Confession time: PLL is one of my Netflix guilty pleasures. I won't even pretend to feel bad about it. It's a great show for many terrible reasons. But what about the books?
It's hard not to compare the page and screen versions. There's always discussion of time constraints and budgets and casting. So let's not bother. The show is popcorn worthy. If you want to know about the books, here's what I think.
I'd rather watch the show. The first book in the series is not a whole book. It's the beginning of a book. Unlike any other series I've ever read, there is no resolution at all. None. It's all a setup for the next book(s). I feel as ripped off by it as I did that extra season of Arrested Development. I invested my entertainment hours to a really long trailer for something else.
The writing? Not bad. The characters are pretty one-dimensional, which makes them great for a soap opera. There's nothing challenging or thought-provoking happening on the pages. Just chapter after chapter of teenage drama, mystery, and intrigue. It's easy to read, but if I didn't already watch the show, this first segment would not make me want to check out the next title. Still, I will probably read the rest of the series so I can do the aforementioned comparison.
Here's one thing, though. In this fictional elite suburb, the kids seem to be very worldly. Maybe I'm just not in touch with middle school these days (who am I kidding, I'm clearly not), but these kids are doing some pretty adult things. Not just the designer everything, but drinking, seducing older men. They seem to be exploring things at a much younger age than I remember. Maybe that's what makes them popular among the YA crowd- the escape from reality. Or maybe they are an indication of how times have changed. Either way, it doesn't always sit well with my prudish ideas. Most of the unsettling aspects have to do with men. So maybe it's my inner feminist cringing at all the exploitation of minors. I dunno. It won't stop me from reading or watching, but it does give me pause.
Anyway, that's about it. Not much material to think about, so not much to write about.
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