alexjang

** spoiler alert ** The main reason that drove me to purchase this book was that I’m a HUGE fan of the Pretty Little Liars television series. I have never read a Sara Shepard book before; I plan to start her PLL series somewhere in the near future. … THINGS I LIKED: The Cover: it’s cute, attractive, and stands out. It definitely catches your eye. The Suspense: The plot is captivating. It moves quickly, and the mystery is intoxicating to the point of no return. The sense of danger is real. No character is safe, and everyone is considered a suspect. … THINGS THAT BUGGED ME: The Prose: Shepard’s writing style was a bit hard to get into initially. I found myself a bit confused when she switched narratives between Emma and Sutton. It took me forever to get through this book. In all truth, this book was an easy read, and I’m not sure if my initial difficulties stemmed from the fact that I’ve never read anything written in this style before, but the prose caused me to put the book away for a while. I eventually went back to it, and it wasn’t until I was 100 pages in, that I was finally able to get a comfortable feel for Shepard’s prose. Character Introductions: I did not like the way Shepard introduced her characters. There basically was no introduction, it felt like characters just strutted into a scene without warning, and we were expected to know who they were, based solely upon little captions on Sutton’s facebook page - which Emma read prior to her prison sentence into the devious life that is Sutton Mercer. Sutton’s Ghostly Presence: What was the point of having Sutton hover around? She contributed nothing to the plot. Her GhostlySelf knew as much as Emma did about her. And when she did have memories, they turned out to be absolutely useless aka Sutton’s kidnapping = the snuff film; what we learned from Sutton, we also had it regurgitated to us by the other characters in latter parts of the novel. Therefore, Sutton’s ghostly presence was pointless. Emma's Trust In Ethan: I get that the boy is hott. And yes, I do love the character – he’s the only character I can stand, and that says a lot, because Ethan’s scenes in the book are very limited, but Emma knows as much about Ethan as she does about Sutton, which = not a lot. For all we know, Ethan could be Sutton’s killer. Her blind faith left me shaking my head. She’s known Ethan, what? 2 weeks. Really Emma? Really? I had so much hope for her, but it seems like the girl is constantly referring to her ‘stupid girl handbook’. The Suckish Portrayal Of Foster Parents: Being a foster kid isn’t always so bad, but you wouldn’t know it from reading this book. Every family Emma lived with seemed horrible, and I get that we’re suppose to feel sorry for the main character, but the unrealistic portrayal of the system just rubbed me the wrong way. The Eerie Similarities Between PLL & TLG: * Murder Mystery *Sutton and Allison are basically carbon copies of each other. * The use of twins * Sutton and Allison’s lingering presence in their respective book series - despite the fact that they’re both dead. * Sutton’s crew and The Liars have both done questionable things. * Anonymous stalker that terrorizes. * Anonymous event that the characters vaguely talk about Eg: “That Night” VS “The Jenna Thing” … MY PREDICTION: Charlotte’s dad is Sutton’s killer and Emma’s stalker. Their first meeting way back at the beginning of the book was made of 100% pure sketchiness. Part of me thinks this book will pull a Veronica Mars and reveal that Sutton was in a secret relationship with Mr. Chamberlain, either that, or Mr. Chamberlain was obsessed with Sutton and she rebuffed him. OR Something bigger is going on. What happened “that night” - was everyone talking about the snuff film? And what happened to Louisa (Garrett’s sister), Nisha’s mom, and Thayer - are their deaths/disappearances all related? And what exactly did Sutton do to Thayer? … So, will I be reading the next book? Absolutely. And this has nothing to do with my imagined OCD to stick out book series despite how badly they’re written. The Lying Game was intriguing, and I’m completely hooked. I am determined to see this series through and I always enjoy a good mystery. My only wish is that Shepard does not disappoint.

2022-11-14 16:30