Pretty Little Liars (book series)

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

Pretty Little liars

File:PrettyLittleLiarsSeries.jpg
Author	Sara Shepard
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Young-adult fiction
Publisher	HarperTeen
Media type	Print

Pretty Little Liars is a series of 12 young adult novels by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four girls — Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily — whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. Three years 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.

The first novel, Pretty Little Liars, was released in August 21, 2007. It was followed by seven other books: Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable, Wicked, Killer, Heartless, Wanted, and Twisted. The tenth book in the series, Ruthless was published on December 6, 2011. Stunning, the next book in the series, has a release date of June 1, 2012. A 12th and final book has also been planned.

A "companion" book, Pretty Little Secrets, is set to be released on January 3, 2012. The book will be set during the winter holidays between books Unbelievable and Wicked.

A television series based on the books currently airs on ABC Family. The series stars Troian Bellisario as Spencer, Ashley Benson as Hanna, Lucy Hale as Aria, and Shay Mitchell as Emily.

Characters

"A" is the main antagonist of the series. An extortionist, "A" is an individual who is privy to the Liars' deepest and darkest secrets and uses these secrets to extract revenge on the Liars for (often) perceived wrongdoings. The first "A," Mona Vanderwaal, received burn scars as a result of a prank played by Alison DiLaurentis. She was able to discover the Liars' secrets by reading Alison's journal. During a physical confrontation with Spencer Hastings, Mona was pushed over the edge of a quarry and fell to her death. The second "A" was Alison DiLaurentis, who killed Courtney DiLaurentis, Jenna Cavanaugh, and Ian Thomas. She also attempted to kill the Liars and Spencer's sister, Melissa. Alison is presumed dead after being caught in a house fire. After accidentally killing a girl while on vacation in Jamaica, a new "A" appears, although their identity is currently unknown.

Alison DiLaurentis was an extremely popular and cruel girl who went missing three years prior to the beginning of the series. Her body was finally discovered buried under the gazebo on her family's former property, launching a murder investigation. She befriended the Liars near the end of sixth grade and, over time, was able to learn all of the Liars' most personal secrets, something that she often used against the Liars in order to keep them subservient. In Wanted, it is revealed that the "Alison" the Liars were friends with was actually a girl named Courtney, Alison's twin sister. Courtney was mentally unstable and had switched places with Alison; it was Courtney that had been murdered. Alison presumably dies after attempting to kill the Liars, although her body is never found.

Emily Fields is a semi-popular jock who is dedicated to swimming. A shy girl with a sweet personality, she is also bisexual, a fact which she takes great pains to hide until she is outed by the first "A". Although at first her parents make attempts to "de-gay" her, they eventually come to accept her. Best friends with Alison, Emily was also in love with her, a fact which caused her great anguish and continuously affects her judgement in the present. Emily took a hiatus from swimming when she accidentally became pregnant; unbeknownst to most of her family, she secretly conceived the baby and gave it up for adoption. Despite this, she received a swimming scholarship to attend UNC.

Spencer Hastings is 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 conclusions and suffers from IED. Spencer is half-siblings with Alison and Courtney, her father having had an affair around the time of Spencer's conception; her parents divorce when the affair comes to light. When she attends a summer program at Penn to improve her GPA, she becomes addicted to speed, leading her to frame a friend for possession in order to get admitted to Princeton. In Ruthless, she suffers from hallucinations and paranoia while suffering from withdrawal and guilt over her actions.

Hanna Marin is a popular, fashionable girl who "transformed" herself from being a chubby "loser" after Alison's disappearance. She struggles with both bulimia and anorexia due to insecurities about her appearance. Flighty and occasionally air-headed, Hanna often acts purely on impulse. In Alison's absence, she became best friends with Mona, not knowing that Mona was "A". Hanna's parents divorced when she was younger, after her father had an affair. Hanna dislikes her father's new wife, Isabel, and her daughter, Kate, who she forms a rivalry with. For a short time Hanna is sent to a mental institution, her father believing her eating disorders will resurface due to stress.

Aria Montgomery is an artistic, 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 a student of his; having promised to keep it a secret, she kicked out of the house after the first "A" reveals the affair to her mother. Her parents divorce and Aria's father marries his former student. Aria often feels out of place in Rosewood and tends to be attracted to older, more worldly men, which frequently causes conflicts for her. During a confrontation between the Liars and Tabitha in Jamaica, Aria supposedly killed Tabitha after pushing her off the roof of their hotel.

Books

Pretty Little Liars

Pretty Little Liars

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	March 27, 2008
Pages	286
ISBN	978-0-06-088732-2

Alison DiLaurentis' clique was formed of five girls she had consciously picked: Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields and herself. The night before seventh grade summer holidays, Alison vanishes into the night. Three years after Alison DiLaurentis' disappearance, Aria comes back in Rosewood after living in Iceland. She meets a mysterious and seductive man named Ezra Fitz in a bar and makes out with him. It turns out he is her new AP teacher in high school which makes the situation awkward for both of them. Hanna Marin who used to be fat and uncool is now the new Rosewood it girl along with former loser and now best friend Mona Vanderwaal. The two have fun while stealing from the mall and Hanna gets caught. To avoid social dishonor, her mother solves the problem but has to pay the price of making the mall drop the charges. Spencer Hastings gets introduced to her sister Melissa's new boyfriend, Wren. She finds herself very attracted to him and the two soon become more than family. Emily Fields greets the new neighbor living in Alison's house, Maya St. Germain, and explores a side of her personality she had buried since Alison had disappeared: Maya becomes more than a friend to Emily as she tries to repress her feelings toward her new friend. In the middle of what just seems to be the story of random teenage girls' lives, a mysterious person appears, "A". "A" sends text messages, e-mails and notes to Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily threatening to reveal their darkest secrets, some secrets that only Alison knew about and some secrets they have developed after her disappearance and that they haven't told anyone. Everything points out to Alison being the mysterious "A" and that she is alive and back for good. However, the St. Germains make a gruesome discovery in their yards: the corpse of Alison DiLaurentis. During her funeral, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily are shocked to see Toby and Jenna Cavanaugh attending too. This brings back memories of "The Jenna Thing", the darkest secret the girls - including Alison - have shared and have sworn to take to their graves. Before leaving the funeral, the four girls receive a text message from "A" that states "I'm still here bitches. And I know everything. -A"

Flawless

In the aftermath of Pretty Little Liars, Spencer, Hanna, Aria, and Emily are more desperate than ever to discover the identity of "A", who is still taunting them with the threat of exposing their many secrets. the "Jenna Thing" is revealed to be her blinding by a firecracker in her treehouse with her brother Toby.

Perfect

Perfect

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	May 27, 2008
Pages	298
ISBN	978-0060887384

Aria becomes homeless after humiliating Meredith, her father's new girlfriend, and goes live with her new boyfriend, Sean Ackard. Although their romance came to terms in Flawless, she starts seeing her AP teacher again, Ezra Fitz, which makes her feel bad as she identifies to the main character in The Scarlet Letter for cheating on her boyfriend. "A" reveals Emily's secret which leads the Fieldses to oblige their daughter to solve her "problem" either way she will be sent to Iowa at her aunt's farm. Emily realizes she cannot change who she is and what she feels for Maya and the situation is soon discovered by her parents. Spencer is nominated at the Golden Orchids Awards for the essay she supposedly wrote and that actually belonged to her elder sister, Melissa and "A" threatens to reveal it if Spencer doesn't. Spencer finds out she has had a blackout when she was a kid and soon discovers she may have had one the night Alison disappeared. Hanna's friendship with Mona Vanderwaal is about to end as Mona believe she spends more time with her former seventh grade friends. Hanna gets comforted by Lucas, a boy who had had a crush on her in sixth grade before becoming unpopular. After getting humiliated at Mona's birthday party, Hanna receives a text from "A" and recognizes the number. She soon calls Aria, Emily and Spencer and asks them to meet her at the Rosewood Day playground in order to reveal who "A" is. After getting busted with Ezra by the police (who was sent by Sean after he received a text from "A" revealing Aria's secret), Aria watches her homemade videos from seventh grade and suddenly realizes Ian, Melissa's then boyfriend, and Alison might have been more than just acquaintances and that Spencer, by jealousy, could have killed Alison for that reason. On the playground, as Hanna tries to reach out to Aria and Emily, she is hit by a car before she can tell them who "A" is. As they are calling the emergencies, Aria and Emily notice Spencer looking the scene from the woods and quickly running away. The girls receive a text from A stating "She knew too much. -A"

Unbelievable

Unbelievable

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	May 27, 2008
Pages	352
ISBN	978-0060887414

Hanna getting rundown by "A" (in the previous novel) but due to a head injury, she loses her memory of the previous day, thus forgetting "A"'s identity. After Emily's parents catch her with Maya at a party, they send her to live with relatives in Iowa. Depressed, Emily runs away, only coming back home when she sees her parents on the news, who tell Emily they love her and accept her sexuality. Emily breaks up with Maya when Maya sees her about to kiss Trista, a girl from Iowa who came to visit.

Aria is forced to move in with her father and his former student and fling,without wanting to; Meredith, who announces that she's pregnant and that she and Byron are to be married when Ella and Byron's divorce is finalized. While at a Hollis College art class, Aria befriends Jenna, who later reveals the real truth behind "The Jenna Thing", telling Aria that she and Alison had plotted together to get rid of Toby. Spencer's family discovers she cheated on her Golden Orchid essay, but keep it quiet to protect their reputation. Spencer confesses to Melissa about kissing Ian, as well as Ian's affair with Alison. She also admits that she's afraid she may have been involved with Alison's death. Soon, "A" starts targeting Mona as well, taunting her with things from the past, as well as what happened at her party with Hanna. Aria's brother, Mike begins to realise something is troubling his sister, and urges her to inform the police. Although worried about what "A" might do, Aria tells them about "A", and that he or she was the one who tried to kill Hanna.

The five girls begin to suspect Melissa as Ali's killer, and eventually, Spencer and Mona decide to go to the police station to turn her in. When Emily makes a sarcastic comment to Hanna, her memory is restored and she suddenly remembers "A"'s true identity: Mona. Aria, Emily and Hanna try to contact Spencer, but their constant texts makes Mona realise that they have figured it out. Mona drives to Floating Man's Quarry, along the way telling Spencer that she and Jenna used to be friends and knows the truth about "The Jenna Thing". She found Alison's diary the day Maya moved in and used the secrets inside it to taunt the girls as "A". Spencer accuses Mona of killing Alison, but Mona says that it was Ian who killed her, as Alison had blackmailed him about their relationship.

Meanwhile, Aria, Emily and Hanna drive to the police station and tell Darren Wilden about Mona and Spencer, when Spencer manages to inform them where she and Mona are. Mona tells Spencer that in the past few days she has grown to like her, although she originally planned to frame her for Alison's murder, and offers Spencer her life if she becomes "A" with her, as they could frame Melissa instead. Spencer refuses, and Mona attacks Spencer. In the struggle, Spencer accidentally pushes Mona off the cliff to her death.

Mona's body is recovered, and the truth about "A" is made public, which helps restore the girls' relationships with their families. 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.

Wicked

Wicked

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	November 25, 2008
Pages	320
ISBN	978-0061566103

A new "A" appears and begins threatening the girls with more text messages.

Emily realizes she is actually bisexual (or homo-flexible) when she falls for Isaac, a boy she met at church, but keeps it a secret because she doesn't think anyone will understand. She is afraid of revealing her past to Isaac, but "A" eventually forces her to come out to him; Isaac accepts her for who she is. Hanna, desperate to be Queen Bee once more, forms a new "it" clique with her stepsister Kate Randall, Riley, and Naomi. Hanna and Lucas break up after Hanna tells a lie about Kate on "A"'s advice.

Aria has feelings for a man, Xavier, who she met at an art show; however, he ends up dating her mother, putting her and Ella's shaky relationship at risk. Neglected by her family and feeling like an outsider, Spencer comes to believe that she is adopted when she is excluded from her grandmother's will, which bequeathed money to her "natural-born grandchildren".

Ian continues to deny killing Alison, and eventually the girls discover his body in the woods, and learn that he was murdered by "A".

Pretty Little Secrets

Pretty Little Secrets

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	January 3, 2012
Pages	432
ISBN	978-0062125910

Rewind to junior year in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, to a winter break no one has ever heard about . . . Fat snowflakes fall onto manicured lawns, quilted stockings hang over marble fireplaces, and everyone is at peace, especially Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer. Now that Alison’s murderer is in jail and A is dead, they can finally relax. Little do they know there's a new A in town . . . Rule number one of being an effective stalker: Get to know your prey. So I watch these liars day and night, keeping an eye on the trouble they get into, the messes they make, and the secrets they keep. Hanna’s desperate for a very personal session with her gym trainer. Emily is number one on Santa’s naughty list. Aria’s old flame from Iceland is about to land her in hot water. And Spencer’s resorting to some backhanded tactics to get what she wants. What happens on holiday break stays on holiday break—right? But guess what. I saw. And now I’m telling.

Taking place between Unbelievable and Wicked, Pretty Little Secrets is a very special Pretty Little Liars tale revealing the liars’ never-before-seen misadventures over their junior-year winter break.

Killer

Killer

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	June 30, 2009
Pages	321
ISBN	978-0061566134

The girls discover that the person they thought was Alison's murderer, Ian, has actually been framed. Emily has sex with her boyfriend, Isaac; his mother finds out and threatens Emily, leading to their breakup. Aria falls in love with Jason DiLaurentis, until he becomes cold and distant. Spencer meets a woman named Olivia Caldwell who she thinks is her real mother, and attempts to move to New York. However, it turns out to be a scam, and Spencer loses all her college money after giving it to Olivia.

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, Spencer, Aria and Emily all come to believe that Jason and Darren Wilden had something to do with Ali's murder. Before Ian's death, he had confirmed their suspicions about Jason and Wilden. Someone sets the woods behind Spencer's house on fire. The girls see someone who they believe to be Alison, actually alive, running away from the fire.

Heartless

Heartless

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	January 19, 2010
Pages	274

After the fire, no one believes the girls when they insist that they saw Alison, and they themselves start to believe they hallucinated it. "A" sends Emily to Lancaster, where she discovers that an Amish girl named Leah disappeared around the time of Ali's death. Emily also discovers that Darren Wilden had been Amish and left the community; she believes he killed Leah and is not to be trusted.

Thinking that she is being visited by Alison's ghost, Aria goes to a séance; she learns nothing, but meets Noel Kahn, who she grows close to and later kissed after he comes to her defense at a party. Aria sees another medium, who produces a message in Ali's handwriting that says "Ali killed Ali".

Hanna's father sends her to a clinic to prevent her eating disorder from reappearing due to stress from the Ali situation, and to cure her PTSD. Hanna befriends another patient named Iris, who she later beings to suspect had something to do with Alison's death.

"A" sends Spencer messages that lead Spencer to discover that at one point her father had been having an affair with Ali's mother. Spencer realizes the possibility that Ali and Jason are her half-siblings, and is led to believe that her mother may have killed Ali because of it. Spencer confronts her parents, but her mother is shocked to hear about the affair for the first time.

Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna are all arrested for Ali's murder; together in a jail cell, they realize that "A" has tricked each of them into believing someone else killed Ali. Wilden releases the girls and tells them that Billy Ford killed Ali; Emily recognizes him as one of the men working on Ali's gazebo. Billy is also charged for Jenna Cavanaugh's murder, and the reader is left wondering whether Billy was "A" or not.

Wanted

Wanted

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	June 8, 2010
Pages	259
ISBN	978-0061566196

With Alison's killer is on trial, the Liars think they can relax. However, they're shocked to learn of the existence of Alison's twin, 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. Newly released, she attempts to resume her sister's life and begins tentative friendships with Ali's old friends, even striking up a romantic relationship with Emily, who is overjoyed. Courtney later reveals proof that she is the real Alison, explaining that her twin, Courtney, pretended to be her on the night of the murder. Although skeptical at first, the girls slowly begin to trust Alison.

Although Spencer believes that Melissa is Courtney's killer, Alison shocks the girls by revealing that she is both A and the killer. The "Alison" the Liars had befriended years ago was actually Courtney; Courtney had managed to trick everyone into thinking she was Alison, while the real Alison was sent to the Preserve. Angry at the Liars for unknowingly ruining her life, Alison attempted to kill the girls in the forest fire, killed Jenna (who knew about Alison and Courtney being twins), and now plans to kill them by trapping them inside the DiLaurentis' Poconos house and setting it on fire. The girls discover that Alison also murdered Ian and kidnapped Melissa, who they free before escaping the burning house.

Trapped inside the house, Alison is assumed dead, although her body is never found. After the fire, Emily visits Courtney's grave in attempt to put her memory to rest. However, at the conclusion of the book, it is hinted that Alison in fact survived the fire and moved to a new town, under a new name (which is an anagram of Alison DiLaurentis).

Twisted

Twisted

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	July 5, 2011
Pages	305
ISBN	978-0062081018

Spring break of junior year, the girls go on vacation in Jamaica, where they encounter a girl who they believe is Alison, thinking she survived the fire. The girls are attacked by "Ali" on top of the hotel in Jamaica, and in an attempt to save Hanna, Aria shoves Ali off the roof, seemingly killing her.

A year later, the girls have parted ways once again. Aria has trouble dealing with the Kahn's new foreign exchange student, Klaudia, who creates rifts in Aria's relationship with Noel, wanting to steal him from Aria. In a fit of anger, Aria pushes Klaudia off a ski-lift, injuring her. Emily befriends a new girl, Chloe, and reveals that she'd gotten pregnant from having sex with Isaac and secretly gave birth to a baby girl in Philadelphia over the summer, which she gave up for adoption. Emily is now panicked about getting a swimming scholarship, her only option for college; Chloe's dad offers to help, but makes sexual advances towards Emily, ruining her friendship with Chloe.

Patrick, a photographer, offers Hanna a modeling job, after seeing her act and look better than her stepsister, Kate, who has won her father over, however he turns out to be a liar who is trying to have sex with Hanna and blackmails her with a racy photo of her partially naked. Hanna steals money from her dad's campaign fund to pay Patrick and frames Jeremiah, one of her father's campaign workers. Mrs. Hastings becomes engaged to a man named Nicholas Pennythistle and Spencer develops feelings for Zach, his son. After Zack confesses that he's gay, Spencer promises to keep his secret. However, she accidentally blurts it out after Mr. Pennythistle misunderstands a situation and beats up Zach, accusing him of sleeping with Spencer. It hinted that Spencer also ruined the life of a girl she went to an academic summer program with in order to get into Princeton.

Throughout the book, the girls are tormented with notes from a new "A" who knows what happened in Jamaica, as well as all their other new secrets. The body of the girl they pushed off the roof is found; the Liars learn her name is Tabitha and realize that they killed an innocent person.

Ruthless

Ruthless

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	December 6, 2011
Pages	336
ISBN	978-0062081865

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 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 enters 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, attempting to kill Emily by pushing her off a small cliff. 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.

Stunning

Stunning

Author	Sara Shepard
Publisher	HarperTeen
Publication date	June 1, 2012
Pages	unknown
ISBN	unknown

Planned to be released on June 1, 2012, Emily is featured on the front cover.

Reception

Publishers Weekly said of the first novel, "This is clique lit with a mystery twist: the author has spun a plethora of possibilities sure to make readers reach for the next installment in this planned four-book series and beyond." Commonsensemedia.org rated it 3 out of 5 stars, saying "This is fluffy guilty-pleasure fare, with few surprises among either the character types or the plotting. Gossip Girl fans probably will enjoy this one -- but parents who read along will find plenty to cringe over."

References

I AM A

come and find me

External links

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