Pretty Little Liars (novel series)
Pretty Little Liars is a series of young adult novels by Sara Shepard. Beginning with 2006's initial novel of the same name, the series follows the lives of four girls—Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery and Emily Fields.
The novels appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for 62 weeks. The series spawned a media franchise with a television series adaptation loosely based on the novels which debuted on June 8, 2010, on ABC Family. The franchise has been licensed by Amazon.com's Kindle Worlds range of non-canon ebooks.
Overview
The series is loosely divided into arcs, chronicling the introduction and reveal of each "A". Set in the suburbs of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series follows the lives of four teenage girls nicknamed the Pretty Little Liars or simply the Liars, whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their queen bee leader, Alison DiLaurentis. Three years after her mysterious disappearance, the girls begin receiving intimidating messages from an anonymous character named "A". "A" threatens to expose their secrets, including long-forgotten ones they thought only Alison knew. Shortly after the messages begin, Alison's body is discovered buried in her yard. The books progress with the four girls trying to figure out the identity of "A" and facing many dangerous obstacles as they do.Characters
The series has many characters, most of them recurring. The main characters are:Spencer Hastings: Spencer is a headstrong, intelligent, overachieving girl who comes from the wealthy Hastings family and is forced into winning everything. She has wavy blonde hair and wears preppy outfits when not in sports clothes.
Hanna Marin: Hanna is self-absorbed, popularity obsessed, strong, and the "it-girl" of the group following Alison's disappearance. She suffers from an eating disorder which Alison taunts her for. She is Jewish, and has long dark brown hair she often dyes auburn.
Aria Montgomery: Aria is a quirky and artsy girl who, at the beginning of the books, is trying to find herself. She is very tall and pale with dark black hair that she occasionally highlights.
Emily Fields: Emily is considered the jock of the group, being a physical, loyal girl who struggles with her sexuality. Near the end of the series she also struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts. Emily is Catholic and described with red hair and a muscular frame.
Alison DiLaurentis: Alison is the former "Queen Bee" of her clique, consisting of Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily. It is later revealed that the Alison the girls thought they knew was her twin sister, Courtney. "Real Ali" was friends with Naomi Zeigler and Riley Wolfe up until the sixth grade, when Courtney took her place. Ali was supposedly killed at the beginning of the series; however, she is revealed to have been alive and their tormentor, "A". "A" sought revenge for being mistaken as her twin sister Courtney and being sent the Preserve at Addison-Stevens, a facility for mentally ill patients, which she believed was the Liars' fault.
Her identical twin sister, Courtney DiLaurentis, debuted in Wanted after the TV show began in 2010. She has an older brother, Jason DiLaurentis, and her half-sisters are Melissa and Spencer Hastings.
Courtney DiLaurentis: "Alison", the one who originally befriended the four girls in the sixth grade, is later revealed to be Courtney She is the third child of Jessica and Kenneth DiLaurentis and Alison's twin sister. The twins were described to be inseparable as children, but Alison began to exhibit a vicious jealousy towards Courtney as they grew up, culminating in her attempting to drown Courtney. Alison manipulated Courtney into adamantly referring to herself as Alison in an attempt to get Courtney institutionalized. Courtney was sent to The Preserve at Addison-Stevens after a physical argument with Alison. Years later during a rare visit home, Courtney tricked their parents to believe Alison was Courtney. Alison's claims that she was the real Ali caused her parents to believe her even less, and the real Ali was sent to The Preserve. Subsequently, Courtney befriends the Liars and morphs into "Queen Bee Ali" until the night of her infamous disappearance, when she was killed and buried by the real Alison DiLaurentis and Nick Maxwell.
A: A is the main antagonist of the series, being an anonymous character who relentlessly torments the cast, particularly the Liars. Over the course of the series Mona Vanderwaal, Alison DiLaurentis and Nick Maxwell are revealed to be "A". Mona, the original iteration of A, did so due to Alison and the Liars being responsible for "The Jenna Thing", which also injured her. After Mona's death another "A" takes over, this time even more determined to hurt the Liars. This "A" is later revealed to be Alison, who wanted revenge on the Liars for ruining her life, and Nick, her accomplice.