Sara Shepard

Toxic is the fifteenth—and second-to-last—volume in Sara Shepard's #1 New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars series, also a hit ABC Family original TV show. High school seniors Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna barely survived their most recent encounter with A. And it's not over yet . . . The police don't believe that the real A is still out there, but the girls know what—and who—they saw. If they don't track down this final tormentor soon, A will silence them forever. This penultimate installment of the beloved series is full of juicy scandals, dark secrets, and shocking plot twists that will prepare readers for the jaw-dropping series conclusion in Pretty Little Liars #16.

Pretty Little Liars #15: Toxic

Geoffrey Froggatt

** spoiler alert **
           This is the fifteenth book in the Pretty Little Liars book series, and the third book in the fourth story arc. It's been weeks since police caught the notorious stalker and murderer known as A. But Hanna, Aria, Emily, and Spencer know that the real A is still out there. And as long as A is on the loose, nothing can ever go back to normal, if there is such a thing as normal in Rosewood. Hanna is offered the role of a lifetime, in a movie about her life. Aria's paintings go viral, until her fine art escalates to the art of war. Spencer starts an anti-bullying blog but finds that her homepage is as dangerous as her home life. And Emily goes behind bars to reconnect with the only girl who ever stole her heart. I liked how this book opened up with a flashback with a look into Alison and Nick’s life behind-the-scenes of being A. It was interesting seeing Alison and Nick together and their relationship with each other. I like how we got insight into Alison’s perspective and her plans for the girls. This book made me realize that this franchise, books and television show, does a poor job at portraying a nuanced look at mental illness and mental health. The characterization of the mentally ill characters are only a few inches above average, and they often feel like caricatures of “crazy and scary” mental illness from a neurotypical perspective. Regardless, I do like this story and these characters, and I love this franchise despite my many problems with certain parts of the material. I love the concept of an online Alison fan club because if the events of the books were real, certain parts of the true crime community and fans of the Lifetime movie would react that way. The idea that Alison could have amassed many loyal followers obsessed with her heightened the paranoia and raised the stakes for the girls. I thought that the storyline of Hanna getting a role in a movie about their lives was a little ridiculous, but I do think that true crime movies have done similar things in real life, and I did like the storyline for Hanna, so I could suspend my disbelief. I liked where Hanna’s storyline has taken her. I liked the little shout out to the television show adaptation, when one of the potential actresses mentioned in the book is Lucy Hale, who plays Aria in the show. I didn’t expect to like Spencer’s storyline with her anti-bullying blog, but I loved how Alison sent her a hidden message in a poem in order to mess with her, and I liked how her storyline unfolded in this book. I was shocked to see Alison attempt to kill Emily in such a reckless way, but it showed that Alison was starting to lose herself playing the A game, and she was furious at Emily for foiling her plans and not joining Alison and Nick on the A team when she offered Emily to join them in the previous book. I understood her character motivation, but I was surprised to see the mastermind starting to get sloppy and reckless. Seeing Alison become so direct, bold and brazen, was intense and it felt like Alison was becoming careless or confident enough to attack the liars directly. I liked the return of Jordan’s character and her relationship with Emily, and I was sad to see how that storyline ended, but I liked how it developed Emily’s character. I like what they did with some of the newer secondary characters in this book and how they contributed to the overall storyline. The ending wasn’t as climactic as it could have been, but this book did a decent job at setting up the finale in the next book, Vicious.

Only one left... I'm reading these since 2009 or 2010.. it's been forever.

At least this one feels like everything's going to end soon.

Zara Doulton

Everything is coming to a close - but A is always 10 steps in front of them.

laura

I am so hooked on this series! I will be so sad to see it end! I was really surprised how not everything was a A trick. AND SO EXCITED FOR THE CONCLUSION! ALI BETTER BE GOING DOWN!

Pretty Little Liars #15: Toxic

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