Pretty Little Liars

For the television series, see Pretty Little Liars (TV series).

Pretty Little Liars

Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Young Adult Mystery Thriller Romance Coming-of-Age
Publisher	HarperTeen
Published	October 2006 – present
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback) Audiobook E-book
No. of books	16

Pretty Little Liars is a series of young-adult novels by author Sara Shepard, beginning with 2006's inaugural entry of the same name. The series follows the lives of four girls – Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery, and Emily Fields – whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis, in the 7th grade. Later, when the girls are juniors in high school, Alison's body is found, and they begin receiving various messages from someone using the alias "A" who threatens to expose their secrets and get revenge on them for what Alison did to "A".

The novels explore several serious issues such as bullying, murder, drug addiction, underage drinking, eating disorders, homosexuality, peer-pressure, infidelity, and mental illness. Moral ambiguity and the consequences of lying are featured prominently in the series; the girls constantly create their own problems through their unwillingness to tell the truth about certain events and misdeeds they have done.

The novels have frequently appeared on the The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2010, a television series loosely based on the novels began airing. The twelfth book in the series, Burned, was released on December 4, 2012. A prequel, Ali's Pretty Little Lies, was released on January 2, 2013. Additionally, a thirteenth book, Crushed, is set to be released June 4, 2013. The fourteenth and last book, Deadly, will be released in December 2013.

Overview

The series is loosely divided into three arcs of four to five books each, chronicling the introduction and reveal of each "A". The series follows the lives of four teenage girls;— Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Hanna Marin, and Spencer Hastings (nicknamed the Pretty Little Liars or simply the Liars) — whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their best friend, Alison DiLaurentis. One year after her disappearance, they begin receiving text messages from an anonymous source, "A," who threatens to expose their secrets; including long-hidden ones they thought only their close friend Alison knew. But shortly after the messages begin, Alison's body is discovered. The books progress forward as the four girls try to figure out who "A" is.

Characters

Although the series features an extensive cast of characters of varying significance, the novels focus predominantly on seven main characters:

Spencer Hastings

An extremely competitive girl who strives for perfection in everything she does. A high-strung over-achiever, Spencer is willing to do whatever it takes to win, often to the detriment of herself and others. She is often quick to jump to conclusions and suffers from IED. Spencer was a half-sister to Alison and Courtney DiLaurentis, her father having had an affair with Jessica DiLaurentis around the time of Spencer's conception. Spencer's parents later divorce when the affair comes to light. She attends a summer program at Penn to improve her GPA. Spencer has an ongoing feud with her older sister, Melissa, who is equally competitive. Throughout the book series, the two argue over the implications of their individual successes in life, such as becoming valedictorian and having award-winning essays.

Hanna Marin

A pretty, popular girl who used to struggle with both bulimia and anorexia due to insecurities about her appearance. While in seventh grade, Hanna was very overweight and developed complicated eating problems, including binge eating from stress often followed by a bulimic episode. Flighty and occasionally air-headed, Hanna often acts purely on impulse. In Alison's absence, she became best friends with Mona Vanderwaal, Ali's previous bullying target, and they transformed themselves into Rosewood's new "It" girls. Hanna's parents divorced when she was twelve, after her father had an affair. She lives with her mother and would rarely see her father, especially after he started dating an average-looking nurse named Isabel. Hanna dislikes her father's new wife, Isabel, and her daughter, Kate, with whom she forms a rivalry. For a short time Hanna is sent to a mental institution, her father believing her eating disorders would resurface due to stress. Prior to Twisted, Hanna is involved in a car accident, which leaves another girl badly injured; she covers up her involvement with the help of the Liars.

Aria Montgomery

An artistic, bubbly, independent girl whose family moved back to Rosewood after her father took a three year sabbatical in Iceland. Prior to Alison's disappearance, Aria became aware that her father was having an affair with Meredith, a student of his at the local college. Having promised her father to keep the affair a secret, Aria is kicked out of the house and goes to live with her new boyfriend, Sean Ackard, after the first "A" reveals the affair to her mother. Her parents divorce and Aria's father marries Meredith who soon becomes pregnant. Aria often feels out of place in Rosewood and tends to be attracted to older, more worldly men, which frequently causes her conflicts. For example,her relationship with Ezra Fitz, her AP English teacher, resulted in Ezra losing his job at Rosewood High. After a near-death experience, she is overcome with guilt and decides to confess to accidentally killing Tabitha (unaware she was not actually responsible for Tabitha's death).

Emily Fields

Emily is a shy, dedicated swimmer. In "Flawless" she tells her parents she wants to quit swimming, but once she is made captain she changes her mind. She was in love with Alison, and kissed her once back in seventh grade. A fact which she takes great pains to hide. She develops feelings for a new girl named Maya, resulting in a secret relationship, but she is then outed by the first "A" when a picture of them kissing in the photo booth at the Kahn party is passed out at a swim meet. Although at first her parents make attempts to "de-gay" her, they eventually come to accept her and her sexuality. After she and Maya break up, Emily meets a guy named Isaac at a church event, and realizes that she's bisexual. They start dating and Emily loses her virginity to Isaac, whom she later breaks up with. It was revealed in Twisted that Emily had gotten pregnant from her first time with Isaac and hid it from her family by staying with her sister over the summer. She gave birth to a baby girl, Violet, and was going to give her to Gayle (her friend's extremely rich boss) for money but she changed her mind and gave the baby to the Bakers, a family she met through an adoption site. Emily's change in heart on who to give the baby to greatly anger Gayle, who later threatens both Emily and the baby. Even after the baby fiasco, Emily receives an athletic scholarship to attend UNC.

Alison DiLaurentis

An extremely popular, beautiful, and cruel girl. When she and her twin sister Courtney were younger, Alison was jealous of her more popular sister and forced Courtney to impersonate her, at the same time tormenting Courtney to the point that Courtney got angry and got into a physical fight with her. When the doctors were called by girls' parents, Courtney panicked and revealed that Alison was threatening her and forcing to impersonate her. Alison (who was acting very innocently all the time) claimed it was not true and decided that her sister had to go (allegedly for everyone's safety). In the outcome, Alison's master plan worked: Courtney was recognized as a paranoid schizophrenic. Her family moved then to Rosewood to avoid attention and changed their surname Day-DiLaurentis to DiLaurentis. In the beginning of sixth grade her twin Courtney successfully tricked their mother Jessica into taking Ali to the mental hospital. Alison blamed the liars for ruining her life and swore revenge. She was the second "A" and killed Courtney, Jenna and Ian. Later on she tries to kill the girls in her Poconos home but they manage to get out. Alison is left inside and it's unknown whether she died or not. She threatened Courtney to be her, so she would seem crazy, and sent away. She kills her sister by pushing her into a hole that was originally made for a gazebo, accompanied by an unknown person.

Courtney DiLaurentis

Courtney was the good twin of Alison who the girls knew as Ali. Courtney since childhood was tormented by her twin sister (despite their initial friendship). Alison was always jealous of her more popular sister and forced Courtney to impersonate her, at the same time tormenting Courtney to the point when angry Courtney got into a physical fight with her. When the doctors were called by girls' parents, Courtney panicked and revealed that Alison was threatening her and forcing to impersonate her sister. Alison (who was acting very innocently all the time) claimed it was not true and decided that her sister had to go (allegedly for everyone's safety). In the outcome, Ali's master plan worked: Courtney was recognized as a paranoid schizophrenic. In the beginning of Alison's sixth grade, Courtney successfully tricked their mother Jessica into taking Ali to the mental hospital and she become Ali the Liars knew. Even though Courtney was mean to everyone in their school, she didn't want to be; she only did because she was pretending to be Alison. If she acted nicer to people, her family would notice the change, so Courtney always acted wrong despite her being good.

"A"

The main antagonist of the series. "A", is an anonymous extortionist who is privy to the Liars' deepest and darkest secrets, and uses these secrets to exact revenge on the Liars for (often) perceived wrongdoings. There are three different "A" characters throughout the series. The first "A", Mona Vanderwaal, was able to discover the Liars' secrets by reading Alison's old journal. During a physical confrontation with Spencer Hastings, Mona was pushed over the edge of a quarry and died. The second "A" is the "real" Alison DiLaurentis, who was sent away to a mental hospital in place of her twin sister, Courtney. She later was said to have died in a house fire, while attempting to kill the Liars. A third "A", whose identity is currently unknown, begins tormenting the girls following an incident in Jamaica during spring break, prior to the events of Twisted.

Novels

First Arc

Book #	Title	Publication Date	ISBN	Pages
1	Pretty Little Liars	October 3, 2006	978-0-06-088730-8	304
The story introduces an exclusive group of friends: "Alison DiLaurentis", the perfect yet manipulative queen bee, Aria Montgomery, an independent girl who is considered to be the oddball in Rosewood, Emily Fields, a swimmer who holds secret feelings for Alison, Hanna Marin, who strives to be thin and popular like Alison, and Spencer Hastings, an overachiever who is brave enough to stand up against Alison's manipulative ways. Alison mysteriously disappears during a sleepover with the girls in the summer before 8th grade. The story then jumps 4 years later, when the girls are living their own lives and don't speak to each other. Aria returns to Rosewood from a 3 year trip to Iceland with her family and comes back much more sophisticated than before she left. She meets and makes out with a guy in a local bar who is revealed to be her English teacher, Ezra Fitz. Emily befriends the new girl in town, Maya St. Germain, and soon develops romantic feelings for her. Hanna is the new popular girl in town alongside the former nerd, Mona Vanderwaal. However, she and Mona sometimes shoplift though both can clearly afford their steals. Hanna battles the urge to turn back to bulimia, and struggles to manage the stress of keeping her queen bee status. Spencer continues to struggle in her long-standing rivalry with Melissa Hastings, her perfect older sister. Problems occur when she begins to feel attracted to Melissa's new boyfriend, Wren Kim, when he is introduced to the family. Throughout the story, the liars get messages threatening to reveal their secrets of the present and past, including a terrifying incident the girls refer to as "The Jenna Thing". They automatically believe it is their missing friend, Alison, because she is the only one each of them confided in regarding their darkest secrets. However, they are shocked when the police find her corpse buried in the gazebo of her former house. The book ends with the liars receiving a text at Alison's funeral saying, "I'm still here, bitches. And I know everything. -A ".
2	Flawless	March 27, 2007	978-0-06-088733-9	352
Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery, and Emily Fields continue to receive text messages from an unknown person, "A", and are more desperate than ever to discover the identity of "A", who is still taunting them with the threat of exposing their many secrets. At first the girls think "A" is Alison, because she is the only person who knew their secrets, but then they start to believe the person behind the threats is Toby, because some messages they receive refer to 'The Jenna Thing' and with Alison dead, he is the only other person who was a part of the incident, although everyone but Spencer is unaware of why he took the blame for what happened to Jenna. "The Jenna Thing" is revealed to be an incident in which Ali had set off a firework in Jenna Cavanaugh's brother Toby Cavanaugh's tree house to scare him, and Jenna had been blinded. "A" sends Emily a text message hinting that "A" knows about Emily and Maya's romantic relationship and 'A" leaves a note for Hanna that forces her to tell Naomi and Riley that she makes herself throw up and that Sean was the one who broke up with her. Later on, she receives a text that tells her Sean is at Foxy with another girl. Hanna is shocked to discover her former boyfriend Sean Ackard ignoring his Virginity Club vows and nearly having sex with Aria. "A" continuously tells Aria to either 'get rid of the problem' or to tell her mom the truth about Byron, her father, that he is seeing another woman. Spencer continues to hook-up with her sister Melissa's now ex-boyfriend Wren and later loses her virginity to him. However, Melissa starts to hook-up with him as well and eventually makes sure that he will be out of both of their lives for good. Ella finds out that Byron is having an affair with a student named Meredith Gates and kicks him out, leaving Ella and Aria's mother-daughter relationship shattered. Emily blames herself for Toby's suicide. In this book it is revealed that Toby molested his stepsister when they were in middle school. Ali and Spencer were the only ones who knew about it.
3	Perfect	August 21, 2007	978-0-06-088736-0	320
Now homeless, Aria goes to live with her new boyfriend, Sean Ackard. Still seeing Ezra, their relationship is broken up when Sean informs the police, having found out the secret from "A". Emily plans to go to the police to stop "A", which leads to "A" taking revenge by outing her to the whole school. Emily's parents threaten to send her away if she does not attend a "de-gaying" program, however, Emily realizes she can't change who she is. Spencer is nominated for a Golden Orchid Award for the essay she plagiarized, which "A" threatens to expose. Spencer's family discovers she cheated on her Golden Orchid essay, but keep it quiet to protect their reputation.Spencer comes to believe she might have killed Alison after discovering she suffers from rage-induced blackouts. Hanna and Mona get into a fight, and Hanna seeks comfort with an "uncool" boy named Lucas. She goes to Mona's birthday party but gets humiliated, but she receives a text from "A" and recognizes the number. She intends to reveal the true identity of "A" to the other girls, but is run down by "A" before she can do so.
4	Unbelievable	May 27, 2008	978-0-06-088739-1	352
Hanna barely survives being rundown by "A", and due to a head injury, she loses her memory of the previous day, thus forgetting "A"'s identity. Emily's parents catch her with Maya at a party and send her to Iowa to live with her strict, religious relatives. She is glad to be safe from "A", but after Emily is accused of threatening her cousins, she runs away. After being kicked out of Sean's house, Aria reluctantly moves in with Byron and Meredith, who announces that she is pregnant and when Bryon's and Ella's divorce is finalized, they are to be married. While at Hollis College, Aria takes an art class and befriends Jenna, who she suspects could be "A". "A" reveals to Melissa (Spencer's sister) that Spencer stole her essay for the Golden Orchid competition, but the family keeps quiet to protect their reputation. Melissa and Spencer grow closer, and Spencer confesses that she kissed Ian, and that he and Alison were secretly dating. When fragments of her memory from the night Alison died are restored, Spencer is horrified when it dawns on her that she may have accidentally killed Alison. Emily returns home when she sees her parents on TV, who tell her that they love her and accept her for who she is. Mona and Hanna's friendship is restored, and to celebrate Hanna's recovery, Mona and Spencer plan a party for her. Spencer is surprised to discover that she enjoys Mona's company, and even more so when Mona tells her that she has been receiving messages from "A". Hanna is thrilled that Mona approves of Spencer, and they consider letting her join their clique. Meanwhile, "A" tells Aria that Meredith has a secret job at Hooters, and she goes there with Mike, only to discover that "A" was lying. Darren Wilden and several other cops are there, and Aria is tempted to tell them about "A". When Mike realizes that something is troubling his sister, he urges her to tell Darren, and she eventually does. On the night of Hanna's party, Aria tells Jenna what happened the night she was blinded and apologizes for not stopping Alison, but Jenna reveals that she and Alison had planned it together to get rid of Toby. Aria asks Jenna about "A", but Jenna becomes scared and quickly leaves, hinting that she knows who "A" is. Emily and Maya are reunited, but Trista, a girl who Emily had met and flirted with in Iowa comes to visit, their relationship is shattered, and Emily is saddened further when she sees Trista and Noel hooking up. Melissa confronts Spencer about seeing Ian behind her back, which Spencer denies, and when she leaves, Spencer and Mona discover another note from "A" and suspect that Melissa killed Alison because she was jealous of her relationship with Ian. They inform the others, and decide to turn Melissa in. Mona drives Spencer to the police station, and Aria tells Emily and Hanna the truth about The Jenna Thing. When Hanna says that one in four boys sexually abuse their sister, Emily tells her not to believe everything she hears, which causes Hanna's memory to return, and she is horrified when she remembers who "A" is: Mona. Spencer is hesitant about turning in Melissa, but Mona comforts her and convinces her otherwise. Moments later, Spencer receives a text from Emily, telling her that Mona is "A". When she receives several more from the girls, who are worrying about what Mona will do, Mona realizes that they finally figured it out. While Aria, Emily and Hanna go to the police station to tell Darren that Mona is "A", Mona drives Spencer to Floating Man's Quarry, where she explains that she saw what happened on the night of The Jenna Thing, and when Maya moved in, she found Alison's diary, which contained the girls' secrets. Using the information to her advantage, she got a new phone and became "A" to get revenge on the girls for blinding Jenna. Spencer accuses Mona of killing Alison, but Mona says that it was Ian who killed her, as Alison had blackmailed him about their relationship. Spencer secretly calls Darren, who overhears her conversation with Mona and learns of their location. Mona tells Spencer that she originally planned to frame her for Alison's murder, but recently grew to like her, and thus decided to frame Melissa to do Spencer a favor. She then offers Spencer her life in return that she becomes "A" with her, as they could pin the blame on someone else. Spencer refuses and Mona attacks her. They fight on the cliff's edge, and in the struggle, Spencer accidentally pushes Mona off the cliff to her death. Aria, Emily and Hanna arrive on the scene with Darren and police, and find Mona's body and an unconscious Spencer. Hanna is shaken with the news that Mona is dead, and that her best friend was in fact her worst enemy all along. Spencer wakes up and tells Darren that Ian killed Alison, and Hanna finds Mona's Blackberry which she used to be "A". A while later, the truth about "A" is made public, which helps restore the girls' relationships with their families. Hanna still has Mona's Blackberry, and before turning it in, she deletes all the messages Mona sent her to keep her own secrets safe. Ian is arrested and the girls go to his court hearing, where he pleads not guilty. As they leave, the girls are relieved that they can move on with their lives and forget about "A", but Emily catches a glimpse of someone who resembles Alison and is unsure if that will ever happen.

Second Arc

Book #	Title	Publication Date	ISBN	Pages
5	Wicked	November 25, 2008	978-0-06-156607-3	320
A new "A" begins making threats. Ian denies being Ali's killer. Emily finds herself confused about her sexuality once again, as she now has feelings for a boy she met at church, Christian singer Isaac. Hanna still overcome with shock after discovering Mona Vanderwaal was really "A", still can't seem to catch a break. She now has trouble with her stepsister Kate Randall. Aria has feelings for a man, Xavier, who she met at an art show; however, he ends up meeting and dating her mother through an online match site. This puts her at risk of hurting her mother again and further damaging their newly repaired relationship. After being neglected by her family and feeling like an outsider, Spencer comes to believe that she is adopted. At a party at a hotel opening, Hanna and Kate continue to fight over title of "Queen Bee". Hanna and Lucas break up after Hanna tells everyone that Kate has herpes at a party to sabotage her. Eventually, Hanna's father forbids her from talking to anyone except Kate. Aria moves in with Meredith and Byron to avoid Xavier as his true intentions will jeopardize Aria and Ella's relationship. Emily tries to date Isaac without him finding out about her orientation, though "A" keeps interfering. In the end, Spencer, Emily, Aria, and Hanna find Ian's body in the woods behind Spencer's house, but when they return with the police, the body is missing. Wilden sort of pushes it off, and begins the search hours after the girls had shared their story.
6	Killer	June 30, 2009	978-0-06-156611-0	352
The girls discover that the person they think is Ali's murderer — Ian Thomas — has actually been framed, and they start to wonder if the new "A" really wants to threaten them or just to solve the mystery. Emily has sex with her new boyfriend Isaac, whose mother finds out and banishes Emily from their house without Isaac knowing. Hanna and Kate compete for the affections of Aria's brother Mike Montgomery, while Aria falls in love with Jason DiLaurentis again. Spencer meets a woman named Olivia Caldwell who she thinks is her real mother, and attempts to move to New York, but it turns out to be a scam and she loses her college money. At the opening party for Radley, a former so-called "haven for troubled youth", Emily finds proof that Jason DiLaurentis had been a patient there, and soon Hanna, Aria, and Emily all come to believe that Jason and Darren Wilden had something to do with Ali's murder. Ian Thomas confirms their suspicions about Darren and Jason right before someone sets the woods behind Spencer's house to fire. While Aria is trying to get to Spencer's barn to show them Ali's flag from 6th grade, she finds someone caught in the woods because of the fire, saves this person, and then they all recognize her as Ali.
7	Heartless	January 19, 2010	978-0-06-156614-1	304
After the fire, no one believes the girls when they insist that they saw Alison. "A" sends Emily to Lancaster, where Emily comes to believe Wilden is Alison's murderer. Aria begins a relationship with Noel Kahn, after he defends her at a party. She visits a medium, who produces a message in Ali's handwriting that states that "Ali killed Ali." Hanna's father sends her to a clinic to prevent her eating disorder from reappearing due to stress, where she befriends a troubled girl named Iris. Hanna has more dreams about Ali, which causes her to suspect that Iris had something to do with Ali's death. "A" reveals to Spencer that her father had an affair (and that Alison is Spencer's half-sister), making her suspicious of her mother. The Liars are arrested for Ali's murder. They realize that "A" has tricked each of them into believing someone else killed Ali. However, a man named Billy Ford is soon arrested for murdering Alison and Jenna Cavanaugh.
8	Wanted	June 8, 2010	978-0-06-156617-2	272
Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer are shocked to learn of the existence of Alison's twin sister, Courtney, when she's introduced at a press conference. Courtney had spent her life in institutions due to "health issues" and her existence was kept secret by her family. She's finally released and goes home to Rosewood, where she attempts to resume her sister's life and begins tentative friendships with Ali's old friends. She later reveals that she's actually Ali; that the real Courtney had pretended to be her on the night of Ali's disappearance, and she was the one who was killed. When she tried to tell her family who she was, they didn't believe her because Courtney was notorious for pretending to be Ali, and sent her back to the institution in Courtney's place. The girls are thrilled that Ali is back, and jump at the chance to go with her to the family's house in the Poconos after a school dance. On the way there, Spencer gets a frantic call from her mother telling her that Melissa has disappeared. Spencer had begun to believe that her sister was the one who killed Ali and that she may be after the rest of them, but once they arrive at the house it's revealed that Ali is the killer. They discover that the girl they were friends with years ago was actually Courtney, and the real Ali was stuck in an institution. She had killed Courtney for ruining her life, attempted to kill the girls in the forest fire, tried to have them arrested, and is now going to kill them by setting the house on fire. They're able to escape after stumbling onto Ian's body hidden in a closet and releasing a bound Melissa, who Ali had kidnapped and was planning to kill as well. Ali is trapped inside the house and it's assumed she died in the fire, although her body is never found. After learning that her ex-husband shipped Hanna off to a mental institution, Ashley Marin transfers back to Rosewood and kicks Hanna's father, Isabel and Kate out of the house, thrilling Hanna. Hanna and Mike get back together, and Meredith goes into labor, giving birth to a girl named Lola. Aria and Noel get back together after it's revealed that Ali kissed him, not the other way around, and Ella breaks up with Xavier after learning of his inappropriate behavior towards Aria. Spencer's father proclaims that even though he and her mother may not get back together, things are going to change for the better in their family, and Spencer and Melissa grow closer after almost being killed. Emily buries everything she can find that reminds her of Ali at Courtney's grave, hoping she can finally find closure, but is unsure of whether the noises she hears at the cemetery are real or imagined. And somewhere, a new girl starts her senior year at an anonymous school, a girl whose name just so happens to be an anagram of Alison DiLaurentis.

Third Arc

Book #	Title	Publication Date	ISBN	Pages
9	Twisted	July 5, 2011	978-0-06-208101-8	320
The book begins with the girls vacationing in Jamaica and Emily seeing a girl who she believes is Ali. Throughout the rest of the book, details about that fateful vacation emerge. It turns out they pushed the girl they believed was Ali (who had been claiming her name was Tabitha Clark) off a building. In the meantime, Noel, Aria's boyfriend, has an exchange student, from Finland, comes to live with him. Instead of being the nerdy boy, Klaudius, that Noel expected, the exchange student turns out to be a gorgeous blonde, Klaudia, who tries to steal Noel from Aria. Aria ends up accidentally pushing Klaudia off of a ski lift as an act of self-defense, however Klaudia uses that information against Aria. By that point, Aria and Noel's relationship is shaky and uncertain. Also, Emily meets a new girl, Chloe, who moves into the Cavanaugh's old house. They immediately become good friends, bonding over Chloe's baby sister, Grace. Emily has now given up hope of getting a swim scholarship, her only option for college. Chloe's dad offers to help but also hits on Emily, even making sexual moves towards her. Chloe walks in on her dad kissing Emily, but thinks that it's Emily who is wrecking her family (her father had previously been cheating). The girls start to get messages from a new "A", and believe it's Ali and that she somehow survived the fall from the building. Hanna's dad runs for senator of Pennsylvania. Patrick, somebody who's helping out at the set, offers Hanna a modeling job, but he takes some naughty pictures and threatens her with them, saying he will release them to the public and ruin her dads' chances of becoming senator, unless she gives him $10,000. Hanna steals money from her dad and frames Jeremiah, a mean man who is also working on set. Spencer's mom has begun to date Nicholas Pennythistle, the father of snobby Amelia and her brother Zach, in whom Spencer develops a romantic interest. When they go out dancing, she kisses him, only to find out Zach is gay. When the Hastings and Pennythistles travel to New York together, Spencer and Zach drunkenly fall asleep in the same bed. During the night, Spencer had kicked off her clothes because she was hot, leaving her in her blouse and underwear. The next morning Mr. Pennythistle wakes them both up by entering the room. Their indecent clothing and close proximity leads Mr. Pennythistle to believe that they had slept together and acts violent. Spencer tells him that Zach didn't touch her and that he's gay, hoping to help, but Mr. Pennythistle becomes furious and sends Zach to military school. Zach and Spencer's friendship ends, Zach leaving Spencer with the words "Rot in hell, bitch". In the end of the book, the news turns on and a teenage girl's dead body was found floating in the water in Jamaica. They identify this girl as Tabitha Clark from New Jersey. The cops believe her death was a tragic accident - not a murder. The girls realize they killed an innocent girl.
10	Ruthless	December 6, 2011	978-0-06-208186-5	352
It is revealed that last summer while Spencer was taking AP courses at Penn, she began taking speed pills as a way to help with studying. After being arrested by the police for possession, she arranges for Hanna to help her frame her roommate, Kelsey, as a dealer, in order for Spencer to not face charges. After landing the role of Lady Macbeth in the school play, the stress and guilt begin to take their toll on Spencer, causing her to have frequent hallucinations in which she is haunted by Kelsey and Tabitha. She becomes paranoid and begins to believe Kelsey is "A" and is taking revenge on her for being framed. Emily accidentally meets Kelsey at a party and is instantly smitten with her. She and Kelsey grow close, much to Spencer's disapproval. After Emily is hurt by Spencer's remarks about her love for Alison, she angrily tells Kelsey that Spencer framed her for the drug possession. Depressed, Kelsey overdoses and attempts to throw herself into the quarry where Mona died, but Emily saves her and Kelsey is sent to the Preserve for treatment. While visiting Kelsey, the girls realize that Tabitha was also a patient at the Preserve and was the same age as Alison and Courtney. Hanna's father her on to help with the social media aspect of his campaigning. She meets a boy named Liam, who she falls for, despite knowing he is the son of her father's political opponent. They break up when she learns he has been seeing multiple other girls while dating her, and reconciles with Mike. And after Aria is dumped by Noel, she seeks out comfort in Ezra, in hopes of rekindling their romance. However, things are strained between them, and Aria eventually goes back into a relationship with Noel, after discovering Ezra and Klaudia being intimate. The Liars attempt to circumvent "A's" threats by coming clean about their secrets, with varied success. Meanwhile, "A" becomes more violent, shoving Emily down a hill at Stockbridge trail. "A" sends Spencer an email of Tabitha on the beach with a head injury, indicating that "A" was the one who disposed of Tabitha's body. "A "taunts the Liars, stating they will never discover "A's" true identity.
11	Stunning	June 5, 2012	978-0-06-208189-6	320
The Liars begin to suspect a woman, Gayle, might be "A", when she comes to Rosewood and begins to harass them; it is revealed that Emily backed out of a deal to let Gayle adopt her daughter in exchange for $50,000 paid under the table. Emily finds herself reconnecting with Isaac while attempting to tell him about her pregnancy, but she fears the repercussions of such a confession. Spencer visits Princeton hoping to join an Eating Club, but "A" interferes and spikes Spencer's pot brownies with LSD and Ritalin. Aria panics when she finds out Noel's father is a drag queen and ends up putting her relationship with Noel at risk when "A" threatens Aria to expose Noel's father photo publicly. On a tip from "A", Hanna begins spying on Mike's new girlfriend, Colleen. Later she becomes publicly humiliated by "A" when she sends everybody a video of Hanna stalking Colleen, and her desperate ways of getting Mike back. Gayle is murdered by "A" and it is revealed that she was Tabitha's stepmother. Tabitha's father speaks at Gayle's funeral, and announces that Tabitha's autopsy showed no trace of alcohol, meaning that she was murdered. He thus plans to re-open the investigation into her death, and threatens the killer that he will find him, both Gayle's and Tabitha's killer.
12	Burned	December 4, 2012	978-0-06-208192-6	336
It is revealed that prior to the events of Twisted, the Liars covered up Hanna's involvement in a car accident that left another girl, Madison, badly injured. While on a school-sponsored cruise in the Caribbean, the Liars uncover clues that suggest "A" is more than one person. They begin to suspect Naomi Zeigler of being "A", after she befriends Hanna (who is unaware that Madison is Naomi's cousin) and attempts to sabotage Spencer's new relationship. Aria becomes friends with a boy named Graham, only to discover he is Tabitha's ex-boyfriend, leading the Liars come to believe that Naomi and Graham are working together as "A". Meanwhile, Emily falls for a stowaway, Jordan, unaware that she is a thief on the run from the authorities. After an explosion on the boat, the Liars go off on their own to bury "evidence" of their connection to Tabitha (Tabitha's locket, which "A" had planted for Noel to find). "A" tampers with their lifeboat, nearly stranding them in the middle of the ocean. The near-death experience pushes the girls into wanting to confess about killing Tabitha. However, as they make plans to come clean about everything, they discover that they were not responsible for Tabitha's death at all: She had been bludgeoned to death by "A". The Liars finally come to believe that "A" is, in fact, Alison, as Emily reveals that she may have helped Alison escape the burning Poconos house in Wanted.
13	Crushed	June 4, 2013	TBD	TBD
It's springtime in Rosewood, but while everyone else is searching for the perfect prom dress, Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Aria are on a different kind of hunt: They're looking for A.... Hanna puts her campaign for prom queen on the back burner to volunteer at a burn clinic, where one of A's victims is recovering. Emily digs into Ali's past at the mental hospital with some very crazy consequences. Spencer contacts an amateur private eye to help her stalk her stalker. But when their sessions get a little too private, they may forget to keep their eyes on A. And Aria's worried that A is even closer than she thought. When her dark secret from Iceland comes to light, she discovers that maybe, just maybe, the one person she's been trying to hide the truth from has known all along. The liars are finally taking the fight to A. But no matter what they do, A's always one step ahead, ready to crush the girls completely. Well they find that A just may be closer than they have ever thought!
14	Deadly	December 3, 2013	TBD	TBD
The plot currently is unknown. It will continue from the events of Crushed.

Companion Novels

Book #	Title	Publication Date	ISBN	Pages
4.5	Pretty Little Secrets	January 3, 2012	978-0-06-212591-0	464
Set between Unbelievable and Wicked, the book is told from the point-of-view of the second "A", Alison DiLaurentis, as she spies on the girls during their Christmas vacation. The novel is divided into a series of four short stories, with each one focusing on the exploits of a specific girl. Spencer: Spencer and her family go to Nana Hastings mansion in Florida, and Spencer falls in love with a tennis player named Colin at the country club. Melissa seems to be helping Spencer win Colin's heart, but Colin ends up taking an interest in Melissa. During the trip, Spencer and her mother also run into Mrs DiLaurentis several times, and Spencer is confused by her mother's strange behavior around Mrs DiLaurentis. Spencer also decides to fight for Colin. After Colin dumps Melissa to go out with her, Spencer discovers he actually has a wife and child, and he is 33 years old. Spencer and Melissa decide to team up to get revenge on Colin by putting crushed Viagra in his Aminospa vitamin water right before his important tennis game. In the end, they all have a fun vacation, but Spencer worries that someone has been following her. Emily: Emily is asked to go undercover as Santa Claus at the new mall, in order to catch 4 girls who work as elves there, who are suspected of vandalizing Christmas decorations around town, including Emily's mom's baby Jesus ceramic figure. The 4 girls, who call themselves the "Merry Elves", take a liking to Emily, and it is revealed that one of the girls, Cassie, was close with Alison. Emily accompanies the girls on their biggest prank yet, but Emily's mom uses her phone to track her, and the Merry Elves get caught. In the end, the elves forgive Emily after she bails them out of jail. In the end, everyone realizes the true meaning of Christmas, but Emily can't shake off the weird feeling that someone is following her. Hanna: Hanna joins a boot camp after thinking she gained too much weight at a holiday party. She develops feelings for the instructor, Vince. She also develops a rival, Dinah, another girl who also likes Vince. After competing for Vince's affection, she and Dinah become friends after catching Kate making out with the mall's new Santa (prior to Emily), something which Hanna also photographs. After agreeing to stop chasing Vince, she celebrates by going out for drinks with Dinah, where Dinah admits she knew Alison. Hanna goes home drunk, causing her to oversleep. As she arrives at boot camp, she discovers Vince and Dinah kissing, revealing that Dinah only pretended to be friends with Hanna to have Hanna let down her guard. Hanna flees the scene, devastated, and is confronted by Kate, who, after receiving a tip-off, followed Hanna around, taking unflattering photos of her at boot camp, which she threatens to put on Facebook. Hanna counterattacks by showing Kate the pictures of her and Santa, causing Kate to back off. Hanna also improves her relationship with her father, who gives Hanna her grandmother's Cartier locket for Christmas. Hanna has a happy Christmas, despite the fact that she thinks someone other than Kate has been watching her every move. Aria: Aria goes with her father and Mike to Bear Claw Resort, but leaves to go back home after finding out that Byron invited Meredith along as well. Upon arriving at home, she is surprised by her boyfriend from Iceland, Halbjorn. Halbjorn tells her that he's running from the Icelandic police who are after him because he protested against the demolition of a puffin sanctuary. Unfortunately, his travel visa only lasts for a week. Aria proposes the idea of marrying him, and the two head off to Atlantic City to get married. At the hotel, they attend a magic show involving two panthers, which angers Halbjorn, who cares a lot about the environment. After getting married the following day, which requires Aria to forge her mother's signature and lie about her age, they go to the place where the panthers are kept. After convincing Halbjorn not to release the panthers, they go back to the hotel. The next morning, Aria wakes up to find Halbjorn gone and his clothes missing as well. On the lobby's TV, Aria sees that Halbjorn released the panthers after all. Aria goes to the courthouse and confesses to forging Ella's signature, making the marriage null and void. Upon returning to Rosewood, she is joined by Mike and Byron, who know nothing about her marriage. As they watch TV, it shows that Halbjorn has been caught, and it also shows that he has done these things in the past, including trying to blow up a demolition office. Aria is satisfied with breaking up with him, but is paranoid about someone following her. The book ends with a sign-off from the new "A," (as always) who says that the Liars' lives are going to get a lot worse.
0	Ali’s Pretty Little Lies	January 2, 2013	978-0062233363	304
Before there was "A," there was "Alison DiLaurentis". Boys wanted to date her, girls wanted to be her and somebody wanted her dead. It's the end of seventh grade, and "Alison DiLaurentis" and her friends are the girls of Rosewood Day. "Ali" runs her clique with an iron fist, and she's got enough dirt on Hanna, Emily, Aria and Spencer to keep them in line. But "Ali's" hiding a dark secret secret of her own, something so huge it would destroy everything if it ever got out. She's desperate to keep the perfect life she's worked so hard to build, but in Rosewood deadly secrets have deadly consequences. Set in the weeks leading up to "Ali's" murder, this special Pretty Little Liars tale is told by the prettiest little liar of all: "Ali" herself. For the first time ever, we see how the mystery began—and how "Alison DiLaurentis′" life ended. Note: This book is titled Ali's Pretty Little Lies but it's about Courtney (Alison's twin sister) - who pretended to be Alison, because she didn't want to go to a mental hospital.

External links

• Official website
• Pretty Little Liars: HarperTeen
• Sara Shepard official site