Tuesday Night Guilty Pleasure

I am not ashamed to admit it: I watch, like, and am addicted to Pretty Little Liars, a TV show on ABC family based on Sara Shepard's YA series (Shepard also writes the TV show).

Think 90210 meets Gossip Girls meets Mean Girls and you have at least part of the show. But, I think there is more, too. There is a mystery to solve: who killed Alison, the bitchy leader of a pack of well-dressed, high-heeled, model type high school girls? And, what do the girls know that the myterious "A" wants to put in the open?


From the show's website:
Rosewood is a perfect little town. So quiet and pristine, you'd never guess it holds so many secrets. Some of the ugliest ones belong to the prettiest girls in town -- Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily, four estranged friends whose darkest secrets are about to unravel.

One year ago, Alison, the Queen Bee of their group, disappeared and the girls swore they'd never tell what really happened that night. They thought their secrets would bond them together, but just the opposite is true. Then again, who's to say what the truth is in Rosewood. It seems everyone in town is lying about something.

Now, as the mystery surrounding Alison's disappearance resurfaces, the girls begin getting messages from "A," saying – and threatening – things only Alison would know. But it couldn't be Alison. Could it? Whoever it is, they seem to know all the girls' secrets, and seem to be watching their every move. The girls are friends again, but will they be there for each other if their dark secrets come to light?

There's times when I have seen TV shows/series or movies and thought, I would never read the book that this is based on. This is not one of those cases. I like a good mystery, which this show has. I like frivolity, which this show has. I also like social issues, and this show has that too.

So far, we have had one character, Aria, who caught her father having an affair (the cute Chad Lowe stars as the father) and he asks her to keep it a secret from her mother (she does for a year and then "A" sends the mom a letter). [Aria also begins a relationship with her English teacher, think Teach Me]

Then, there's Emily, who is struggling with her sexuality. Too bad for her that "A" gets his/her hands on some compromising pictures of her kissing a girl.

Hanna? [who Alison used to call hefty Hanna] Well, Hanna's parents are also divorced and we see Hanna get caught stealing in episode 1.

Finally, there's Spencer whose family believes in the motto win at all costs--which Spencer then puts into practice. We see some positive changes, though, in Spencer and I have the most hope for her character.

All of this drama, just from the first 2-3 episodes surrounds the mystery of Alison's death and "A" who seems to be hell bent on destroying the girls.


I missed these books entirely, and hadn't seen any of the high school girls reading them, but think I will read them now based on the TV show.