Big warning here. Technically this book is a prequel and chronologically takes place before the first book. But it came out after #13 or something and reveals quite a few things, and by reveals, it changes how you view what came before. So spoilers ahead.

If you’ve read the other books in the series, you know Ali is a bitch. It’s hard to see why the girls like her, besides envy and awe, because her vulnerable moments are far in between.

Here, the whole story is set on Ali’s POV or should I say, Courtney.

Dun dun dun! Ali had a twin sister named Courtney DiLaurentis all along! And the real Ali is as bitchy and psycho as the Liars know her to be. That’s how Courtney feels about her too. All her life Ali pushed her and manipulated Courtney, goading her into attacking. Which Courtney did and so Ali convinced their parents to send her to Radley, the psych ward for years. Radley was the worse and after five years, Courtney finally gets to go home for a trial run. But once again, ALi gets her way and Courtney will be sent to another psych ward, Preserve which is rumored to be even worse than Radley with higher rates of suicide.

Courtney is desperate to never go back, never go back to feeling alone, doped up and forgotten, and so she takes her chance. She spots the sixth grade liars, Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna hanging by the house, and she goes outside to hang out with them. And she says she’s Ali, popular, sociable Ali who is always the leader of the crowd. The DiLaurentis parents see Courtney outside and assume she’s Ali and so they take the real Ali to Preserve. Of course, the real Ali freaks out, screaming and saying she’s the real Ali. But who’s going to believe her? It’s just crazy Courtney. So Courtney does it, she did the big switcharoo and it seems like her secret is safe for now.

And yeah, Courtney pulls off being Ali with aplomb, she can be just as big a bitch as the original that even her brother believes her. But why? Clearly, Courtney has a bit more compassion than the real Ali, she has fears and nice moments, why does she hold the Liars secrets over them?
It turns out what people say is true, bullies make others feel bad because it makes them feel better about themselves, and Ali is no different. Whenever her anger or fear comes up, she lashes out, it’s the only way she can feel powerful to overcompensate all the times she felt powerless against the manipulative and ruthless Ali.

It is also her way to keep her friends close for the whole time Hanna, Aria, Spencer and Emily feared that Ali would ditch them for someone cooler, she feared that if they weren’t under her thumb, if they liked someone else, didn’t follow her orders, they would end up leaving her. And the real Ali would be there to taunt her how much of a crazy loser she is.

Seriously, the DiLaurentis family is messed up. Even moreso when Ali gets the news that “Courtney” is considered sane enough to come back. Ali knows that “Courtney” is faking and Courtney confirms as much, she wants to get back to her old life and wants revenge.

So as Ali’s life spirals, she collects secrets and blackmail and finds out several stunning revelations that rock her world, like the one pertaining her parents. It’s actually really sad and is speaks to Shepard’s prowress that she can make Ali sympathetic but she does do it. You want Ali to work things out with her friends, to give into those moments when she’s about to be vulnerable with Aria or Emily than she shuts herself down. Or when she finally seems to find someone with the cute but sympathetic Nick Maxwell which freaking Ian ruins.

You also get to enjoy the foreshadowing and revelations that come with seeing Ali’s side of the story of those fateful days before her murder. Yes, you find out who murdered her! Well one of the people who murdered her, it was a two person job. I have my suspicions of who the other one is but we’ll see if I prove to be correct.

An exciting prequel and wonderful character insight to the girl that Rosewood loved and feared.