Book Shelf: Pretty Little Liars (the Book Series!) -Blogmas Day 10-

Sometimes I have a craving to reread a book series, and recently, that series has been Pretty Little Liars. I read this series--I kid you not--back in middle school before the TV show was even a thing. I know that the show is wildly popular and most people don't even consider divulging into the books.

There are sixteen books total, but so far I've only read the first eight. I'm currently waiting for the next set of four to come in the mail (actually, just nine and ten--annoyingly enough, eleven and twelve came first), but I wanted to touch upon the first half of the series before I get too wrapped into the second!

Just like the show, the books follow four high school girls, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily, who, a few years after their best friend goes missing, begin to receive mysterious texts from an anonymous source who seems to know everything about them. The show is great in its own way, but the books are honestly 100 times better. The author, Sara Shepard, has an amazing way with words and the story lines and characters are so in depth and beautifully developed. 

While the first set of four books are fairly similar to the first season or two (or three?) of the television show, but starting with the fifth book is where I think the book series goes leaps and bounds ahead of the show. While the first story arc is great, I think the second is really stellar, which is why I can't wait to dig into the third and the fourth!

Aside from the main novels, there's also two companion novels. Pretty Little Secrets takes place between book four and book five during Christmastime. It doesn't particularly relate to the main points of the story arcs, but it was still a great and entertaining read--the way Shepard connects plot points and works out story lines is beyond brilliant. Ali's Pretty Little Lies should only be read after you finish reading the eight book. I cannot stress that point enough, because it is seriously a world of spoilers if you don't finish the second story arc. That being said, it totally clarifies a lot of points on Alison herself, and I found myself audibly gasping often while reading for the first time. 

All in all, I cannot recommend these book enough. Even if you're a complete fangirl for the television version, I think you will find the books even better if you go into them with an open mind!

Pretty Little Liars: book or TV show?