Pretty Little Liars

Written by Sara Shepard

Narrated by Cassandra Morris

Gossip thrives amid the Mercedes-Benzes, mega mansions, and perfectly manicured hedges in the exclusive town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Behind their big Gucci sunglasses, beneath their perfectly pressed Polos, everyone has something to hide, especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna. Spencer covets her sister's gorgeous new boyfriend. Aria is having an affair with her English teacher. Emily is infatuated with the new girl at school. And Hanna is using some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. Deeper and darker still is a horrible secret the girls have shared since sixth grade—a secret they thought was safe forever.

Then the girls start receiving threatening messages signed by someone named ""A."" Could ""A"" be Alison, the ultra-popular girl who disappeared three years earlier? Alison was their best friend. She knew everything about them. But if Alison isn't ""A,"" who is? And how could anyone else know so much about the bad girls they were and the bad girls they've become? Suddenly, their secrets—the big ones, the little ones, even the long-buried ones—no longer seem so secret. Suddenly, nothing is safe in Rosewood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jun 8, 2010
• ISBN: 9780062014115

Sara Shepard

Sara Shepard is the author of two New York Times bestselling series, Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game, as well as the series The Perfectionists. She graduated from New York University and has an MFA from Brooklyn College.

Reviews for Pretty Little Liars

[readstolive · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I mean, it's exactly what I expected.Usually I read the books first before watching the movies or shows based on them, and this may just be the first series I've gotten backwards. It's my guilty pleasure teen drama ever since Degrassi lost my interest back in high school. PLL the book is exactly the same, just less cleaned up for TV; there's less off-screen 'bad' things and more frequent drinking, smoking, and swearing. I must say I do prefer book Aria to TV Aria though; TV Aria is a bit dull.

[katieloucks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Made me want to read more!

[Selina Cooper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

That was fun!! Outstanding…I loved it. Looking forward to the next in the series. Most fun I’ve had listening to an audiobook in a long time!! ?

[dakota cental · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I binged this series back in middle school and I'm actually really surprised that it held up.

[Vicki Mclemore · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

love the TV show

[StefanieBarceleona · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story! Very well written. This is one of my favorite series, and I do enjoy to read the books. Can’t wait to read the next books of this series!

[Alice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Obviously fairly light entertainment, but we'll written, well structured and read in an engaging way.

[asma humayun · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quran hadeesh

[mrsbush_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Ridiculous. Unrealistic characters and situations. But I know how popular this series is, so I had to read it. I'm embarrassed to say, that I am actually intrigued to figure out who A is.

[fictionvictim · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Re-releasing this with updated lingo really is killing the nostalgia of the book that I came back for. Like what's wrong with American Idiot being the ringtone? Why is it Billie Eyelash? I do want to see how she pulled out a Nokia. It's what shows the differences between then and now.

Do you understand how weird it is to say Billie Eilish is playing in a 2006 novel? She was 5.

[boufaroni · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Re-read this since the new PLL: Original Sin show just aired on HBO. Now rewatching the older series as well. I got into the tv show before the books - which I don’t believe I continued reading the series while I was in college. Now is that time, so buckle up!

I read a newer ebook edition of this and they’ve made some edits to make it more up to date which was interesting. I was switching between the audiobook and the ebook and noticed they refer to Fear Factor in the audio but in the ebook they say Tik Tok. There’s lots of other examples like this and I like that they are updating it to remain relevant and hopefully invite a new audience (especially with the new show out). I’ve always enjoyed the twisty thriller mystery that PLL is, and it’s fun to revisit it after so many years!

[lilliancox · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This story has lots of twist and turns and that was very fun. I usually do not like mystery books but I really liked this one to the point that I have nearly finished the series. The only reason it is rated as 'good' it because it was not very impacting to me. This is a good book though and I will/have recommend this book again, and again. The characters are great and the story is well written. Good read.

[purple_pisces22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’ve never seen the television show based on this series, so I went into this blindly. The 5 girls each have secrets. Then one girl disappears leaving no clues. And the book takes off. The story moves forward with no clue as to what happened to Alison, but each girl is secretly relieved because Alison held secrets on all of them.
The girls drift apart over the years which is why there’s a delay in realizing that they are each experiencing something similar which seems to be related to Alison.
Since this is number one a large series, many questions are answered, yet many more are left open. Then cliffhangers were pretty enticing and I can’t wait to read the next book.

[preston.kringle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Being a fan of the series, I was interested to reading the books in which the series were based on. Pretty Little Liars tells of four friends and their lives years after their friend disappeared. This book covers a week in the lives of Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hannah (which in the series equals up to the first episode) as they begin their junior year and each start to encounter their pasts. This book is a quick read which each chapter switching to a different girl from where they have been, the mysterious A, what happens next etc it however is not until the last chapters that we see these friends reunite. Overall this book is interesting and leaves the reader wanting more yet leaves them in a mystery as to not knowing what will happen next as with each character.

[AntoStacruz · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this fifth part; it's clear how Sara is improving as a writer and how she was able to give more depth to the characters. The ending left me hooked, and today I'll continue with the sixth part. Spencer is establishing herself as the best. (Translated from Spanish)

[ilydev · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think it's a good book, it's mostly about the description and lives of the protagonists, and it kept me entertained for these 4 days it took me to read it. I believe this is an introduction to what is coming with -A, just like with the series, I highly recommend it. (Translated from Spanish)

[aprilbn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No wonder there are so many books. This complete one is just the first chapter of the series. But it looks promising. It's definitely more raw and dark than the series. Let's hope it stays that way. (Translated from Spanish)

[Itzanamy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In line with this saga, it remains fast-paced and entertaining. I'm starting to get to know the protagonists better, even seeing defined traits in their personalities. I really liked it; I think this is getting better, and I hope it continues like this. (Translated from Spanish)

[arkevans · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A youth saga that is quite entertaining and fun... with interesting themes and good plot twists... (Translated from Spanish)

[SaraGal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's my favorite saga ✨ (Translated from Spanish)

[angelarenea-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really didn't like that there were so many brands all through the book! The first half felt like one big advertisement. But other than that I really liked it especially because I didn't get to see the beginning of the TV series so I really didn't know the whole background (like Mona, I was just kinda like what's a Mona?) and stuff about all the people. That being said the books and the TV series seem really different. Like I saw some of the stuff in the first book when I was watching and I started really late into the show, but it was still the first book, but I already started the second book and stuff from that book happened already in the TV series too. (And out of order, like the stuff in the second book happened in the show before stuff in the first book happened) I know this is a review for the book not the tv show but I also know it was written to be a show not a book so.

[loslibrosdeyaz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It didn't captivate me as much as the previous books. Is the sixth one better than this? Let's hope so, because it can't be that a TV series is better than the books. (Translated from Spanish)

[majesdane-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best guilty pleasure murder mystery series you will ever read.

[tonifgmamtc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't watched the tv show. I'm not a big fan of teenage angst and drama so I didn't think this would be for me. Surprisingly, I liked it quite a bit actually. In the beginning, I was worried that it was actually going to be middle grade level because that's where it starts, but most of the story happens when they are in the last couple of years in high school. The author does a good job of making you interested to learn who A is.

[kayla.krantz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love this story. Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily are four normal girls that drifted apart after the glue of their group, Ali, suddenly went missing. They are eventually drawn back together by the presence of an unfamiliar person by the name of "A". This is a great thriller. However, I thought there was a bit of over explaining at times -the author put a lot of emphasis on the outfits of ALL the characters- and the tense usage seems to be all over the place. It threw me a little bit while I was reading, but the story line definitely makes up for it.

[bravenewbks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So I *think* this may be the modern equivalent of a Sweet Valley Twins book. These girls are seventh-graders, at least at the beginning of the story. But boy have the themes changed from what I recall! Alongside the familiar petty squabbling, social bullying, and intermittent backstabbing that seem to be the hallmarks of feminine adolescence, there are: student/teacher affairs (oddly the legal implications of a high school teacher having an intimate relationship with an underage girl are never addressed), extramarital affairs (of parents, witnessed by children), murder, incest (well, if you consider stepbrother/stepsister to be incest... otherwise it's just molestation), bulimia, and lesbianism. It's soap opera all the way, in book form, but with disturbingly young characters. However, the hint of mystery is very well done (I seriously can NOT figure out how the author is going to explain it) and the book ends on something of a cliffhanger, which unfortunately sent me immediately in search of the next installation. I'm a little ashamed of myself, but this is book was like a potato chip -- once you have one, you're going to keep eating them regardless of how bad they are for you.

[crazy4reading · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pretty Little Liars is about a bunch of spoiled rich girls. That is what I gathered just from this book. Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna and Allison are all friends in 7th grade. Allison goes missing one day in the summer and the girls drift apart.

Three years later the girls start receiving text messages, emails and letters with little notes about the girls different secrets. All messages are signed A and the girls each wonder if this could be Allison.

I can see why this book and series would appeal to some and not others. I think this is typical of how girls are in real life to some extent. I might continue with the series.

[dom76-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I saw the first episode and was curious about the book. I really enjoyed the book. The plot was interesting.

[thegrandworldofbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can see why this book often gets called a "guilty-pleasure", because it is not really the kind of book that you necessarily want to admit you've liked. It is full of spoiled-rotten, back-stabbing rich girls. Girls who think they can do whatever they want...including sleeping with a teacher. Which seems almost perfectly acceptable in this book, which I think sends the wrong message to the actual age group this book is geared towards.

I think that probably the only reason I like this book is because it is, on some very basic level, a good mystery. The rest of the story is shallow and I couldn't really relate to it, but I love a good mystery, and in spite of myself I found myself wanting to know who "A" is. And I will definitely read book 2. Possibly read on at least until I find out who "A" is, and then I'll see how I feel about the series from there.

This is definitely a guilty-pleasure, but not one I can bring myself around to fully enjoying yet. As stated above, I just have too many issues with the book to have fully enjoyed it. Maybe I'll come around more with book 2.

[gaby81-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the show and i haven't had the chance to read the book because i couldn't find them in my country. Now i finally found the first 5 books of this saga and im just getting started to read them.

This first book was amazing,i loved it from begining to end.