Unbelievable by Sara Shepard

Title: Unbelievable
Author: Sara Shepard
Published: June 2008 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult
How I got the book: I bought it

Summary:

Four pretty little liars’ charmed lives have turned into living nightmares. Emily’s been shipped off to Iowa to live with her überconservative cousins. Aria’s boyfriend is behind bars—because of her. Spencer’s afraid she was involved in Ali’s murder. But Hanna’s fate is far worse: She’s clinging to life in the hospital because she knew too much. These liars have tried to keep their scandals secret, but the truth is about to rock their pretty little world!

My Review:

While I like this series enough, I have to be honest… I wasn’t getting my hopes up for this one considering how the previous three books went for me.

Unbelievable is book four in the Pretty Little Liars series. It’s the last book in the first arc of the series, which means we find out who A is at the end.

The book begins with right where we left off at the end of book three, Perfect. The four main characters, Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna, come together now that Hanna is in a coma thanks to A from hitting her with a car. After three whole books, the girls finally begin to get somewhat close again.

Tensions rise as the four girls continue to deal with their own problems all the while trying to figure out who A is and why this person wants to hurt them.

As Hanna pieces it all together towards the end, they figure out who A is. The first arc of the series comes to a, surprisingly, climactic ending.

Spencer continues to deal with the plagiarism of her stealing her sister’s essay that ends up submitted into a prestigious contest all the while suspecting her sister for murder.

Emily tries to find acceptance within her family as she too tries to accept herself for being gay as she dates Maya, but gains a crush on another girl.

Aria tries to get her family back together now that her parents have split and her father is dating another woman all the while getting through her art class with their arch enemy, Jenna.And Hanna attempts to regain her memory after she wakes up from her coma.

And Hanna attempts to regain her memory after she wakes up from her coma because, before A hit her with a car, Hanna had figured out who A was.

A lot more happens with the girls in this book than the previous books. It kept me on my toes and wanting to read more.

The writing is no different in this novel than it was in the previous three books. We still follow each girl individually in the third person for each alternating chapter. And, for some reason, I felt as though this book was written more “adult-like” than the casual “high school drama.” I definitely enjoyed that more.

As I said before, I wasn’t getting my hopes up for this one as per the trend of the series. However, being the “ending” to the first arc of the series, Shepard really delivered. It was a nice wrap-up allowing some questions to remain.

Unbelievable by Sara Shepard gets…
4 out of 5 stars