Perfect , by Sara Shepard

Paperback, 288 pages

Published February 7th 2008 by Sphere (first published September 1st 2007)

ISBN

075153837X (ISBN13: 9780751538373)

edition language

English

original title

Perfect

series

Pretty Little Liars #3

characters

Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Hanna Marin

setting

Rosewood, Pennsylvania (United States)

In a town where gossip thrives like the ivy that clings to its mansions, where mysteries lie behind manicured hedges and skeletons hide in every walk-in closet, four perfect-looking girls aren't nearly as perfect as they seem.
Three years ago, Spencer, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and their best friend Alison were the girls at Rosewood Day School. They clicked through the halls in their Miu Miu flats, tanned in their matching Pucci bikinis, and laughed behind their freshly manicured fingernails. They were the girls everyone loved but secretly hated- especially Alison.
So when Alison mysteriously vanished one night, Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna's grief was tinged with . . . relief. And when Alison's body was later discovered in her own backyard, the girls were forced to unearth some ugly memories of their old friend, too. Could there be more to Alison's death than anyone realizes?
Now someone named A, someone who seems to know everything, is pointing the finger at one of them for Ali's murder. As their secrets get darker and their scandals turn deadly, A is poised to ruin their perfect little lives forever.

My Review
I am a sucker for a good mystery, where you never really know who the criminal is or what is occuring. This book allowed you to become the investigator and yet it allowed you to find out all sorts of things about the main characters and who they were. I've not read the first two purely for the fact that my library does not have them, but I found that it was very easy to read this one and to understand what was happening. The characters all seemed to be unique individuals and it seemed to add this sort of edge to the whole tale. A group of friends who are all different and yet who all clearly belong to one another and need each other. Getting to read about each characters life meant that you got to understand more about them but also about the situation that had occured and perhaps what they may have done to be involved with it. From the very beginning you get this sense that Spencer is the one who is made to look like the criminal simply because of her fiery nature. Of course this is carried on throughout the book but yet I wonder if its that easy to discover who it really was.

Also you get this sneaky suspicion that perhaps alison isn't really dead and that perhaps she is the one sending all the text messages, but that makes you wonder why she is aiming it at all the girls. it leaves you wondering about what else has happened that you perhaps have not read about it. I like the stories because they are engaging and inviting, they just seemed to make the reader really look into the lines and the depth that it contains. Is there more than meets the eyes here that your not just seeing, is the characters all wearing some sort of mark. Im not sure that I could pick a character as my favorite, but I have to say that I related most with hanna because of whats she is going through. I think though that if you are, like myself, suffering from an eating disorder, then you should be careful when reading because it can be a little triggering.


I liked the way that the plot was drawn out and it has certainly made me want to get hold of the rest of the series because I find myself wanting to know the fall story. who is the murderer. the book is well written and I think that sara shepard has a wonderful talent when it comes to relating and connecting to her readers.

My rating