Toxiques

Pretty Little Liars #15

by Sara Shepard

L'été est arrivé à Rosewood.

Après le scandale des derniers mois, un nouveau programme s'annonce : détente autour de la piscine, fêtes de fin d'année et autres divertissements. Tout pourrait être parfait. Spencer, Aria, Hanna et Emily veulent croire que toutes les histoires affreuses sont désormais derrière elles, et que rien ne les empêchera de reprendre le cours de leur vie : la première en aidant les autres victimes de harcèlement grâce à son blog à succès, la deuxième en devenant l'étoile montant de la peinture, la troisième en décrochant son premier rôle au cinéma, et la dernière en se réconciliant avec son grand amour.

Mais le complice de « A » a beau être derrière les verrous, Ali, elle, court toujours. Et son fan club des Lions est prêts à tout pour la venger...

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary, Thriller, Romance, Chick Lit

331 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2014

About the author

Sara Shepard graduated from NYU and has an MFA from Brooklyn College. She has lived in New York City, Brooklyn, Tucson, Arizona, Philadelphia, and now lives in Pittsburgh, PA. Sara's Pretty Little Liars novels were inspired by her upbringing in Philadelphia's Main Line.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot Spoiler: Noel Kahn gets so frustrated that he hasn't been killed off yet that he goes on a killing spree and ends it with bombing the entire town and Rosewood is blown to smithereens, including Ali and all her helpers.

But wait! They were actually TRIPLETS!! Stay tuned for another 70+ books!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A FIFTHTEENTH BOOK?!?! ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?



It wasn't even enjoyable! The entire time, I was thinking, "Wow, she really knows how to repeat a storyline." Since I've stuck through all this, I'm going to read the final book. But if I were you and you had yet to start the series, don't waste your time.

[Ciara]

My great grandchildren will have died and this series won't even be halfway done.

[Tessa]

ahh to hell with this

[Therealbadkitty · Rating 1 out of 5]

*EDIT 6/10/14* Wow now that I've read this pointless filler of absolutely nothing I
What the actual fuck Sara Shepard? Really???? REALLLY???!! You need to stop now, you are giving P.C Cast and Cassandra Clare a run for their money in the cash cow milking department. This series was good while it lasted, but now it's just getting ridiculous. Please just stop, you've done enough, it's time to end this series already. I fear you have an unhealthy attachment.

[Geraldine O'Hagan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, here we are, only one book from what had better actually be the end of the series this time. Let’s hope something actually happens, as the last book’s plot vacuum made review-writing challenging…

After Shepard has the temerity to use a quote from Shylock’s most famous speech as the epigraph, the prologue tries to answer some of the many outstanding questions from the previous book. Nick the randomly appearing boyfriend apparently met Ali at her teen mental home whilst he was undergoing treatment for the type of borderline personality disorder which makes you unquestioningly obey a psychopath. We also learn that all the previous instances when the question “How did Ali do that?” came up, the answer was “Nick helped her”. Which clears everything up.

Then it’s on to the PLLs. We start with the usual Stupid Shit Recap, and also find out that Ali now has her own fansite, and Amazon is selling Ali fanfiction, presumably in flagrant disregard of the law and the boundaries of good taste. Then again, if Amazon will sell PLL books then where are its standards? Then we’re straight into an early front-runner for stupidest plot of the book when Hanna is offered a speaking role in a big-screen adaptation of the PLL story, apparently on the strength of that PSA she did for her father’s campaign which I can’t even remember being actually released. Although admittedly it is only the part of Naomi Zeigler, which even Naomi Zeigler would admit was less than exciting. Meanwhile Aria’s mooning about trying to reconcile with her crazy ex-boyfriend Noel despite his collaborating with Ali and lying to her for 4 years, Spencer is being offered a book contract on the strength of her blog about bullying and Emily is going on a prison visit with the ridiculous Jordan, who for some reason is still in this series and is the love of her life despite them spending about 3 days together in total. So basically everyone’s comically childish dreams have come true except for Aria, who seems to have drawn the short straw this time around. Meanwhile the PLLs continue randomly judging everyone, writing off the entire Rosewood summer school as uncool weirdoes, referring to pale people as vampires and laughing at people’s outfits, just to remind us what a set of bitches they are.

Hanna begins filming immediately at her local soundstage, as Hollywood films are of course routinely completed within a fortnight and made chiefly in the suburbs. Her first action is to become best friends with teen star Hailey Blake, who is playing Hanna and is obviously trouble. Then we’re treated to a bit of the actual filming, all characters, sets and speeches pretty much exactly as in “real life” with no editing or re-writes, which is definitely how Hollywood films work. Aria makes a play for Hanna’s “stupidest plot” award when a rich art collector suddenly buys one of her paintings for $100,000 even though she’s a complete unknown who’s never sold a painting before. This is beyond ridiculous, but no one notices.
As usual everyone keeps thinking they see Ali or that Ali is texting them. New ways to force her threatening presence into the story are getting pretty weak: an ominous acrostic poem, a sighting of her in her bedroom window which turns out to be nothing, a painting of her which suddenly moves, although actually it doesn’t…Shepard is getting desperate. I guess Ali is as bored as I am of this eternal creeping and laughing and making veiled threats that never come to anything, as she suddenly decides to actually physically try and murder one of the protagonists, all of whom richly deserves it. Her choice is Emily, who she targets in her natural habitat of the natatorium. Everything proceeds just like every single film you’ve even seen in which someone is creepily attacked in a darkened pool, but sadly Emily lives and Ali escapes. Unfortunately the next Ali move is a classically dull and indirect one, visiting the film set and managing to predict the exact time and place at which Hanna will trip over, where she leaves her a standard vaguely threatening message.The only interesting part is that it seems to take place just as Emily is being attacked. Incredibly Hanna actually figures something out at this point: maybe Ali’s new fans (The Ali Cats. I know. Unbelievable.) are trying to hurt the PLLs now, and that’s how Ali can be everywhere unseen. Unfortunately she forgets this idea almost immediately, having used up all her brain-power for the day. Poor, stupid Hanna.

What next? Well luckily Ali has left a clue in the shape of a receipt directing the girls to somewhere aptly called Turkey Hill. Off they trustingly trot to investigate. But the search yields nothing except an extra chapter for the book. In other completely implausible plot filler Spencer is offered a part in an anti-bullying film, making her the second girl to start an acting career as well as an upcoming author. Despite this, Hanna becoming a film star, Aria’s multiple offers for New York art shows and Emily’s indulging of Shepard’s love for Orange is the New Black nobody acts as if anything unusual is happening, or any of them are getting more than what’s due to them. The entitlement is particularly strong this time around. Since when had lazy wish-fulfilment been a valid plot device?

Other than everyone’s dreams coming true, nothing much happens for a while. Emily finds out that Jordan might be out on parole soon, because rich white girls don’t stay in gaol long. Hanna goes out drinking and showing off with Hailey the teen starlet. We find out that the Ali Cats are protesting on the streets of New York, although I have no idea why except for Shepard’s new interest in placards. The “pro-life” movement gets an inappropriate mention. Everything is “über” something once again. Hanna kisses a boy other than Mike, but is absolutely sure it won’t come back to bite her like every other little mistake she ever made did. Aria’s art show opens, top priced painting going for $200,000! Plus apparently she’s already getting offers for her art to appear on album covers, and a sexy new art-blogger boyfriend is on the horizon, to go with Spencer’s new bullying-blog boyfriend. Basically everyone is living in a magical fairyland where they have all the jobs Barbie would want and everyone loves them. The only blot on the horizon is Ali’s magical ability to never leave any forensic evidence, which I put down to her not actually having any DNA, since she’s made entirely out of plastic and spite.

Things turn negative when Jordan is suddenly murdered in prison. Spurred on by this, Emily dies some really intensive detective work and googles Nick’s parents. It turns out that they own a property right by Turkey Hill, site of the fruitless receipt-based search the PLLs undertook many chapters earlier. Off they trot to search it. Nobody’s there, but the on-site creepy multi-storey barn reveals both Ali’s signature scent of vanilla, which she is still maintaining even though she has specifically been described as a greasy, unwashed mess, and most damning of all a packet of the exact same type of pretzels Ali was eating at the press conference when they thought she was Courtney, or whatever was happening. QED, they’ve found Ali’s secret lair. Now all they need to do is put it under video surveillance and wait for her to show up…

In the meantime we hear more about Jordan’s murderer, apparently a red-haired girl called Robin Cook. This is funny if you are aware of 90s British politics. Apparently Emily isn’t amused though, and in a sudden excess of rage caused by how intensely stupid the story is she trashes the maybe-Ali shed thing with a baseball bat whilst screaming that she will kill Ali and/or that Ali has won. This achieves nothing, even if is nice to see Emily doing something proactive for a change. In another farfetched turn of events Hailey the superstar brat is fired from the PLL films. Guess who they suggest as her replacement for the part of Hanna Marin? Yep, you’re dead right. In more cut-and-paste filler Spencer and Aria mess up their respective dates in the same way, by thinking they spot Ali just as the boy is moving in for a kiss and chasing after her like a crazy person. Other than the location (subway station / museum) and the name of the boy, it’s basically the same chapter twice. Meanwhile Ali has apparently committed the off-page murder of a convenience-store worker who told the PLLs she might have seen a blonde girl buying water, but she wasn’t sure. This seems a bit much even for Ali. Spencer finds this out whilst following a creepy guy who posts on her blog, in hopes that he’s connected to Ali somehow. The only thing we learn is that Hanna isn’t the only one stupid enough to not turn off her mobile when she’s stalking someone. Plenty of super-predictable things happen, like Ali killing Robin Cook to tie-up loose ends and Hailey sending Mike a photograph of the kiss that was obviously going to cause Hanna grief at some point.

This episode’s 2/3 social event is some sort of charity rally thing for the disadvantaged teens that Rosewood doesn’t actually have, as even Shepard admits. Despite all the murders happening both Hanna and Aria spend most of their time worrying about their current love-interests, even though both of them are total arseholes with nothing to offer. In case this was in any doubt Noel violently accosts Aria, kisses her, then shouts some clichéd nonsense about how he doesn’t know what he wants, before rushing back to his current girlfriend. Mike meanwhile stays home in a sulk. Aria is eventually distracted by the revelation that the purchase of her painting by a renowned dealer was actually a set-up from Ali. Although admittedly a set-up which earned her $100,000 of Ali’s money and huge amounts of free publicity. Surely she’s still coming out on top here? Then all of a sudden Spencer’s boyfriend reveals that he’s one of the Ali Cats and has been lying to her throughout this book. Both the action and the revelation seem completely pointless, so far as I can tell. Also he’s in love with Ali even though he hasn’t actually met her, again for no reason whatsoever. Unless she turns out to be a witch or some type of angry love-goddess in the last book I have no idea how everything is supposed to make sense. Even Sookie Stackhouse had to come into some type of physical contact with all the male characters before their inevitable obsession with her began.

It then turns out that Ali has rigged the security cameras the PLLs set up on her suspected lair to play on a loop. The climactic headless-chicken scene this time is thus the PLLs rushing off alone to check out the house, because they will always be idiots. They find a rather over-the-top murder scene: over-turned furniture, pool of blood on the floor, Ali’s still vanilla-scented dress soaked in blood next to it. Then someone starts to clean up the murder scene within about 3 metres of the PLLs, and instead of investigating they all panic and run away as though they’re all phobic of bleach. After this pathetic attempt at investigation they decide they might as well call the police and go home. Pretty anticlimactic stuff. In more news that I don’t care about, Hanna makes up with both Hailey the girl she’s been friends with for 5 minutes and Mike the idiot. Since she only fell out with them about 20 pages before, the whole things seems like yet another massive waste of time. On that note, Aria realises that the art-thing isn’t even a problem for her and is delighted to reconcile with Noel the lunatic after he’s spent this book messing her around. Yet more time I won’t get back. On top of this, Spencer gets a two-book deal on the strength of her stupid blog, and generously decides to share credit with all the blog-contributors who did the actual writing. How kind of her. Plus Greg the Evil Internet Boyfriend is now also dead. There’s a lot of casual murder in this book. Then finally we reach a crescendo of stupidity as Agent Fuji suddenly turns up and arrests all 4 PLLs for the murder of Ali, on the strength of the perfectly set-up murder scene from earlier and the video of Emily going crazy with a bat, which the girls have conveniently filmed for her. How did they get hold of Ali? When did they supposedly torture her? Why did they call the police to the site of a murder which they committed? What is the point of any of this? Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb…..


Stupidest Names
Felicia Silver
Quintana
Franklin Hodgewell
Bernie and Sierra
Alyssa Bloom
Trixie
Jared Diaz
Marissa
John Carruthers
Harrison Miller from Fire and Funnel Art blog
Inez Frankel from the Frankel-Franzer Gallery
Victor Grieg, from the Space/Think Gallery
Esmerelda Rhea from Artsmash blog
Charlie Klose
Georgio
BiBi
The Fishtown neighborhood.
Scarlett Lorie
Melodie

Worst Idea for a Book Series

“It was about field hockey–playing fairies who shape-shifted into supermodels.”

Most Naïve Assessment of a Prison

“it provided educational services to inmates, which meant it couldn’t be all that bad, right?”

Worst Way to Spend an Evening of Clubbing

“chatting with this season’s It Model about the beauty of T-straps.”

Or

“deep in conversation about which New York City gym was swankier—La Palestra or Peak Performance.”

Least Worthwhile Art Show
Aria’s debut, featuring

“Portraits of random people around Rosewood she’d quickly painted in the last few days”

Least likely Tweet

“Scored an invite to #AriaMontgomery opening tonite. Huge deal!”

Most Self-Depreciating Assessment of a Break-Up

“Was she always that pushy? Was that why Noel didn’t want to see her anymore?”

No Aria. He doesn’t want to see you because he is an Ali-obsessed maniac who has been lying to you for years, which culminated in a traumatic kidnap which has doubtless exacerbated his already serious issues. Why must it be your fault? Get a bit of self-respect.

Most Overly Enthusiastic Banner

“WE LOVE EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE IN ROSEWOOD!”

Maybe that could be toned down ever so slightly? Or at least be a touch more focused?

Worst Parenting
Emily’s parents are afraid for her mental health in the wake of her suicide attempt, and decide that the best action they can take is to ground her for two weeks. Yeah, that’ll fix it.



Still no mention of Ali’s family, who should surely be the focus of her revenge and at least mildly interested in all the news about her. Still no discussion between the relevant parties of major plot points like Ali, Courtney and Spencer being secret siblings. Still no explanation of Ali’s many impossible actions, such as her appearances in places she couldn’t possibly be or her managing to perfectly fake a video of the 4 PLLs kicking a girl to death. Still no one believes Ali is stalking them, even though her evil plotting is now common knowledge. Everything and everyone in these books is beyond stupid. The end can’t come soon enough.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

**Spoilers**

Are you freaking kidding me Sara Shepard?



Okay, I’ve read all 16 books prior to this (14 books + 2 novel length extra books), and I have liked some books, not been overly impressed with others, and loved others. Up until now I was pretty sure that the story about Aria running away to Atlantic City to marry her ex-boyfriend, and then letting lose some tigers was the worse part of this series, but I’m reconsidering that now, because this book was not good.

Firstly we had the four girls – Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna, who let me just say, all acted like absolute idiots in this book. Every single one of them somehow ended up in the limelight in this book, and every single one of them was duped in some way. And even if you give them an allowance (just to be nice), what idiot walks into a possible murder scene, leaves lots of prints and other evidence, and then leaves. You got it – these four nutcases.

Who starts telling random strangers about their plans to trap A? Stand up Spencer!



Who kisses a random stranger, and expects her boyfriend not to find out about it? Stand up Hanna!



Who goes running off to hunt for A. on her own, with absolutely no backup, or without even telling someone where she’s going? Stand up Emily!



I swear, when the brains were dished out, these girls were last in line.


(That's where they think his brains are)

The storyline. I’m sorry, but the storyline was just darn unbelievable, and in places, idiotic.
The little A. messages were pants. A toddler could have worked out what they meant.

"we could drive around and look for random barns."
Is not a plan.

Expecting DNA evidence to prove that Ali has done something is not going to work. It never does in this series. You have as much chance of catching evidence of A. as you do trapping a fart in a colander.

Someone breaking into a prison to kill someone? Would A. really try to do that?

Installing cameras in a shed and using them to spy on possibly Ali? Since when did these four girls have the technical abilities to manage that?

Someone died? Well of course the newspaper will print such a complete description of him that the only thing missing is the length of his widget!

Give me a break!
Then we have the ending, and I’m sorry, but I’m pretty darn sure that one of the other books in this series ended exactly the same way. I mean again? And the evidence? Laughable!





Now I really liked the last book in this series, but this one was a joke. I mean was the author high or something? Such a disappointment after Deadly.
Overall; not good at all.
4.5 out of 10.

[Just Me]

I just saw this on Goodreads. My response:

HA! I knew it! No way would the series end on Book 14.

Okay. There's still hope for a book in this series to be called "Diabolical" or something.

I attempted to bet someone that this series would eventually reach 24 books. After seeing that there were more after #14, she did not take the bet. :)

Edit 10/13/13:

Toxic? I give up on "Diabolical." Oh, well. Maybe book 36 will finally use that title.

[Alyssa Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone has been complaining that this series has been dragged on and I will be honest, I never minded because I was still enjoying the series. Yes, it was getting ridiculous, yes it's obvious Sara Shepard is milking this series, but I really didn't mind especially because I believed Deadly (#14) would be the last book.

Guess not.

And now I'm annoyed.

[bookishlycaffenaited]

Book 15???
Sara Shepard enough is enough.

[Anushka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh God, there is going to be another one??!
Who is publishing this? Like, seriously?

[Abi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Toxic was defiantly the worst book out of the series!

Hanna, Spencer, Emily and Aria are all idiots.
Every time they came up with plans to catch Ali, i felt like banging my head against a wall.



All of their plans were stupid, and i haven't got a clue why they thought they would work.

It's also really annoying that these girls have learnt nothing from their mistakes. Why are they still trusting people so easily? Why aren't they more wary when it comes to believing things?

I wasn't impressed by the ending either, it was very unoriginal!

Overall, boring, ridiculous, annoying.

[Kayla Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. I don't know what to say. You would think that after 15 books these girls would have a little bit of common sense. They don't. Honestly... I can't even justify giving this 2 stars because this book was all filler. I saw every "twist" coming and we learned absolutely nothing new. You could probably just read the last paragraph of this one and move on to the next book....

These books are a guilty pleasure and I can appreciate them for what they are. This one is just not up to par with the other books in the series.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toxic by Sara Shepard
book 15 in the Pretty Little Liars series

Actual Rating: 3.5/5 stars
This instalment started off a little slow, but still held my interest the entire time, most of the story was building up to the ending, in which built up to the final book... if that makes sense, haha

Once again, I found myself creeped out, and I should not read these so late into the night...because it makes getting up to pee that much harder...

This book was good, but not as good as the last 3 I've read from this series, but I think that's just because it was setting up the scene for the 16th, and final book.

I stayed up until past 1am and read from page 60 to 226, then woke up and finished it off, these books are just so addicting!

Can't believe I'm up to the final book!! I'm off to read...

Happy weekend reading guys

Order of PLL books from fav to least fav (so far)
1. Wanted
2. Crushed
3. Wicked
4. Burned
5. Deadly
6. Toxic
7. Killer
8. Pretty Little Liars
9. Twisted
10. Unbelievable
11. Ruthless
12. Heartless
13. Flawless
14. Stunning
15. Perfect

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike everyone else in this fandom, I am sad to see this series end. I would be happy while reading book 77 about a becoming a nurse at the girls' nursing home. You say you are a fan of the series, but you make that hard to tell when you complain about not only the book series, but the tv show as well. I want them to stretch this out as far as possible, and I don't care who it pisses off. These books are my life, and I never want to give them up.

[Faye · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

There will be spoilers for people who haven't caught up to Toxic yet. There will be no spoilers for this book.

I honestly have no idea why I keep on reading this series. It's dragged on for such a long time, but the series is a total guilty pleasure of mine. Thank goodness that there's only one book left in the series. (Or so they say).

This wasn't the best out of the Pretty Little Liars Series. These four girls have been through so much. They should know that the police won't believe anything they say. They should know that A (or Allison) will find a way to outsmart them. They should know that they're going to be in danger. They should know not to tell anyone anything about A because
a.)They won't believe them.
b.)A will kill that person
c.)Everyone will think that they're crazy. (And they are).

Even though these four girls should know those things, they still go ahead and do these things.



One of the reasons why my rating is so low is that it's just the same story lines again and again and again and again and again and again. There needs to be something new, seriously.

Also, the name-dropping, and even a mention of LUCY HALE.

"Her agent probably had something lined up already.
'Like Lucy Hale,' she suggested, suddenly excited. 'Or maybe that cute girl on that Netflix series?'"

For those of you who don't know, Lucy Hale plays Aria in the Pretty Little Liars TV show.

SERIOUSLY?????

There's even modern references, like Miley Cyrus. And you already saw Netflix.

So far, the girls are stupid, the storyline is repetitive (and they weren't that good in the first place), and the book tries too hard to be modern.

What Next?

Oh, I know! A.

I still don't get why she's out for those girls. Sure, the girls are stupid and all, but they haven't done anything that bad. I actually like A. She's psychotic and crazy, and makes no sense. At least she's more interesting than the other characters.

There's a whole bunch of random stuff, and it ends with a cliffhanger.

The cops think that the girls killed Ali

DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, I found that really cliched and I wasn't even surprised.

Overall, I like this series, but this one was weaker than the others, and the story line just gets so old. I can't wait to finish this series.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whyyyyyy does this book exist??? Most people, when bad things happen to them, get smarter. Not these girls, nope, they just get more dumb. How they are not locked up is against me. Also, this book takes many liberties with how law enforcement handles literally anything. But sure Shepard, you do you.

It's in this book that we learn about the Ali Cats - a group of online trolls who worship everything about Ali and want justice for her. Again, sure, why not? But here's the thing, knowing that this group is out there and that they was the Liars dead - they are all so quick to believe any new person they meet. It's also truly baffling how Ali can manage to get strangers to do her bidding. But I guess a Shepard can always find sheep.

Ugh ok so this book:

Spencer: starts an anti bullying website where people share their stories which somehow leads her to a 2 book deal with a giant publisher! In the midst of this, she meets a boy who understands her and believes in her and wants her to put herself out there and trust him. Hello, red flag anyone? Well, not to Spencer who just gives up all of her secrets!

Hanna: gets a random phone call while at school offering her a part in the movie about her life so of course she takes it and BAM! Movie star! She's also caught kissing her costar in a club surrounded by celebs and is shocked when the picture is leaked and Mike finds out. Oh, what's even better? The actress playing Hanna leaves so you know what that means right? Yes! Hanna gets to play herself!

Aria: becomes a famous artist who's paintings are now worth $200,000. I'm not even touching this one.

Emily: stupid, paranoid Emily who is vastly becoming unhinged. She's yelling at strangers, going off on her own to track down Ali. All because she lost the love of her life -yes, I'm talking about the lying criminal she met for like 2 weeks on a cruise. They were soulmates, guys. But alas, that can never be and IT'S ALL ALI'S FAULT SO SHE MUST DIE! Also, Emily goes on a rampage and vandalizes someone else's property - a place where there are cameras - ones the girls put up themselves and she's just all, oh well I hope no one sees this.



Honestly, all of them all at this point - Ali included. One more book and I'm done.

[emerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

“If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book as always! I can't wait to read the last book and see what happens. That cliffhanger though :)

[✨Jinglemarco✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Honestly I think this Toxic is the ghost of the previous novels, but I found it still quite engrossing (though a little flat sometimes).
And now I'm positive: Agent Fuji is an Ali Cat!

///

YAAAAAAYYYY. How can I wait? I have no idea. ;D

I'm a proud hard-die fan of this amazing series, which is more and more good each book, despite what people write. Better than hundreds of sagas out there.

[Luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was supposed to happen... After everything these girls have been through they were still smiling... Ali needed more than that!!

I really don't know how they are going to get out of this, this time they really screwed up... They fell right into it...

I love everything Ali does to these girls!! It's so much fun to read but I get very angry thinking of how stupid they are sometimes... Is so frustrating!!

I love this series, like I said before is a totally guilty pleasure!!

[Nicole]

I feel like one of these girls has to be helping her. To know everything that she knows I mean Ali is unwell I don't believe for a second shes smarter than all of them put together. They keep getting themselves in these horrible situations. Poor girls. Poor Emily I feel like she has had it the worst the last few works.

[Franzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️
The last books of this series are finally interesting again. Some plottwists might be predictable, but on the other hand, some scenes were thrilling and exciting to read. Now excuse me, while I am starting the next and last book👀

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

What in the hell. I thought #14 would finally be the last one, but.....

UPDATE:

It's no secret that this series should have ended a long time ago. Nonetheless, I find myself unable to stop reading them. It's a guilty pleasure of mine for sure, and I do find myself scouring the library shelves for the new books as soon as they come out.

I thought the last book was actually pretty decent, and I was interested to see what would happen in this one. Well the answer is: not much.

Anyone with half a brain could have seen that Aria was being set up from the very beginning. I also could not BELIEVE that Spencer told a stranger everything without even once thinking he might be working with Ali. THESE GIRLS ARE SO STUPID!

The ending was ridiculous. Agent Fuji and her department are the most incompetent police in the world! After finding out in the last book that the girls had been set up, why did she instantly believe they were guilty when the exact same thing happened again? Even if you think something is up with the girls, how can you not investigate someone holding Emily under water? I'm so glad I don't live in Rosewood.

The entire "someone just threw bleach around on the blood, let's call the police" scenario made me want to bang my head against the wall. WHY did the girls not sense this was a trap? At this point, I don't even know why Ali tries so hard. These girls are so stupid that all these complicated plans she sets up are really quite unnecessary. Then again, the police find one tooth and instantly decide that Ali had been tortured for months so stupidity must run in the town.

The next one is "supposed" to be the last one, but I've heard that so many times now that I'll believe it when I see it. Even if everything is wrapped up perfectly in the next book, I wouldn't even be surprised if another one popped up again in a year or so. And the sad thing is, I would still totally read it. *Sigh*

P.S. I can't believe the author actually name-dropped Lucy Hale! How lame.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed what the girls were up to and how A was tormenting them in this book more than I've enjoyed the story lines in most of this second half of the series. However, there was a lot of me screaming "don't do that!" at them. It was like watching a scary movie when you know the killer is inside the house and the character just locked themselves in and as a viewer you just want to scream at them to run. I mean, sure, that's kind of the gist of this series and part of what's enjoyable about it is laughing at the things they walk into, but this time it was just TOO incredibly dumb. Their actions were understandable but not putting things together... come on guys, it's book 15. You should be used to this stuff by now.

[Slip! · Rating 2 out of 5]

SO glad this is the second to last novel for the series. Things are getting SO repetitive.

Main meets Male, start to like each other.
Male becomes evil Ali-helper and breaks Mains heart.

Mains get close to Ali but are stumped and then framed for the murder.

Mains lose/regain boyfriends.

Mains have something good foing for them that are all a ploy.

Like, find a new plot angel, huh??

[Sara Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[lexluvsb00ks · Rating 4 out of 5]

everyone winning except emily lmaooo😭😭😭 one book left in the series!!!

[Lora :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

ngl this one was so boring and so repetitive

[Callie Huffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slay queen (there are 18 of these that have been equally enjoyable idk how to make unique reviews anymore)