Book Review: Heartless - Sara Shepard

HEARTLESS by Sara Shepard:

Published: January 19, 2010

Publisher: HarperTeen 

Format: Hardcover

Page Count: 274 pages

Source: McKay's Bookstore 

In picturesque Rosewood, Pennsylvania, neighbors gossip over picket fences, and gleaming SUVs sit in every crushed granite driveway. But recently, friendly smiles have been replaced with suspicious glares and accusatory whispers and it's all because Hanna, Aria, Emily and Spencer just can't keep their mouth shut...

First, they claimed they saw a dead body in the woods behind Spencer's house, only to have it vanished without a trace. Then when the same woods went up in flames, they swore they saw someone who's supposed to be dead rise from the ashes. And even after all that, the pretty little liars are still playing with fire.

Hanna's trading her Dior trench for a straightjacket. Aria's trying to contact the dead. Emily's dumped her boyfriend and is skipping town... again. And Spencer thinks that someone in her family has gotten away with murder.

The friends insist they're telling the truth about what they saw, but all of Rosewood thinks they're simply out for attention and nobody likes a girl who cries wolf. So when the big, bad killer comes after the girls, will anyone believe them... or will they be the next to disappear? 

"In the seventh installment in the utterly addictive series by mastermind Sara Shepard, Heartless was intriguing, captivating, and phenomenal. A masterpiece in the making."

PLL is one of my favorite series of all time. It's so addicting and wonderful, it's impossible to resist! 

We're back in Rosewood with our four, now-called "Pretty Little Liars", protagonists with the mysterious A sending them messages. 

Hanna is now moving into a mental hospital to get away from the press. She has her new roommate, Iris, with her, helping her and telling her that everybody makes in through this place. But another girl named Tara has warned Hanna to watch out about Iris, because she could be fatal.

Aria has decided that Ali could be trying to message them from beyond the grave. She contacts a woman to talk to Ali's spirit and get her to reveal her message. 

Spencer has found out even more secrets about her family's history. And she fears that it could be linked to some dangerous events that happened in the past.

A is helping Emily by leading her to the Amish Country, claiming that it will help her figure out who is Ali's killer. And of course, Emily will do anything to find out what happened to Ali. But not everybody who has been close to Emily and her three former best friends are who they say they are. And this time, they might make sure to get rid of the four of them.

HEARTLESS was an epic book. It's the seventh novel in the ever-addicting novel, and usually around this time in a long series, the books start to drag and repeat themselves. That's not the case with this series! They're all so fresh and mysterious and awesome, I can't help but love every single novel.

Sara Shepard's world is so real-like, it's almost unbelievable. The way that "New" A is messaging the girls of how to figure out Ali's murderer's identity is just so incredible and fast-paced. 

With this novel, it was hard to put down and it was always on my mind. My eyes were glued to the pages and the mystery of the books kept me up at night, wondering how the story will end. All the events that happened in this book were just so... mind-blowing. I was shouting at the book, telling the characters things they should have done or shouldn't have done. And usually, that's a good thing for me to do. 

The characters in this story were so mysterious, that I was thinking of the events that were going to happen next as I rotated back and forth from character to character. And to be honest, I love getting to see every character within every four chapters.

Overall, Sara Shepard's incredible seventh novel, Heartless, was one of the best books in the series. I'm very impressed so far and I can't wait to see where the series goes from here.