Stunning (Sara Shepard)

  

 Stunning          

 Sara Shepard   

 HarperCollins   

 6/5/2012           

 *Purchased        

 









Synopsis:
    In Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four stunningly beautiful girls are haunted by a very ugly past. Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily want nothing more than to forget Alison DiLaurentis, their former best friend who tried to ruin their lives. But someone refuses to let her memory die. A is still out there, lurking in the shadows and digging up the pretty little liars' newest secrets.


    Emily's reconnecting with an old flame, one baby step at a time. But is she headed toward true love or another bundle of heartache? Spencer's learning about the highs and lows of campus life on a trip to Princeton. Aria's seeing a whole new side to Noel's dad—and it could drive a wedge between her and Noel. And, for better or worse, Hanna's getting in touch with her inner A.

    Secret by secret, lie by lie, the girls get tangled in A's dangerous web. A knows about everything, from their tiniest transgressions to the awful incident in Jamaica. Soon A will have enough ammunition to pull the trigger and end the pretty little liars, once and for all. . . .


My thoughts: 
    It's weird to think about the start of this series. It was one of the first books I ever received to review. The third book was about to come out, so the publisher sent me books 1-3. I had never heard anything about them. After I read the first book I was in love. They became an addiction for me. I would anxiously await the next release.
   
    As I was falling in love with them, they became a craze. All of my friends were asking to read them before the show started. When the show came out I gave it a try. I just could never get as in to it as I had hoped. These were not the characters I had become friends with. I did however manage to watch half of season one before giving up.

    The book series remain amazing through book four. That was where I was told it would be ending. Then the series was expanded to 8 books and became a "good" series. There is a solid end after book 8. Now the series has been expanded on again and I am finding it to be more stereotypical YA. Basically everything that a character could ever face in any book happens in this series now.

    Yes, I understand there has to be a lot of drama and "thrills" but it's the other parts that bug me. Stunning, had many of these weird, far fetched aspects. For example, cross dressing? This is not a big giveaway and not a big character, so don't worry, I'm not spoiling it for you. How many teenagers actually know someone who likes to cross dress? I know some people do but with everything else these girls face I found this to bug me.

    I'm not saying this a bad series at all. I love this series. I purchase every book in hardback. I started this series years ago and these are still the same characters I fell in love with. I just think it could have remained one of the best series I have read had it stopped at book 8.