Unbelievable

A.
Unbelievable isn’t like any of the books we have read in class. The one book it could even be slightly close to would be The Catcher in the Rye. Both of the books have similar characters; they both include a main character that is a teenager in high school. Although, in Unbelievable there are four teenage main characters that are girls and in The Catcher in the Rye there is only one teenage main character that is a boy. The themes of the two books are similar as well because both of the stories have a problem that takes place over the whole book. In Unbelievable the problem is involving all four of the girls and their safety from an anonymous murderer, but in The Catcher in the Rye Holden’s problem is more self involved not having too much with the outside world, but just him. The settings have the most similarities. Both of the books are written in present time and both take place in a well known state/city. Even though they take place in two well known locations the two cities are very different. Unbelievable takes place in Massachusetts in a small town named Rosewood and The Catcher in the Rye takes place in New York in New York City. The major contrast between the two books would be the writing style. The Catcher in the Rye is written in first person because Holden tells his story to us. On the other hand, Unbelievable is written in third person because someone is telling us the story of the four girls. Even though Unbelievable and The Catcher in the Rye have some similarities, they are two entirely different books.
B.
Each book from the series of The Pretty Little Liars was amazing. I loved all four books, but Unbelievable is definitely my favorite out of all four. It is my favorite because it was the most thrilling and entertaining because all of the unsolved problems and mysteries finally get uncovered in the end. My favorite part was the most thrilling part of the book at the way end. Throughout all four of the books each of the four girls, Hanna, Spencer, Aria and Emily, are getting harassed by an anonymous person who knows everything about their life and everything they do when they do it and most important that person knows who murdered their best friend Ali back in seventh grade. During Unbelievable you get a few hints here and there from the anonymous person about who the murderer could be but most of the time you get thrown off track all the way until the very end when, Hanna, one of the girls realizes who it is. At the time she remembers Spencer is in the car with the anonymous person who is now revealed to be Mona, Hanna’s best friend. Mona discovers that Spencer has found out and Spencer tries to contact the three other girls and the police officer they are with. Mona, enraged, drives Spencer and herself up to the top of a cliff. Both of the girls get out of the car and start yelling and fighting, as they are yelling Mona tells Spencer who Ali’s killer is and they continue fighting. Mona tries to kill Spencer but Mona has her back to the cliff and Spencer pushes her off. ‘Spencer struggled to breathe. “I guess not!” she screamed. Using all her might, Spencer pressed her legs onto Mona‘s body throwing her backward’ (299). Meanwhile, the three other girls and Officer Wilden find out where Mona has driven them and they rush to the scene. When they arrived the paramedics found Mona’s body between rocks crushed, barely alive and found Spencer shocked at the top of the cliff. All of the girls cried together as they finally realized their lives were going to turn back to normal after everything was revealed to the public and Ali’s killer was arrested. This was my favorite part because through all four of the books I didn’t have a clue who the murderer was or who the anonymous person was and I was glad to finally figure it out.
E.
I think that this book is very good for independent reading. Any of the four books would be good. As long as you have read the three previous books, Pretty Little Liars, Flawless and Perfect, then Unbelievable is a very good choice for independent reading. I think that it is a good choice because the writing style is geared for high school level reading. It was really easy to follow and understand, unlike most of the books we read in class where annotation is necessary to remember and understand certain things. The way Unbelievable is written is perfect for high school students. This book has some hard vocabulary, complicated scenes and settings but it is very entertaining and easily comprehended. Another reason it is good for independent reading is because only a certain group of people would like this book. I don’t think guys would be interested in this book at all. I think girls who like a lot of drama and suspense in books would really enjoy this book. Sometimes the books we read in class aren’t meant for everyone, but for independent reading you get to chose a book that you think or know you would enjoy reading and Unbelievable is a book that you have to be very interested in to really enjoy it. Also, another reason why Unbelievable is perfect for independent reading is because of the content. Some of the topics mentioned in the book aren’t appropriate for class, like, example, sex, alcohol, rape, drug use and swearing are all mentioned in the book and that could offend some students. For example “What a lame-ass,“ Mona said, sliding her arm in the crook of Hanna’s elbow (237). Those topics would be the only downfall of the book but that is a reason why it would be good for independent reading because you would know if you are able to handle that type of content in a book. Overall, Unbelievable is a great book for independent reading.