Book Review: Unbelievable (Pretty Little Liars 4) by Sara Shepard

 

 Synopsis (from Amazon):

Four pretty little liars' charmed lives have turned into living nightmares. 

Emily's been shipped off to Iowa to live with her überconservative cousins. Aria's boyfriend is behind bars—because of her. Spencer's afraid she was involved in Ali's murder. But Hanna's fate is far worse: She's clinging to life in the hospital because she knew too much.

If these girls don't start listening to me, Hanna's going to look like the lucky one.

My Thoughts:

I can't believe it took me this long to start this book after finishing book 3!  Hanna was hit by a car at the end of the last book and coincidentally, it was right before she could tell the other girls who "A" was.  So, this book opens with Hanna still in a coma and Spencer and Aria trying to figure out if she really knew that answer to the question that has been plaguing them all.

Emily has been sent off to Iowa to live with her cousins because her parents don't approve of the fact that she is gay.  Her cousins are from this super strict family and Emily knows that her life is going to be miserable there, especially after riding home with her aunt and uncle.  However, Emily was in for quite the surprise when it came to her cousins.  After her cousins betray and place all the blame for their little outing (where Emily meets another girl) on Emily, Emily runs away and ends up back in Rosewood.   Now Emily, Aria and Spencer have to help Hanna try to remember who "A" is and Emily has to figure out what she is going to do between the new girl and Maya.

Aria is now living with her father and Meredith because her mom kicked her out and then she was caught kissing Ezra, her teacher and so her boyfriend kicked her out of his house as well.  She is not happy about living with Byron and Meredith but what can she do?  She continues to try to show her father what a poor choice Meredith is for him but surprisingly she maybe starts to soften a little towards Meredith at the end.  

Spencer has to continue the sham of the Golden Orchid contest and pretend she knows what she wrote about, which of course, she doesn't because she turned in her sister's paper instead of her own.  Spencer's parents refuse to let her tell the truth because they don't want to tarnish their family's reputation.  Spencer makes it through the interviews but just barely.  She is trying to figure out if her sister is the on who killed Ali and it's really wreaking havoc with her mind.

Hanna finally wakes from the coma but can't remember anything from the night of the accident.  She doesn't remember her fight with Mona or why she was in the park to meet the other girls.  Lucas tries to lead her away from Mona and tells her numerous times to ask Mona about the fight that they had.  Of course, Mona downplays the fight and it isn't until it's too late that Hanna remembers....and she remembers everything!

This book was full of twists and excitement.  I love the alternating views in each chapter.  It keeps it fresh and you never get bored with one character.  I can't wait to read book #5!

Book Review: Aspen Everlasting by Kathryn Cooper

 

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Water splashed on all sides then took control of the tires. The car swerved right toward the river.
“No. NO. NO!” I turned the wheel toward the road. It didn’t work. Fast running water pulled the car into the flooded river.

Aspen Foster thinks she’s just a normal sixteen-year-old, but when her car’s caught in a flash flood, Aspen and her sister discover the superhuman strength they never knew they had.

Soon Aspen learns she’s not normal at all. She’s an Evermortal fairy, with powers beyond her wildest dreams. But the more Aspen finds out about her family’s past, the more dangerous her future becomes.

This riveting fantasy is full of action, adventure, and romance. Suspenseful and exhilarating! 

My Thoughts:

Aspen and her sister, Willow, are caught in a flash flood with two of Willow's friends.  As the car is sinking, Aspen and Willow both find some inhuman strength and kick open windows and well as throw Willow's two friends an incredible distance to safety.  Both are very surprised by this strength but chalk it up to adrenaline (we've all heard of the parent who has lifted a car off their child or some story along those lines) so it's not too hard to believe.  At least, it's not too hard to believe until the next day when they both still have this incredible strength.  When their brother, Ash, also exhibits the same strength, the teens decide to go out and look for their parents (a park ranger and nature photographer) to get some answers.

The answers that the kids' parents have for them are unbelievable.  They are Evermortal fairies that are in hiding from the queen.  They learn all this quickly as they are on the run from the queen's henchmen so they don't have much time to get all the details but Aspen certainly has a lot of questions.

After arriving safely home, Aspen gets a few more answers from her parents.  Evermortals age more slowly than humans and her parents are really much older than they thought, as are their grandparents.  Evermortals are incredibly good looking as well.  Aspen isn't sure how to deal with these things or let her crush, Nate know.  Until she finds out that Nate is also special.  She also finds out that there are more Evermortals in her town than she knew of.

Now Aspen has to figure out what other secrets her parents are hiding from her (and there are many more) and try to stay safe, which is hard to do when you don't know which people are your friends and which ones are your enemies.

This was a fun and quick book to read.  I love that it was a clean read (some kissing between Aspen and Nate but that's all) and I would totally feel comfortable with my daughter reading it.  The only thing that was a little off for me was how quickly the kids accepted what they were.  Aspen certainly had questions for her parents but if my parents told me that I was a fairy, my reaction would not be as easy going and accepting as Aspen's and her sibling's reactions were.  Aspen also put herself into danger a couple of times that was unnecessary.  I understood her need for information but sometimes she just wasn't thinking at all.  

All in all, this was a fast paced read full of excitement and a little romance.  The end tied up nicely but left things open for possibly another book.  I really enjoyed it!

**I received this book from the publisher for an honest review**