How many books does it take for four girls to do the same illegal things, almost get arrested, and then not end up in jail despite being guilty of so much? You might be thinking of a trilogy, five books at most. According to Sara Shepard, your estimates are dead wrong. To her, the correct answer is eighteen books.
Sara Shepard’s book series, Pretty Little Liars, sounds like a good idea. The plot of the book is centered around girls- Ali, Emily, Hanna, Spencer, Aria- who are all best friends, until tragedy strikes. Ali goes missing under mysterious circumstances. In dealing with their grief, the four remaining girls start to drift apart, until peculiar notes bring them together to deal with the past and present full of secrets.
Readers normally love a bit of mystery. You add in the drama of regular high school life, the idea of it seems like the perfect read for those who enjoy young adult book series. The issue arises once you realize just how long it is. The average book series is four books long, yet Pretty Little Liars has managed to be eighteen books long total: sixteen books in the regular series, plus two companion novels. That is the first red flag. The second red flag comes in a bit later, during the fourth book in the series: Unbelievable. This is the book where the plot starts to repeat. While the details are different, the overall plot of it is completely the same. Shepard could have chosen to end the book series after Unbelievable. It would have had a satisfying ending that left readers happy that they read the series. Instead, she tried to do more and failed miserably.
Now, despite the negatives, there are some positives: it’s fast-paced, and relatively amusing. Some of the characters are likeable, like Emily, and you do get to see some growth in them. Focusing more on the general vibe than the actual plot definitely makes it more bearable.
If you have a lot of patience, and enjoy things staying the same, then this might be a book series for you. In the meantime, I will personally be putting this read back on the shelf.
