Summary:
"In idyllic Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four very pretty girls just can't help but be bad. . . .
Hanna will do anything to be Rosewood's queen bee. Spencer's digging up her family's secrets. Emily can't stop thinking about her new boyfriend. And Aria approves a little too strongly of her mom's taste in men.
Now that Ali's killer is finally behind bars, the girls think they're safe. But those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. And they should know by now that I'm always watching. . . ."
Summary:
"In picture-perfect Rosewood, Pennsylvania, ash-blond highlights gleam in the winter sun and frozen lakes sparkle like Swarovski crystals. But pictures often lie— and so do Rosewood's four prettiest girls. Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily have been lying ever since they became friends with beautiful Alison DiLaurentis. Ali made them do terrible things—things they had to keep secret for years. And even though Ali was killed at the end of seventh grade, their bad-girl ways didn't die with her. Hanna's on a mission to corrupt Rosewood's youth, starting with a very attractive sophomore. Aria's snooping into her boyfriend's past. Spencer's stealing— from her family. And pure little Emily's abstaining from abstinence. The girls should be careful, though. They thought they were safe when Ali's killer was arrested and A's true identity was finally revealed. But now there's a new A in town turning up the heat. And this time Rosewood is going to burn."
I have to start off by saying that I started reading these books WAY back in high school and I LOVED them, they really creeped me out. The series was originally only going to be 4 books and it wasn't until a few years after I finished the series, that I found out it ended up continuing. However, my library never newest books in the series in, so I never really read them and the show came out and I began watching that. I love the show, but was curious to see what aspects were stilling following the books and what were not. So, when my local library finally got the new books in I instantly picked the next two books in the series and read them back to back. Getting back into book Rosewood was a bigger transition than I expected. I had to remember things that had happened in the book that I forgot and that the book girls, are SO different from the TV girls. Which when watching the show, when it first came out, totally annoyed me. Now, I imagine the actresses as the characters even though, they are pretty different.
With that being said, going back into book Rosewood was nice. Wicked is mainly just a refresher and transitional book. Meaning, we spend a lot of the book being reminded about what happened in Unbelievable. I needed that because I had forgotten so much. Then there were the very mini minor subplots that were really just getting us set up for all the new drama to come in the rest of the series. As for the creepy factor though, Wicked didn't deliver the same was as the first four books in the series did.
Killer, gets better. A is back and the creepy factor starts to come back, although never quite hits the mark. The story really goes back to alternating views and we really see the girls as their characters again. I start to remember all the things I enjoyed and envied about them previously and also, the habits they have that really drive me crazy. Like Spencer's horrendous family & Hanna's aggravating family. The poshness. Everything. It comes back in this book and I liked it.
Overall, I am glad I am back into the series and although, I don't think these books are as good as the original four; I cannot wait to continue reading them. It is also really interesting to see the stuff, I know has happened SO long ago in the show and events that are just being brought into the TV Show.
