Wow, what a ride but it was worth it as we find out who A is and seemingly find out Ali’s killer.

When we last left the liars, they were all at their lowest points: Emily is sent to flat land Iowa, Aria’s homeless, Spencer’s plagerism is exposed and she pushed Melissa down the stairs in a fit of rage, and Hanna is in a coma!

Surprisingly this all seems to work out for them in unusual ways but not without suffering first. And surprisingly, with more humor. Maybe it was because the end of the first arc, but there’s some lighthearted snarky comments and jokes that got a smile out of me.

Anyway, Emily’s cousins aren’t the convent wannabees they seemed destined for. In fact, they sneak out to silo parties every night and Emily gets to meet a cute farmgirl blonde who takes her mind off her troubles. . . and Maya.

Emily is interesting to me in small doses as her small-town sweetness does make me sympathetic for her but her romance not so much. Maybe it’s because it was early 2000s so this representation would have seen as big and new. But now, smalltown prejudice and forbidden romance seem a bit cliche.

I am interested in her new feelings for Trista though, someone who looks a bit like Ali, and how it makes Emily reevaluate her feelings for Maya and her slight tendency to put the ones she loves on pedestals and the fact she really needs to work through her feelings about Ali.

Aria gets a chance to reconnect with her dad, if homewrecker Meredith wasn’t in the way. At least she can join the college Mindless Art class. . . with Jenna Cavenaugh?!

Aria is interesting in how she is an outlier in the group. Even back in seventh grade before Iceland she was more artsy and out there. So Mindless Art is perfect for her and it allows for some really enlightning conversation with Jenna, clearing the air and a new A epiphany.
It’s also nice in how sensible Aria can be when she is not immersed with her family/Ezra drama. She, at the urging of her brother, finally tell the police about the threatening A messages! Though not before one of them gets in danger.

That one would be Spencer. She’s always been the most interesting to me with her hostile relationship with Melissa. Maybe it’s because I’m an only child but I find sibling dynamics so entertaining. Here, Melissa and Spencer seem to find a moment of understanding, that is quickly marred when Spencer realizes who might have the motive and ruthlessness to kill Ali- Melissa after she found out Ali and Ian hooked up.

It’s a good guess but not quite there as she climbs into the car with the real A. But the incident allows Spencer to really think about the perfection she tries so hard to attain and what she is willing to do to keep it. But she realizes its not worth it to be perfect if its not real. I thought that was very powerful and a good moment of growth for her.

Hanna is the one who pieces it all together, a bit too late but who can blame her. Coma tends to make one’s memory woozy. she also gets her bit of growth where popularity and friendship is concerned but that would really be spilling the book’s secrets.

But don’t think that everything is wrapped up that neatly. This is Rosewood after all and Shepard makes it clear that there are more than a few inconsistancies and secrets that need to be revealed before everyone can rest easy.