Wicked by Sara Shepard

Wicked by Sara Shepard is the 5th book in the Pretty Little Liars Series and, since this is not a series you can pick mid way, I'm going to assume you all read the first four.

Wicked picks up a few weeks after the end of Unbelievable, where A was unmasked. Hanna, Aria, Emily and Spencer are seeing a grief counselor to try to get some closure over Ali's death even as the trial of her alleged murderer is about to start.

For a while, the girls have been thinking that the whole A mess is done and over with, but soon a New A starts to send them creepy notes - and pictures - as they all begin to get into trouble anew.

Emily is confused about who she is these days, especially after she meets a cute boy at church and realizes she's attracted to him (even though for the first four books she was struggling with the idea of being gay). Aria meets a guy at an art gallery who later turns out to be dating her mother. Hanna is determined to get back to the top of the Rosewood Day food chain. And Spencer is still facing the consequences of the Golden Orchid debacle when her grandmother dies and leaves off her will... which in turn plants a seed of doubt inside of her about her standing as a Hastings.

Of the four ongoing story lines, I found Spencer's the most interesting (I'm starting to like her, actually, since the previous book Unbelievable); I've always liked Emily because she's the least bitchy of the girls and I actually liked her new relationship with Isaac. Aria's constant interest for older guy is starting to bug the hell out of me - it always lands her in trouble but she keeps doing it - and frankly I find it rather sleazy. And Hanna's character just seems flatter and flatter to me with each book, she only wants to be popular, no matter to cost or the detriments - the only time I've liked her was during Perfect.

That being said, the back story of it all - the Ali mystery - is still going with new clues and facts. I think I got my guilty guy already picked out but I shall have to wait and see if I'm right about that. Though, again, sometimes it feels a bit like a repeat of where we were at the beginning of the series.

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