Flawless by Sara Shepard

Title: Flawless
Author: Sara Shepard
Published: March 2007 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult
How I got the book: I bought it

Summary:

In the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, where the sweetest smiles hide the darkest secrets, four pretty little liars–Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna–have been very bad girls. . . .

Spencer stole her sister’s boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. And Hanna’s obsession with looking flawless is literally making her sick. But the most horrible secret of all is something so scandalous it could destroy their perfect little lives.

And someone named “A” is threatening to do just that.

At first they thought A was Alison, their friend who vanished three years ago . . . but then Alison turned up dead. So could A be Melissa, Spencer’s ultracompetitive sister? Or Maya, who wants Emily all to herself? What about Toby, the mysterious guy who left town right after Alison went missing?

One thing’s for certain: A’s got the dirt to bury them all alive, and with every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message A sends, the girls get a little closer to losing it all.

My Review:

This is book two of the Pretty Little Liars series. I’ve read it before though I’ve forgotten most of it. After rereading the first book, I wasn’t that impressed, so I didn’t get my hopes up for this one.

We learn a lot more about the four main girls, Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna. We learn that Emily is struggling with her sexuality and doesn’t want anyone to know about it. Aria is dating her English teacher, though she knows it’s wrong. Spencer steals her sister’s boyfriend and Hanna makes herself sick in an attempt to look beautiful.

The girls try to take the easy way out with everything they do as they lie and keep secrets. They all have one thing in common and that’s “A.” A is threatening them and wants to reveal all their secrets. They assume it’s Toby, a boy who had a grudge against Alison. They all seen to think he’s A, as well as Ali’s killer.

Like the first book not much seems to happen in this one. We learn a lot more about the girls and A’s messages get more and more threatening, but nothing happens about it. The girls are scared as they try to figure things out, but they continue to do what they shouldn’t. It’s not that suspenseful and, at times, is a bit anti-clamactic.

This book is very similar to the first book. The girls continue to get threats from the mysterious A, but they continue to do what they shouldn’t. Each one is dealing with their own problems and secrets and while they’re all trying to figure out who A is together, they don’t really explain to each other what their secrets are.

They fell out of touch when Alison went missing and A is slowly bringing them back together. So far, my favorite character is Toby, even though they suspect him of being A.

The book flows well and it’s easy to read. It’s written in third-person, each chapter following a different character (Emily, Spencer, Aria, or Hanna). We get to know them each very well this way and I thought it was a good choice on the author’s part.

I did enjoy this book, but I didn’t find it overly exciting. Still, I enjoyed it more than the first since more stuff happened to the girls. I’m hoping the third book (and beyond) picks up.

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard gets…
4 out of 5 stars