Maddie's Books

When I first started reading the Pretty Little Liars books, I never imagined that I would grow to love them as much as I do now. They're by no means perfect or even of an awesome quality. But, they're a fun, light read that's a great distraction from my normal serious reading and all of the analyzing I do for school. I would recommend them to anyone and I've never written a review for any of the books before- until now.

Ruthless was another great book. One thing I like about this series is it's consistency. None of the books are ever bad or a let down (to me, anyway). They all hold interesting plot twists and are written in the same fashion. I never feel like Shepard cheats us out of anything, like some other authors do when they stretch a series out. I have noticed a distinguishable difference between the two newer books and 1-8, though. First off, they're darker. Maybe it's because the girls have aged more or because they've committed worse crimes. Either way, these books seem more serious and dangerous for each character- which I like. Also, I feel like the girls are slipping further and further into madness, so to speak. Their guilt is getting the better of them and it's hard to determine what is reality and what is paranoia. This is another attribute that I like, actually. But, I felt the need to point it out, because it IS different than in the other books.

At the same time, there are some things that I didn't like. The more you read the PLL books, the more you can predict them. I never predict the exact twists so to speak, but I'm so familiar with Shepard's writing style that I can tell which direction the next chapters are going to take or when a character's suspicions are false. For me, however, this still doesn't take the fun out of reading it. Because I can never predict the exact twists, I'm always on my feet! Also, sometimes I wonder if so much boy drama is necessary. It feels like so many guys are introduced and then taken away that it's pointless. But, at the same time, that's how it is in a lot of teenager's lives. Finally, there was just something a little... off with the writing in this novel. I'm not sure if Shepard was rushing to get it done, but the first half especially was different for me. Most of the character's held up to normal, except for Ezra. I really thought that he acted a little bit out of character here. But, maybe that's just me. Either way, I felt that the beginning was kind of weird and it took me a while to push through it. Once I got about a hundred page in, though, it did get a lot better.

I'm not sure why I felt the need to review this book. I guess I just wanted to put my opinion out there. But, all in all, Ruthless is another awesome PLL book! I'm loving the drama and new twists that are in the newer books! I can't wait to read Stunning. It seems like no matter what, these books stick with me (and probably the other readers, too). By this point, I've devoted so much time to reading it that I couldn't stop now. They almost all start to blur together after a while, which is why I've given each book four stars. In the end, though, they're always a good, quick read!