Book #4: Pretty Little Secrets

Title: Pretty Little Secrets (A "Pretty Little Liars" book)

Author: Sara Shepard

Date started reading: Jan. 8, 2012
Date finished reading: Jan. 10, 2012

Publish date: January 2012
ISBN: 978-0062125910
Number of pages: 464

Official summary: "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." (http://prettylittleliars.alloyentertainment.com/)

How I obtained the book: Pre-ordered from Walmart for $10.41

Memorable quotes:

• "It's so much more fun to be naughty..." ~ A (quote on hardback cover)
• The opening page of the book has this quote from the song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" -- "He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness' sake!" That's perfect considering the book series' concept and the stalkerish nature of A
• Description given for how Aria feels after the teacher she had a relationship with left town: "Aria felt like she had PTED -- Post-Traumatic Ezra Disorder."
• From A's closing rant: "So who am I? You'll know soon enough. But until then, I'm the shadow in the window, the whisper in the wind, the nagging feeling that someone is watching, waiting"

My commentary:

• One of my favorite things about this book series is how the author always puts a quote from "A" on the cover of the hardback books. I didn't even realize this fact until my third hardback book. It's hidden there underneath the book jacket on each one. If you pick up a paperback book, you miss out on this little hidden gem. (See above for this book's quote.)
• It's somewhat difficult to read this and basically forget stuff I've already read in the other books. It takes you back in time and even though it does a good job at pointing out that it takes place between the stuff in "Unbelievable" and  "Wicked," it's hard to ignore what I already know happens in the future. I think it would be easier if this one is read after "Unbelievable." I really think the publishing company wanted to squeeze in another book to raise the profit level of the series without adding a true book to the series. They seem to like to add books in sets of four, so they had to figure out how to make another book without having to come up with three other extras
• This book is different than the normal books in the series in that it has four set sections (one for each of the main characters). The others interweaves the storylines which is sometimes hard to follow. This one is easier to follow because you're not jumping back and forth between characters
• I honestly don't know how the author keeps coming up with these crazy secrets/lies for this book series. I don't want to spoil it for anyone else who wants to read this book, but I will say that the thing Aria does is so shocking that I would've never ever expect. It was like a jaw-dropping storyline, but it was still believable in the Pretty Little Liars world 
•  Hanna's part of the book was first and wasn't all that great. It was more just an embarrassing secret than anything else. Emily's part was good, and she came out of her weak shell a little. Aria's, as I said above, was jaw-droppingly awesome. Spencer's part closed out the book. It used Viagra in the best ever revenge plan...

Buy on Amazon.com: Pretty Little Liars: Pretty Little Secrets