SuitabookAli's Pretty Little Lies
Sara Shepard
- Reading
- A useful approach is to pause after major revelations and separate what characters know from what they assume. Afterwards, discuss how the mystery shaped your view of trust and responsibility.
- Themes
- Secrets and friendship: Ali’s secrets and schemes affect her relationships with Emily, Hanna, Aria and Spencer. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Identity and self-discovery: The book explores identity and self-discovery within a story about adolescent friendships and changing relationships. This may invite reflection on how people understand themselves, but the book’s evaluative stance and character development are unclear.
- Mystery and danger: The story builds tension around Ali’s mysterious death and includes fear, anxiety and mild safety peril. Suspense appears to be a central engine of the story, though the treatment of danger and its consequences cannot be assessed fully.
- Worth knowing
- Consider whether the reader is comfortable with emotionally heavy conflict, fear or anxiety, and mild physical peril. The book also raises potentially difficult questions about honesty, secrecy and loyalty.