Book Review: Wanted by Sara Shepard

WANTED:

Published: December 8, 2010 (first published June 8, 2010)

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: Paperback

Page Count: 259 pages

Source: Amazon.com

In Rosewood, majestic estates sprawl for acres, and Tiffany toggle bracelets dangle from every girl's wrist. But not all that glitters is gold, and the town harbors secrets darker than anyone could imagine -- like the truth about what really happened the night Alison DiLaurentis went missing...

Back in middle school, Ali plucked off Emily, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer from obscurity and turned them into the beautiful, popular girls everyone wanted to be. Ali was the best friend they ever had. But she also made them do terrible things and taunted them with their worst secrets. Now, three years later, all their questions about Ali have finally been answered and they can put this awful chapter of their lives behind them. Or so they think.

Not every story has a happy ending, especially when four Pretty Little Liars have done so many wicked things. In the eighth novel in Sara Shepard's bestselling Pretty Little Liars series, Emily, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer could get everything they ever wanted -- unless A has one more horrifying twist in store.

"While this wasn't the best Pretty Little Liars novel, the last 40 pages or so was one of the most craziest things I've ever read in my lifetime."

In Sara Shepard's Wanted, the use-to-be conclusion of the PLL series (four more books have been added to the series), I felt anxious about reading it. The first 100 pages wasn't the best, but it began to pick up from there.

Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna are piecing together bit by bit their dear-long lost friend's murder and who exactly murdered her. But when a man is arrested for supposedly killing Alison, they assume that their troubles are over. But it's only the beginning to a new horrifying experience. 

The DiLaurentis family has been hiding a secret. A huge secret from the media, but most importantly, Ali's best friends. And when they find out just exactly what that huge secret, they can't believe it. 

That's all I can say without spoiling the novel.

This book was very fast-paced, and like I said before, the last 40 pages were one of the most exciting, yet terrifying things I've ever read. My heart was pounding out of my chest because I couldn't believe it exactly what was happening. I'll tell you this, the entire story is pieced together in the last 40 pages. I'm wanting to see just how exactly Sara Shepard will put the storyline back into books nine through twelve.

As usual, Sara Shepard's writing style was excellently executed. I think she does a great job writing from a teen perspective, and the way that she blends modern technology along with other high school issues, I can't be more pleased with it.

And also, her pacing is great. I will admit, the first one hundred pages weren't that exciting. But now that I look back on it, I think it needed to be just a bit slow so she could lead us up to the ENORMOUS secret it the final fifty pages. 

Shepard's characters are pretty snarky in their own way. And whenever you find out the secret that the DiLaurentis family has been hiding for many, many years, I was shocked about what it was. If you've read this book, I'm pretty sure you understand what I mean.

And finally, the novel itself. I read this while people in my household were sleeping, so it was a very big challenge not to say anything while I was reading the book, but believe me, if I had the chance to do so, I would take advantage of it. Wanted wasn't the best Pretty Little Liars novel, but Sara Shepard did the novel really well and I was glad to have read it.

My Rating: