Unbelievable by Sara Shepard

Title: Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars #4)
Author: Sara Shepard
Published: November 2008 by HarperTeen

My Rating: 4 stars
Tags: YA | Girls | Romance | Mystery | Series (Book Four)
Includes: Profanity, Sexual Content, Homosexuality

First Lines: Aria Montgomery woke up mid-snore. It was Sunday morning, and she was curled up on a blue vinyl chair in the Rosewood Memorial Hospital waiting room.

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

Well the mysterious A is back, and meaner than ever. The book opens up at the hospital, as everyone anxiously waits for Hanna to wake up from her coma - after she was "accidentally" hit by a car for knowing too much. But when she does finally wake up, all of her memories from the night she was hit are gone. Emily's parents have shipped her off to live with her extremely conservative relatives in Iowa. There, she meets an interesting girl named Trista, who seems a little too friendly and may get in between Emily and Maya's relationship. Spencer is still dealing with the guilt from stealing her sister's paper, which nominated her for the Golden Orchid award. Plus, her memories are starting to come back about the day Ali was killed - and they definitely are not good memories. Aria's mom kicked her out of the house for keeping her father's affair a secret from her. Aria is now living with her dad and his quirky girlfriend, Meredith, and Aria is determined to make things right again. In the midst of all this drama, A starts bringing her anonymous texts and letters to a frighteningly new level: threats.

I just adore this amazing and creative series. Each book is better than the last, if that's even possible! It seems like Sara Shepard has grew completely comfortable with her four main characters because they are just so realistic. Their problems don't seem exaggerated but just right, and enough to thicken the plot. I love reading about these girls' juicy secrets and how they'll handle it when they are unveiled to the world. Sara Shepard has a way with words, and I just love her writing style.

From location 1559
She and Mona never discussed the past, but sometimes Hanna felt like the painful memories loomed close behind, bubbling just below the surface of their friendship like an underground geyser.

This book is probably the most suspenseful of all the previous ones. The author had me guessing who A was - and my prediction was constantly changing through each chapter. She sets the pace of the story wonderfully and the huge climax at the end was just...wow. It was 'unbelievable' what happened. I loved the mix of emotions that pulsed through the novel. I began seeing the four girls in a new perspective. They didn't seem as stuck up and conceited than before, and I'm growing to really understand them. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't as much romance in this particular book than in the others. Sara's great at writing up the romantic scenes, however I guess the suspense made up for it. One little thing that I noticed was how there are always policemen around at the weirdest places, wanting to ask the girls questions concerning Ali's murder. This even happens at a party! It just seems strange to me how casually the police will ask the girls questions in public.

We finally learn who A is, and that left me speechless! It actually makes a lot of sense and I'm glad that the author explained it well and answered many of my questions. I'm kind of curious now to go back and read the first three books in the series over again, now that I know who A is. Also, Ali's killer is revealed! There are still four more books in this series though, so I'm not sure what is going to happen now that both identities have been uncovered. Sara Shepard has once again blown me away with her fantastic and addicting novels. As soon as I read the last page of this book, I was already grabbing the next installment from my bookshelf to begin ripping through. I really hope to finish it before the TV show starts back up again!

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.