** spoiler alert ** This is a prequel book to the Pretty Little Liars book series. Although it is chronologically the first book in the series, it is meant to be read after the eighth book, as reading it first would spoil the first eight books of the series. It's the end of seventh grade, and Alison DiLaurentis and her friends are the it girls of Rosewood Day. Ali runs her clique with an iron fist, and she's got enough dirt on Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer to keep them in line. But Ali's hiding a dark secret of her own, something so huge it would destroy everything if it ever got out. She's desperate to keep the perfect life she's worked so hard to build, but in Rosewood deadly secrets have deadly consequences. The book is told from Courtney’s point of view, not Spencer’s, Aria’s, Hanna’s, or Emily’s, so it gives us a better look inside her brain and what Courtney was thinking during the events before and leading up to her death. This book also gives us more insight on the night Courtney died and what she thought of the Liars. It also gives more insight to all the things that have happened to the Liars and Rosewood itself. The first eight Pretty Little Liars books were my favourite in the entire franchise, and it surpassed the television show storyline for me. While I want to continue onto the ninth book and the final book story arc eventually, whenever I had tried reading it, it felt like a disingenuous cash grab to profit off of the television show’s success. One of my favourite things about this book series is that it portrays high school politics and social hierarchies well, especially from a teenage girl’s point of view, and this prequel book does a good job at depicting all of this as well. I loved the further exploration of Courtney’s character. She’s bold, daring and manipulative. I loved seeing Courtney use her cunning in order to slip into Alison’s life and how she adapted into becoming her own version of Alison with the foundations the real Alison had left behind. I liked seeing Courtney lose herself in Alison’s identity. I sometimes felt bad for the real Alison, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be forcibly institutionalized and replaced by your own twin sister, with no one in her life noticing that she was gone. However, Alison got Courtney forcibly institutionalized first, which initiated all of this. I loved Courtney’s internal thoughts and the insights that it gave to her character. I liked seeing how she had traumatic memories involving her time at Radley. Seeing the real Alison adapt to her life at the mental institution and begin to befriend the people around her showed the real Alison’s true character and foreshadows her becoming “A”. I liked that Alison gave up trying to convince her parents that she wasn’t Courtney. Had she struggled and resisted, Alison would have been given increased medications that would have dulled her sense and unsharpened her mind. Alison deciding to play along with the twin switch was the smartest move she could have made in her position, and it showed she was just as cunning as her twin sister (if not more). I have also read The Lying Game book series by the same author, and while that book features a different kind of twin switch plot line, I much prefer the twin switch storyline in this book (and series). I loved that Alison is shown to be the “bad” twin here, which goes against everything the real Alison said in her letter to the Liars in Wanted. Although one could argue that there is no “good” twin, and that Courtney is the “bad” twin while Alison is the worse twin. While this book had potential to be a cheap prequel cash grab, I felt like this book does a great job at exploring and fleshing out Courtney and Alison’s characters in the past while incorporating characters and plot lines from the first eight books and future books in the series. While I did not finish the ninth book in the series, this book has reignited my interest in this world and these characters enough to give it a second chance. I highly recommend this prequel book for fans of the first eight books in the series.

This has been the best Pretty Little Liars novel I have read in a while. It was somewhat refreshing and there were a few twists, even though we already had an idea of what had happened. This book definitely humanizes "Ali/Courtney" compared to the other books, which I liked a lot. It was interesting getting inside her head and not having the whole "This person did it-oh wait they didn't" think that kept happening in the other PLL books.

“The lie that started it all.” Slightly better than the previous two books but if you've watched the ABC show like I have, then you've probably already figured out what the first lie is.

I really enjoyed reading the book about Ali. It was super fun to read it from a different perspective.

More cliffhangers?!?! When will it all end!!

Full review: http://bookandbroadway.blogspot.com/2... and soon to be here: http://bookgirl.co.vu I'm the first to admit that I'm very, very skeptical about prequels. They can often be wonderful and informative and keep the same magic of the original series while providing us with a history. And then there's the ones that are bland and provide us nothing but frustration and even taint the original series. Ali's Pretty Little Lies fortunately is one of the good seeds and is just as spooky and entertaining as Pretty Little Liars. The story takes place primarily before and during the summer which Alison DiLaurentis goes missing. Although the characters are in middle school when this prequel takes place, the story doesn't make us feel too ridiculous for reading about these girls in their younger years. Not much has changed and there's still a certain mature air to them that doesn't make us feel too awkward about the age difference between us and them. My biggest twitchy concern is the fact that a certain older boy takes to spending time chasing Ali and clearly lusting after her. I mean, gross, right? She's practically a child. Back on track. Ali's Pretty Little Lies takes us back to the lie that started it all. I'm talking the formation of these pretty little liars as well as the moment Courtney and Ali officially switch place. As we know, the Ali that the girls knew was actually Courtney DiLaurentis and Ali's twin sister. It's very soap opera and very deliciously creepy; getting an idea of the twins relationship we grow to pity Courtney and are thoroughly frightened by the real Ali's actions.