by Sara Shepard
Part of Pretty Little Liars, book 0.5
First published 2013
Alison DiLaurentis rules Rosewood Day with calculated precision. She commands her circle of friends with the secrets she holds over them. Hanna, Emily, Aria, and Spencer follow her lead because they have no choice. Ali knows exactly what each girl wants to hide. But Ali carries a secret of her own, something that could shatter the perfect world she has constructed. The weight of this hidden truth threatens everything she has built. As seventh grade ends, Ali fights to maintain control while her own foundations crack. She manipulates and schemes to protect herself, but Rosewood punishes those who keep dangerous secrets. The clock ticks toward the moment that will end Ali's reign forever. This is Ali's story, told in her own voice, revealing how the mystery that would consume her friends actually began.
Genres: mystery, contemporary, thriller, young-adult
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Rosewood Day
Period: Seventh Grade
296 pages · Hardcover · HarperTeen
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, mental-illness