Flawless

“The sweetest smiles hold the darkest secrets…” Flawless by Sara Shepard is the second book in the Pretty Little Liars series, which continues the story of four friends that are very close, Aria, Hanna, Emily, and Spencer. Originally there were five friends, but one of them named Ali went missing while they were having a sleepover in the summer. This is a traumatic event for everyone in town because Ali seemed to somehow have a connection with everyone. She kept a lot of secrets and was involved in many dangerous and complicated activities. However, it seemed like she was never caught, until trouble finally caught up with her after “The Jenna Thing”.

After Ali’s disappearance, the friends drifted apart, until a year later, when someone had recovered Ali’s body. Right after Ali’s funeral, all of the girls receive the same text, signed by A. The four girls have no idea who A is, but it’s scaring them because A knows all the secrets that only Ali knew and threatens them to do something dangerous in order for their secret to be kept safe. Together, they try and found out who this “A” is but along the way, they have some devastating and stressful  experiences.

Pretty Little Liars is one of my favorite series because it is filled with creepy plot twists, and every chapter ends with a cliffhanger which makes it interesting and difficult to put down. One of the themes in Flawless is loyal friendship, because even though Aria, Hanna, Emily, and Spencer are all going through difficult times, they still stick together and are so honest with each other. In addition, A is always threatening them and trying to break apart their friendship but they always overcome it and make their friendships stronger. The characters in Flawless are well thought out, realistic, and filled with specific details which helps the reader feel like they are in the story. The series must be read in the correct order to avoid spoilers and confusion. I think that the readers of this book should be in 6th-10th grade because it does become somewhat scary and PG13. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading exciting, drama filled books, that at the same time have many of freaky factors. Flawless by Sara Shepard is definitely a book worth reading.