Pretty Little Plot

I want so badly to feel how I once felt about Sara Shepard’s books. Throughout reading the original eight books of the Pretty Little Liars series I was so intrigued by all the plot and twists that I would never have seen coming. I breezed through the books in only a day or two. I could not wait to read the next one. Unfortunately, I no longer hold this kind of love for Shepard’s books.

Pretty Little Secrets takes place between Unbelievable and Wicked. It is the story of the four girls’ winter breaks and all the mischief they got into, all the while the new A is lurking in the shadows digging dirt.

Now I have multiple problems with the setting and plot lines of this book. Let’s start with the fact that it takes place before four of the books were written (and that’s not even counting the new ones she just wrote). Because this book travels back in time the secrets have already been revealed for the most part. We already know who the new A is. We already know the Hastings’ big secret. Besides this the plots in this book feel completely random. Nothing that happens to any of the girls is even slightly mentioned in the four books that are supposed to follow this one. And the only mention to any unanswered questions in the main books is the Hastings’ family crisis. I am curious; however, to see if the situations created in this novel pop up in the next four books of the series or in the TV show.

Overall my impression of Pretty Little Secrets was not great. It breaks my heart to say, but I am no longer a fan of Sara Shepard.