Showing posts with label sara shepard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sara shepard. Show all posts

Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars #4) Review

Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars #4)
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Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars #4) ReviewIt seems like only yesterday that Hanna Marin, Alison "Ali" DiLaurentis, Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, and Emily Fields were carefree, fun-loving seventh graders at posh private school Rosewood Day. Planning sleepovers, gossiping about boys, braiding each others hair, sharing secrets. But like the flip of a switch, everything changed. Ali mysteriously disappeared, and the four other girls parted ways. That was years ago. Now the mysterious "A" has dredged up the past once more; barraging Hanna, Spencer, Aria, and Emily with painful memories of the past via text messages. It's obvious that "A" is Ali's killer; but if the girls tell, one of them will be the next to die.
Hanna Marin has always been so full of life. Shopping as much as possible, prancing around in sky-high platforms, and perusing fashion and gossip websites to get her daily fix of all things celebrity. Seeing her lying in a hospital bed, unable to speak, bruises dotting her face, in a coma seems completely out of the ordinary. Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, and Emily Fields know Hanna, and this isn't her. But it is a reminder of just how close "A" truly is to them; and how "A's" threats are absolutely true. But Hanna isn't the only one in turmoil at the moment.
Emily Fields has suddenly been shunned by her family. The fact that she has come out of the closet, so to speak, shames her parents, and even her sister, and has landed her on a one way trip to Iowa to live with her strict aunt and uncle, along with their children. Iowa seems like the worst place on earth. But some of the people there are actually pretty cool; and very into Emily.
Spencer Hastings has finally come to the realization that she has black-outs at times, and can't help but wonder if she is the one responsible for Ali's death. With the Golden Orchid competition coming up, however, Spencer has no time to think about the past - only the future. After stealing her older sister's essay, and having it nominated for the Golden Orchid, Spencer can't believe that her family is supporting her in this competition. But it's up to her to do them proud. Too bad she has a strange feeling that somehow, her lying, stealing, cheating ways are going to come back to haunt her.
Aria Montgomery wants nothing more than to be with her older teacher, Ezra. But after "A" spilled the beans about Aria and Ezra's little affair to Aria's boyfriend, that's impossible. Suddenly, Ezra is under scrutiny, and Aria has been cast out of her temporary living space. The only thing left for her to do is to turn to her cheating father, Byron, and his artsy girlfriend, Meredith. But turning to the two of them is right up there with selling your soul to the devil, and Aria doesn't know if she's ready to do something so drastic.
It seems like decades since I completed PERFECT, and finally UNBELIEVABLE is here. Sara Shepard has outdone herself with this fabulous fourth book. After the cliffhanger in PERFECT, I didn't know that it would be possible for Ms. Shepard to concoct an even more perfect conclusion; but she has done just that. The suspense found in UNBELIEVABLE is, quite possibly, greater than any of the three previous books. Each word peaks the reader's interest, and with each page read, you can't help but find yourself dying to find out what will happen next. A jaw-dropping conclusion to an UNBELIEVABLE series!
Erika Sorocco
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The Lying Game Review

The Lying Game
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The Lying Game ReviewIn the Lying game Emma finds herself stepping into the life of Sutton, her long lost (and dead) twin sister after seeing a video of a snuff film starring Sutton placed on the internet. The novel is narrated by the dead Sutton (who doesn't remember much of her life) who watches as Emma tries to find out who killed her. The matter is complicated by The Lying Game which is popular with Sutton and her friends which involves cruel pranks that often include making the victim feel as though she is the victim of a crime.
The Lying Game is by the author of Pretty Little Liars which is one of the novels that has been packaged by HarperTeen for multiple media distribution. The book reads like a TV show (and the TV show is already in pre-production) and is a very entertaining and fast read. The mystery is intriguing but does not resolve at the end of the book (all of the characters are still suspects) there is a bit of resolution regarding a clue but the reader is still left a bit unsatisfied with the ending. The back cover (of my ARC) presents the novel as part Pretty Little Liars and part Lovely bones and honestly that's giving far more credit than the novel should get. The book is fun and trashy but can't be compared with a novel like The Lovely Bones (although if you can use this to convince your child that she should read The Lovely Bones then go for it).
Appropriateness: This is one of those books that will give conservative parents lots of worry. There is plenty of sex talk (although no actual sex), lots of drinking (complete with drinking games), criminal activity, mean girl bullying and even a bit of drug use. As is common with this genre book there is also an obsessive amount of "label dropping" as the author describes all the clothing with super-high end labels (even Emma as a foster child is obsessed with designer clothes). However, the characters in the book in no way appear normal (they're super rich) and Emma quite frequently looks down on their bad behavior. I wouldn't give the book to a high reading elementary schooler but if your middle grade reader wants to read the book it would be good to use it as an opening to have discussions of how to deal with situations (such as being at a party where everyone is participating in a drinking game) that they may find themselves in when they're older.
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The Lying Game #2: Never Have I Ever Review

The Lying Game #2: Never Have I Ever
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The Lying Game #2: Never Have I Ever ReviewIn this installment of Sara Shepard's "The Lying Game" series, Emma Paxton finds herself delving deeper into the mysterious life of her- now dead- twin sister, Sutton Mercer. The unknown murderer seems to be watching her every step and she must carefully maneuver maintaining a low-key investigation into her sister's death whilst not alerting the killer to her intentions.
In all honesty, this book is a bit slow. There's a lack of events happening and a lot of the plot happens inside Emma's or Sutton's head. Obviously, we're at a point in the story where many of her conclusions come from very little physical events and moreso the subtle words passed among the characters that are exacerbated to fit Emma/Sutton's own paranoia. The mix of inner dialogue and flashbacks paints the picture of Emma's mental state; she is a confused mess. In a genius way, it's as frustrating to the reader as it should be for our main character. This is honestly, Shepard's genius, creating a character in an extraneous situation that involves the reader in such a way that the reader ends up feeling similar emotions as to what the character is thinking. We're just as confused as Emma is. As shocking as some situations appear to be, readers may not be able to identify, but they can understand. Thankfully, the book does speed up throughout the second half.
The book is enumerated with witty one-liners (though not as many as the last book, or anything in the PLL series), deranged plot twists, and unfortunately a severe lack of character development. Shepard seems to be relying on Emma's "every-girl" quality; she fits any role that is demanded of her (as is stated many times in TLG1). Unfortunately, Shepard uses this as a cop-out on any real character development for the live twin, Emma. Although her inner dialogue has many anecdotal sidenotes, her character is not as deeply developed as it was when first introduced in the series. On the other hand, the only character development seems to be that of Sutton as she is the one we are learning more and more about. Lastly, the characterization is subpar at best. Many of the characters are one-dimensional and exhibit the emotional range of a rock. I know, that's because they're all suspects, blah-blah, the minimal amount of development may also be Shepard's strategy throughout this book. As stated before, Emma's mind is in a state of overload and confusion of her "new " life that she has inherited, maybe the one dimensional characters are just that to Emma herself, and we as readers experience that.
In conclusion, I would recommend this book for a quick read (took me The Lying Game #2: Never Have I Ever Overview

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