Pretty Little Liars (Book)

"Never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret."

- Quote of the Book

Pretty Little Liars is the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard published by HarperTeen. It was released on October 3, 2006.

Spencer is featured on the book cover.

Under the dust jacket on the front of the hardcopy book it says "It's not over until I say it is. ~A".

Back Cover Summary
Everyone has something to hide—especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna.

Spencer covets her sister's boyfriend. Aria's fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily's crushing on the new girl at school. And Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful.

But they've all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and all the dirty secrets they've kept. And guess what? I'm telling.

-A

In Detail Summary
The story introduces an exclusive group of friends: "Alison DiLaurentis", the perfect yet manipulative queen bee, Aria Montgomery, an independent girl who is considered to be the oddball in Rosewood, Emily Fields, a swimmer who holds secret feelings for Alison, Hanna Marin, who strives to be thin and popular like Alison, and Spencer Hastings, an overachiever who is brave enough to stand up against Alison's manipulative ways. Alison mysteriously disappears during a sleepover with the girls in the summer before 8th grade.

The story then jumps 3 years later, when the girls are living their own lives and don't speak to each other. Aria returns to Rosewood from a 3 year trip to Iceland with her family and comes back much more sophisticated than before she left. She meets and kisses a guy in a local bar who is revealed to be her English teacher, Ezra Fitz. Emily befriends the new girl in town, Maya St. Germain, and soon develops romantic feelings for her. Hanna is the new popular girl in town alongside the former nerd, Mona Vanderwaal. However, she and Mona sometimes shoplift though both can clearly afford their steals. Hanna battles the urge to turn back to bulimia, and struggles to manage the stress of keeping her queen bee status. Spencer continues to struggle in her long-standing rivalry with Melissa Hastings, her perfect older sister. Problems occur when she begins to feel attracted to Melissa's new boyfriend, Wren Kim, when he is introduced to the family.

Throughout the story, the liars get messages threatening to reveal their secrets of the present and past, including a terrifying incident the girls refer to as "The Jenna Thing". They automatically believe it is their missing friend, Alison, because she is the only one each of them confided in regarding their darkest secrets. However, they are shocked when the police find her corpse buried in the gazebo of her former house. The book ends with the liars receiving a text at Alison's funeral saying, "I'm still here, bitches. And I know everything. -A ".

To Aria

 * Aria: Surprise! I wonder what your pig puppet will have to say about this . . . -A
 * Aria, Maybe he fools around with students all the time. A lot of teachers do . . . Just ask your dad! -A
 * Aria, That's some kind of extra credit! Love ya, -A
 * P.S. Wonder what your mom would think if she found out about your dad's little, uh, study buddy . . . and that you knew!

To Emily

 * Hey Em, Sob! I've been replaced! You found another friend to kiss! -A
 * Thought you might want this back. Love, A

To Spencer

 * Spencer: Covet is an easy one. When you covet someone, they desire and lust after it. Usually it's someone they can't have. You've always had the problem, though, haven't you? -A
 * A A A A A A: I already told you: Kissing your sister's boyfriend is WRONG.

To Hanna

 * Hey Hanna, Since prison food makes you fat, you know what Sean's going to say? Not it! -A
 * Hanna, Even Daddy doesn't love you best! -A
 * Hanna: Remember the KATE toothbrush? Thought so! -A

To All Four Girls

 * I'm still here, bitches. And I know everything. -A

Break ups

 * Ezra and Aria: Aria and Ezra hook up at his house on the night of Noel Kahn's field party. She gets a message from A and rushes back home, leaving her Treo phone behind. The next morning, just after Ali's body is found, Aria returns to Ezra's house to get her phone. However, she finds him distraught and angry with her. A had apparently sent Aria more texts throughout the night; Ezra read them, believing that his student was playing him for a fool and telling her friends about their relationship. Aria becomes so upset and dazed that she bites Ezra's hand before he screams at her to leave his house.
 * Hanna and Sean: Hanna's relationship with Sean Ackard has been strained due to the athlete's sudden interest in joining the virginity club. The brunette is very eager to have sex with her boyfriend, but with each attempt at intimacy he becomes more distant. At Noel's party, Hanna tries to seduce Sean in the infamous Manhood Woods. At this point his patience with her runs out and he tells her she's not the type of girl he wants to be with. He also tells Hanna that she needs to respect herself more instead of throwing herself at him.
 * Emily and Ben: Emily and Ben's relationship becomes troubled when she starts to hang out with Maya St. Germain. The swimmer begins to second-guess being with her boyfriend; she wonders if she's really happy with Ben or just doing what everyone expects her to. Interestingly, many of the other swimmers suggested that the two should go out, which makes Emily further question if she really wants to be with Ben. He catches Emily kissing Maya in a photobooth at Noel's party and angrily tosses his drink on them.
 * Melissa and Wren: As Wren gets to know Spencer, the sexual tension between them rises. Eventually it results in a hook-up in Spencer's barn apartment. Spencer notices her older sister staring at them from a short distance and the older Hastings appears with a calm yet cold demeanor. She promptly breaks up with Wren and gets Spencer kicked out of the barn.

Hook-ups

 * Emily and Maya: A new girl from San Francisco, Maya makes Emily feel and think in a way that she's not accustomed to. It's a strange but refreshing feeling and she often catches herself looking at Maya in a more sensual manner. Emily dismisses her thoughts at first and doesn't want to believe that she's gay. Even though she kissed Ali, she didn't believe she was attracted to girls. The two hook-up at Noel's party and are shortly caught by Emily's boyfriend.
 * Spencer and Wren: Spencer meets Melissa's boyfriend at a fancy Philadelphia restaurant with her parents. Wren's a bit intimidated by the Hastings' intense attitudes but finds that Spencer does not have the same need to appear perfect. He later helps her out with a sore shoulder and lower back. They hook up in the barn apartment but Melissa catches them.
 * Aria and Ezra: Aria and Ezra meet in an Old Hollis bar. After making out in the bathroom, they exchange numbers. The next day, they find out that he's her new AP English teacher. While he attempts to keep the relationship from going any further, he eventually gives in and hooks up with Aria again. She used Noel Kahn, also an AP English student, to make Ezra jealous and it worked wonderfully.
 * Ashley and Darren: Hanna's mother hooks up with the young Rosewood police officer after Hanna is caught stealing and crashing her ex-boyfriend's car. The brunette sees the two adults enter the Marin household with their arms wrapped around each other. Ashley told her previously that she would handle the situation, but Hanna had no idea that this was how she would do it.