Perfect by Sara Shepard

Title: Perfect (Pretty Little Liars #3)
Author: Sara Shepard
Published: May 2008 by HarperTeen

My Rating: 5 stars
Tags: YA | Girls | Romance | Mystery | Series (Book Three)
Includes: Profanity, Sexual Content, Brief Alcohol Abuse, Homosexuality

First Lines: Spencer Hastings should have been sleeping at six-thirty on Monday morning. Instead, she was sitting in a therapist's blue-and-green waiting room, feeling like she was trapped inside an aquarium.

*This review contains spoilers for those of you that haven't read the first or second book in the Pretty Little Liars series.*

It's been a month since the mysterious A contacted the four girls, and since Toby killed himself. But soon, A is back to her usual dirty work; and this time she's done with playing games and is determined to tell everyone about the girls' secrets. Hanna and Mona, the queen bees of the school, are fighting - thanks to A. And soon, Hanna's being replaced by other girls, right before Mona's huge sweet seventeen party. Word got out that Emily and Maya kissed and now the school and her whole family knows. Her parents force her to go to a program called Tree Tops, hoping to make her straight again. It's that, or be sent to live with her crazy aunt and uncle on a farm. Spencer's essay, which she stole from her sister, has been nominated in the Golden Orchid awards - which her family and the press is extremely proud of. Aria's dad has left their family to be with Meredith, and Aria's mom knows because of a letter she received from A. She kicked her daughter out of the house and doesn't want to see her again, for keeping the secret from her. And this is just the beginning of the third book in the series...

Once again, Sara Shepard has left me speechless at her wonderful series. This book had so much drama, secrets, and gossip gushing out of the pages that I was constantly craving more. I grew to know and better understand the four main girls even more than I did before. And even when it felt like the world was against them, I still felt for them. Although they did some horrible things, I think their families were way too hard on them. The author did a great job with characterization. I got to know even the minor characters who barely played a part in the story. I also like how Sara Shepard doesn't pick and choose favorites out of the four main girls in the book. She gives each of them just enough chapters and spotlight so that it's equal.

I don't want to give too much away of everything that went down between these chapters in this gripping book! It was full of mystery, scandal, and secrets. There were many twists and turns like always, but it seems like each book in the series just keeps getting better and better. As the girls dig themselves into even deeper holes, and the drama escalates, it makes me rip through the pages wanting - no, needing - to know who the heck A is! Every time I get a theory as to who this mysterious creeper might be, it gets shot down and someone else comes to mind instead. Oh my goodness - the last few chapters?! Insane! I'm telling you, something so unexpected happens and leaves the reader on a cliffhanger ending, biting their nails, yelling "What just happened?!" I want to stand up and give the author a standing ovation at how awesome she is at keeping up suspense.

I will insist though that you have to read these books in order, to experience the story from beginning to end. I'm ecstatic to start reading the fourth book in the series, and hopefully I'll be able to finish the series as quickly as I can. I don't want the TV show to give anything away before I read it!

Cover Thoughts: Love it! The whole series has an ongoing theme with their covers; each one represents one of the girls as a barbie doll. On the back, it shows them as a human, but they look exactly the same. I think this is such an original idea!

Book Supplied by: E-book on my Kindle.