amazing amount of things are going on in this book. Sex, drinking, affairs with teachers etc. It kind of reminded me of a girl version of Doing It in that my brain refuses to believe that all of this could possibly be going on.

But admidst all of this a some pieces of brilliance. Like when Emily realizes that her mom is a racist. The slow dawning of this unthinkable idea is life altering for her. Also, the pacing is perfect. What Sara Shepard is writing about is nothing new, but she made me stay up past my bedtime, wanting to find out what the "Jenna Thing" was all about.

More substantive that other mean girl series, girls 8th grade and up are going crazy for Pretty Little Liars.