Per an Instagram post, she revealed that the books will be getting a new cover to portray the new HBO max reboot it appears. She also stated that she went through the books and updated the phones the girls used to iPhones instead of the treo, blackberries and other phones that were once popular back then.
I am very saddened by that to be honest. I feel like it’s taking away from the original era? I hate how everything is about iPhones etc. I think leaving the old phone references in the books would have been perfectly fine! What do you think
sorry cousin of shepard! I understand now from the comments the timeline of andromeda, thought they all left some time after the reapers. But this makes much more sense.
Did A Have A Different Costume In The Books? In Sara Shepard's personalized Cameo website videos for fans she wears a costume that is a red coat with blonde wig and a features white face mask. Was this A's costume in the books? Or were there Black hoodies in the book too?
I know I'm probably in the minority, especially on a thread dedicated to the books/show, but I just wanted to get it off my chest.
I read the books up until Wanted (I think? Whichever one with the fire in the Poconos). Then followed the show up until like season 5-ish, and skim-watched the rest. I also HATED Marlene for how badly she screwed up the last few seasons and her refusal to admit that she can't keep her own timelines straight, but lots of threads are dedicated to that discussion, so it's probably not an unpopular opinion. On to complaining about the books.
I'm not sure what Shepard's actual writing process is like, but I wouldn't be surprised if she just lies in bed, asks herself "what is the most twisted ending I can come up with that nobody would suspect because it's just not remotely possible but who cares as long as I make $$$ since teenage girls will just eat it up?" and then forces her stories/plots to fit that ending. She did that with PLL, Lying Game, AND Perfectionists. As you can probably tell, I tried really hard to get into her books, especially since several friends RAVED about them at the time of their publication (they have all since admitted that her writing is actually terrible).
Something I found especially annoying about Shepard's writing is her tendency to toss in completely random bits and pieces of information to overly dramatize the story or when it's convenient for her to justify a plot twist. Seriously, how many times can one "hear a giggle and look around" or suddenly remember a long-forgotten/never-before-mentioned but apparently now very crucial piece of information (e.g. "Mona happened to witness the Jenna Thing" which is why she hated the Liars or "seeing two blonde heads in the back of the car" which is why the twins plot makes sense)?
I feel she has no idea what she's actually doing (beyond maybe book 8 anyways) and just relies on readers' emotional investment/interest in the stories.
Okay, I think I'm done ranting and can move on with my life now. If you reached this point in my rambling, thanks for reading!
Officially just finished the entire PLL book series, such an awesome summer read and now looking for more! Anyone have recommendations for another juicy SS series? I’ve heard good things about The Lying Game but I know she has a bunch of other series as well.
I'm just curious if anyone has read Sara Shepard's new novel Reputation, and if so...what parallels did you notice to PLL?
I started it yesterday, got maybe 10% into the novel and wasn't feeling it (which sometimes happens when I try to force myself to read). Today was a new day. From the moment I picked it back up this afternoon I couldn't put it down. I legit read for 5 hours straight.
In a way I felt like I was reading a version of the grown-up liars. There were some similar character traits. It is centered around mostly adults, but one of the main characters is a teenager (in college), and another main character has two teen daughters (one in college, one in high school) that play a significant role in it.
Like PLL, it is set in PA (a college town) and the plot centers around murder, gossip, an anonymous hacker threatening to upend people's lives, lots of manipulation, blackmailing, secrets, inappropriate relationships (that are not glamorized), and a tech savvy mystery person exposing everything. There was even a sneaky Alison-esque like character who was basically a scam artist, but that character was incredibly well-rounded. I thought she was going to zig, but then she zagged.
To be perfectly honest I enjoyed it much more than the PLL book series (but that can be taken with a grain of salt, as I did not enjoy the PLL books very much). I'll admit that some of it was predictable, but not so predictable that you didn't stop to question your theories and ideas.
It's definitely a more mature story than PLL (rated M). It started out slow, but it has a fantastic hook. It surpassed The Lying Game series as my favorite Sara Sherpard story (and I loved The Lying Game).
I think the reason I enjoyed Reputation more than the PLL series is because the characters were much more likable. In PLL, the liars were so grating that I was rooting for A, and you didn't see much of a change throughout their arcs except for in Emily and Aria. This book has characters who have flaws rather than characters who are their flaws, if that makes any sense.
Just wondering if anyone else has read it and sees the similarities to PLL.
I know most authors prefer the televised adaptations of their work to stay as close to the writing as possible. Do we know anything about Sara’s opinion of the show and how different it is to her original writing?
I only joined reddit recently so not sure if this has already been discussed!
Those fans of the books, what do you hope to get out the new PLL book coming? A small continuation or another filler book like Pretty Little Secrets? Apparently it’s an audible and not a hard copy book:/
https://preview.redd.it/zlinsiidfrp31.jpg?width=3371&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1eeb9640638da09d1b035cae402c22e1c7b08f70
Who wrote the more interesting version of the four Liars? Sara Shepard or Marlene King?
This paragraph about Mona describing how she became and what made her want to become A is haunting to me...
“The thing is, even after Hanna and I started sharing sushi bento boxes for lunch and shopping out of each other’s closets, there were still these moments when I’d look over at her and think, I can’t believe you. Let’s face it: Hanna might not have been the one dishing out the insults, but she’d stood there like a tree stump and let Ali tease me again and again and again. She never stuck up for me. She never looked conflicted about what Ali was doing. And you know what? After we became close, Hanna never apologized about it. I kept waiting for this big mushy moment between us...but it never came.”
Here’s the full story I believe: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/sara-shepard-pretty-little-liars-short-story
I wanted to know if there is anyone in this sub that (like me) is a huge fan of Sara Shepard's novels. Like not only PLL, but also The Lying Game and The Perfectionists. To this limited group of people, don't you think that The Lying Game would have been a so much better spin-off from PLL? I found it so much more PLL-like than The Perfectionists! I know this books already had a TV adaptation, but I believe it was early cancelled. I like The Perfectionists too, but I just think that The Lying Game is the exact story I'd recommend to dive into after finishing off PLL.
Idky this was never thought of being done every season I realize Marlene and Freeform wanted to seperate itself from the books, but personally I think Sara is a better writer than Marlene and I think she'd write an excllent PLL episode I mean the Alison "A" reveal" is better than the Cece reveal tbh.
Should Sara had been offered to have written an episode of PLL or at least co-write one?
What has Sara said about the whole show?
Hi, so I have read "The Amateurs" book series by Sara Shepard. I remember reading the first book in the summer of 2017 and was instantly hooked to Seneca Fraser. She was smart, observant, and very sharp throughout the novel and I loved her character more than anything else. However, I thought that the plot twist at the end where Brett is revealed to be the true culprit of all the drama was INSANE. I NEVER saw that coming. The book also unfolded a generous amount of romance, which I did not have a problem with. I thought it was vital in helping the reader connect more to the characters.
I used to never believe those book reviews of mystery novels where the same old cliche goes: "It's a page turner," but after reading this book, I began to understand why they said that. For me, this was my first real teen book. I had never really invested in the teen/adult section and began exploring it in my local library. After some searching the first book I found was this and I ended up loving it. The small little clues that Shepard kept offering the reader aided in building suspense and was one huge reason that prevented me from putting it down.
The second book was a little underwhelming. It was like watching a great movie and its sequel, but the latter being slightly disappointing. I think that this book was mainly to construct a bridge between the first and the third. It was not as engaging as the first nor as intense as the third. I think if I had picked up the story from this novel, I would have a different type of appreciation for it, but it did not make the cut for me. The plot was decent, but there was no major surprises unlike the first one and third one. I guess the character development was nice and we got to see the bond between the Amateurs grow. Maybe I'm comparing this book to much to its predecessor and successor.
The third and final book was the nail in the coffin. It was equally satisfying as the first one. I loved how one thing lead to another and soon I was turning pages at the speed of light. Sara Shepard really engages the reader in this one by illuminating the past of Brett (finally!) and connecting major gaps. I had been waiting for this novel for about a year and wanted to know the "why?" part so badly. Throughout the novel, I did gravitate a little to Brett's side, considering that he had such a horrific childhood and had to suffer through such trauma, but nothing significant. I thought Seneca was great in playing her part and I did begin
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