Toxic [Pretty Little Liars #15]

One A has been captured…but the most dangerous A of all is still out there in the penultimate installment in Sara Shepard's #1 New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars series. High school seniors Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna barely survived their most recent encounter with A. And it's not over yet…. The police don't believe there's another, deadlier, A out there, but the girls know what-and who-they saw. If they don't track down this final tormentor soon, A will silence them forever. Sara Shepard's fan base continues to grow as ABC Family's hit Pretty Little Liars TV show draws in new readers to the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Full of unexpected twists and shocking revelations, the second-to-last novel ramps up the stakes for the jaw-dropping series conclusion in Pretty Little Liars #16.

And so it continues. The series that stole all of Sara Shepard's creative juices from The Lying Game. 

I'll admit it, it's true. I am. I swear Sara Shepard and P. C. and Kristin Cast need to get together and let their books have babies together. Because these series are getting ridiculously long.

Anyways, a majority of Toxic has a nice feel to it. Things seem to finally be going right in the girl's world. 

Aria got discovered in the art world after a famous art critic collector named Carruthers (I think that's what he was) buys her painting...the only downside is that it's a painting of Ali. (I should've seen it coming from that little detail.) Anyway, this art critic's name is so powerful soon Aria has a showing, her mom (who made the sale at the gallery she works at) has been promoted to assistant director and Aria is giving exclusives to different art magazines and blogs. 

One of them belongs to a guy named Harrison and because she's on the rebound from Noel and her most recent break-up and their love for art, she tries to move on. Noel tells her early in the book that he needs a break and starts dating this blonde Ali-clone bimbo named Scarlet. (Am I the only one who thinks that only girls with red hair should be named Scarlet?). Deep down Aria knows she isn't really feeling Harrison and she's most def. not over Noel. And he...Oh my God, this boy makes me so mad! 

At the climax of the book, Aria sees Noel and Scarlet at the Rosewood Rally's for Underprivileged Kids (How can you have a rally for something that doesn't exist in your area?) and runs away to the bathroom because she can't handle it. However, he bursts through the bathroom 

And they are all:

Then he's all, "I don't know what I want." Shaking my head; so like a guy. I wanted to slap him. Then, he leaves. 

After Aria's left in the bathroom alone, someone from the New York Post calls and tells her that the art collector who bought her painting, didn't really buy it. He's was in Africa during all of this and someone used his name. Aria starts freaking out as the tabloid reporter starts asking if she set up the whole scandal herself, which she denies. She asks him who the name of Carruther's assistant was and he tells her, Maxine Preptwill, (however you spell it) AKA the name Noel and Ali use to use to communicate. Ali set her up. 

However, this actually backfired. Instead of Aria leaving the art world in disgrace, it only made people more interested in her art. There were more people buying her painting and her mom knew she wasn't lying about setting her own-self up. Which I loved. Usually the parents in this series piss me the fuck off. Also, Noel showed up and told her he dumped the Ali-look alike I mean, Scarlet, and tells Aria he wants her back. She agrees.

Hanna's nice new life is due to a movie that she's been invited to join. Someone is re-doing the movie of the Liars lives. Instead of that terrible Lifetime-esqe movie Pretty Little Killers, there is now movie that will be played in theaters called Burn It Down. (I hated how the movie script matched the dialogue of the books word for word.) Although, she's been invited to play Naomi instead of her self, who is being played by a celebrity named Hailey Blake. She's just another typical friend-until-she's-not character. She's all buddy-buddy with Hanna and takes her out to a movie premiere. It's there that Hanna meets the guy playing her real life boyfriend, Mike. Who (of course) kisses her. And Hailey gets the whole thing on her camera. 

Everything's going fine until Hailey's bad portrayal of Hanna's character and her partying gets to her and she and the director get into it Megan Foxx style. With Hailey no longer playing Movie-Hanna, Movie-Mike tells her that she should go after the part. So she does, but Hailey is betrayed since Hanna did nothing but encourage her to leave the movie. To get her back she sends the picture of Hanna and Movie-Mike kissing to the real Mike, who, is understandably butt-hurt. 

Hanna is so stupid, she should've told Mike about the kiss as soon as possible. You would think by now, she and the other's would have learned that if you tell all your secrets, there's nothing anyone can hold over anyone's head. But of course, none of the Liars thinks like this. 

Mike and Hanna are temporarily in a fight until Hailey decides to be on Team Hanna again after she sees film of her acting for Burn It Down. She gives Hanna her blessing for the part and fixes things with her and Mike. I liked that her mom was actually trying in her relationship and it was kind of nice that Kate was Tweet-supporting Hanna's movie role. However, I was wondering about her dad and why he didn't try to reach out to her after her murder charges were dropped. Haha...well, seeing the end of Toxic this is probably a good thing for his career. But more about that later.

Spencer's story-line pissed me off because it pointed out a flaw in this books. I swear these girls be kissing-and-dissing boys (and girls) from one book to the next. I wish I could meet guys as fast as they do. Shoot, I'd never be single. Spencer starts a bullying forum website for people who are or have been bullied to share their stories. This is her claim to fame. She goes on TV shows and gets all this coverage for her site. We also learn that in Alison's wake a bunch of fans called Ali Cats have risen. This a cult of Ali-crazed, Ali-loving fanatics who believe she is brave, misunderstood and strong for enduring everything she has. Basically they're crazy.

One of the alleged Ali Cats named Dominick sends Spencer e-mails telling her she ain't shit and she doesn't know what she's talking about. At the same time, this other guy, Greg is sending Spencer messages telling her that he is thankful for everything she has done for him and the others and blah-blah-blah. When Spencer goes on TV, he shows up-and so does Dominick, who makes a scene at the bully shoot video. After, Spencer and Greg hang out and start liking each other. In the middle of their almost-first-kiss, Ali (or is it) shows up and messes it up. Spencer and Greg spend more time together and finally kiss. She finally gets to the point where she confesses that Ali is alive and no one believes her and literally everything they knew.

Like, Spencer, you just met this boy! It's not like you've known him for years or lived in the same town as him like Noel or Mike. And even some of those people aren't trustworthy! Let alone some damn stranger! At the Rosewood Rally's event, Aria tells Spencer about Ali setting up her art career just so she can fall. She's so upset that Greg notices and keeps pressing the issue so Spencer tells him what's up. Of course, Greg turned out to also be Dominck, meaning he was sending both e-mails to Spencer. The Dominick Spencer thought she had seen, was just a friend of his doing a favor. Greg turns out to be a Ali Cat employed by Ali himself. 

On second thought, maybe they should be together. So they can be stupid together. Ali doesn't let people who go blabbing her secrets live. Which is why Ali kills him at the end. 

Emily is the only one who had a terrible story-line. Like, her's was gut-wrenching. I'm starting to think that Sara and Pretty Little Liars the TV show are starting to play off each other. (If you want to see these TV spoilers, highlight the lines below. First, Noel knew Ali's secret in the books and he knew she was alive in the TV show. Maya gets killed off on the TV show and now Jordan is killed too.) Emily's notorious thief girlfriend and her lawyer have figured out a way to get her out a jail. Somehow, both times she was arrested, she conveniently wasn't read her Miranda rights and a bunch of other stuff. If everything goes as planned, Jordan will get out on parole, although she and Emily can't run away together. Either way, she and Emily make plans together. Just before this happens though, Emily has a run in with a Crazy Ali. Before this all of the Liars have been having great lives. No one's been getting any texts and even though they knew Ali is still out there, no one's had any runs with her.But then when Emily is doing laps at the pool when Ali shows up and is all, 

And Emily is all, Bitch, please. Ali gets mad and nearly drowns her by holding her down in the water. She makes some ominous threat then takes off. But Emily's not about to have it. She snatches Ali's hoodie off of her and inside is a receipt to a grocery store. 

Soon after this though, Emily tries to use Jordan's lawyer to patch her through to the prison and the lawyer callously gives her some bad news: Jordan's dead. One of her inmates killed her and escaped. The first thing Emily thinks is Ali. She refused to tell her she loved her because she had finally moved on with Jordan and in response, Ali killed her not her inmate. However, everyone thinks she's crazy. I'm not even sure how I felt about this until the inmate's body turns up too.

She is heartbroken and although her parents keep asking what's wrong, she doesn't tell them because she knows they won't care as much because Jordan was a criminal. She lies and claims that the bruises from her nearly death-by-Ali experience were self-inflicted and starts sleeping in the closet. Her mom tries to make her feel better by trying to set her up at the Rosewood Rally. Which I thought was a very nice gesture coming from the parents who sent her away because of her sexuality. But she also thought something very important. How many times does she have to get disowned by her parents before tragedy brings them back together? A compelling (and slightly convenient) question.

Emily and the others track down the store that the receipt came from. One of the cashiers drops this accidental hint about Ali which later gets her killed. The girls figure out that Nick, Ali's ex-boyfriend, and his family had a house in the area that's been vacant for a while. They go search in the area, but Ali is nowhere to be found although they smell her perfume. They decide to set up cameras in the area and take turns watching them. Emily goes on a secret rampage one day and destroys the house although she cleans up after herself but the cameras catch everything. Spencer sees who she thinks is Dominick checking out the area one day and tries to catch up, but he runs. She later finds out it was Greg who, specially wanted to know if there were cameras.

During the Rally, the girls get together and go back to the house. There they find blood everywhere and a sweater that they stupidly take with them (removing evidence? I kind of get it but at the same time it makes me so mad!) and a hastily cleaned up crime scene. They call the cops then leave and all spend the night at Emily's. The next morning, Agent Fuji shows up suddenly believing them that Ali is alive. Or rather was. They found Ali's blood, torture devices and her tooth at the house. They know about the cameras and several witnesses have seen them in the area. The Liars are accused of keeping and torturing Ali to death. They are all arrested.

Ha, I wonder how she feels since each of the girl's success ties back to her. The first painting Aria sold was of Ali. The movie that's putting Hanna on the map is about Ali. Spencer's bullying website is due to her experiences with Ali. I swear if the next book isn't the last I'm gonna scream! It can only end like Obsessed. It's the only way this can ever truly be over. 

Ali has to die.

Deeper [Caroline & West #1]

When Caroline Piasecki’s ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn’t look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear, hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defense and punches her ex to the ground. West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he’s shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger—even after promising her dad she’ll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works. They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they’re “just friends,” their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself—and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her. When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

This book was sooo properly named. Deeper is the ways that Robin York is able to develop her characters, able to truly develop her thoughts, the way I was able to fall in love with this book. I don't know if I would call it a favorite yet but I know I would love to re-read this, this time in print form.

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the New Adult genre. I've read argument for it and against it but I will say most of what I've read, sounds pretty much the same in the genre. Most of novels/series in the genre are about a male lead (typically a man-whore) and the female lead (who is either adequately experienced or equal to the male's experience) who have sexual tension between them.

Also, one or both leads has a toxic back-story/history that contributes negatively to the story. In this story, West is the poor one whose dad is a loser that his mom keeps taking back despite the good man she has at home and West's younger sister. He managed to charm the pants off this rich guy (and literally his wife) who pay for his tuition. On the side he works at a bakery where he deals on the side at his college. Caroline is the rich daughter of a judge (or lawyer, I don't remember) who has been sheltered all her life.

After she breaks up with her long time boyfriend, Nate, Caroline believes that everything is fine between them and they'll be friends. But Nate doesn't feel that way at all. At some point in their relationship, Caroline was going down on Nate and he took pictures of her. She, sadly, trusted that he'd be the only one to see them. Flash forward to the present where Caroline's best friend emails her link where her face and his dick is plastered on the web. I felt soooo bad for her. Especially because Nate doesn't just don this one but twice. The second time is in the last chunk of the story after he gets his ass kicked by West, Caroline's new boo-thang.

The different ways this situation can effect a person is thoroughly examined in this novel. I loved that the way Nate didn't realize just how badly the extent of the damage of what he had done affected Caroline. Other then currently messing up her life, he didn't really think about it. However, Caroline knew. Not only did it affect the way her future teachers and future law schools and possibly future voters. Every time she met a new guy who was nice or tried to flirt with her or she just saw, she had to re-examine his motives for his actions. She had to examine what clothes she planned on wearing in case it brings more "slut" thoughts about her. Nate didn't think about anything but the short term effects of what he was doing. And the second time he did it, the pictures were so wide-spread they were most definitely going to come up in future.

I enjoyed the points that were brought up in this scenario. No one thinks about what Nate did wrong. Instead, everyone is too busy slut-shaming Caroline.

She should've been smarter then that.

She shouldn't have allowed him to take these pictures of her.

She is the one who is punished by society even though he made the pictures public.

SMH, talk about true life double standards. It's sad how true and real life this is. The scene where Caroline is trying to explain this to her dad and he has the audacity to insinuate that her present situation is her fault pissed me off. Oh my God, can we not allow men to take responsibility for their actions? That's like blaming the girl who got raped because she wasn't wearing proper-attire or because she wasn't drunk!

Sorry about the mini rant but society is slowly pissing me off as I get older. I was especially pissed when her sister tried to email her and her first sentence was "I forgive you."

Anyways, I loved the sex scenes in this novel. Usually in new adult or romance novels, the shy-inexperienced-compared-to-the-guy female manages to be naturally good at sex. Like the first time she does anything remotely sexual (like going down on the guy like Caroline does) she is instantly a master. Like, dude that's not realistic. Don't go around acting like inexperienced people can give as good as pros to an actual pro. But here when Caroline does it, we get West's point of view and he tells us while it's okay there are certain things that she could do to be better. And although he tries to act like it's all good, Caroline makes him tell her what he wants. I liked that for two reasons. Not only was it real, but Caroline recognized this delusion and tries to better herself and not be modest about it.

I also loved Caroline as a character. West had one of those stupid internal conflicts where he decides to break off his entanglements with his love interest for whatever reason without telling her why. Caroline is a little hurt and then she goes out with her rugby teammates (I wish they were featured in this story more so Caroline would have a fuller developed life post-sex scandal that wasn't just West) to this party. West shows up and kisses her in front of everyone in this random, nearly speechless, but passionate encounter before he takes off again. Despite it being swoon worthy, Caroline doesn't take the road of other romantic heroines. Instead of the typical no-don't-do-that/why-did-you-do-that before the guy entices her in some kind of sexual encounter in most books like this, Caroline rightfully tells him off.

And she raises a valid point. Why do guys in novels decide they don't want to be with a girl, then pull a stunt like that when they have previously stated THEY DON'T WANT TO BE TOGETHER?!?!!? Caroline was right to be pissed off. Not only is that playing with her emotions but it was utterly pointless except marking her like a dog does a fire hydrate to other dogs guys who may come sniffing around (like Scott, Caroline's semi-other love interest who was there for this moment). Not only does she tell him off, but she gives him an ultimatum. Either they are together or not (I'm paraphrasing but that's pretty close).

It took a little bit for their relationship to grow on me. I didn't like the way the beginning of their relationship was introduced. Why did West have to say something like that in front of the girl's dad. No wonder he doesn't like you. And why were they so into each other before they actually knew each other. It was more then a crush but not exactly insta-love.

Whatever it was, I didn't like any of their interactions until he invites her inside the bakery. After that I enjoyed it. I do wish we could get a little more of their relationship outside of their back stories and attraction to each other. But I do love that they talk about their issues. Especially because Caroline's realistic fears about how the revenge porn scandal has effected her in regards to sex and guys was not only talked about but dealt with. West takes it slow with her. When they start doing stuff (stupidly as Friends With Benefits) they only make out and have all these lines and boundaries that I definitely enjoy. You definitely don't see that in stories like these. Usually each encounter is a build up to the first time the characters have sex. However, in this story they use these interactions to truly get to know each other  and their bodies.

The only part of York's writing that I struggled with was when Caroline would start hearing the men's voices in her head. In the beginning, I completely understood it. Actually I always understood it but the ways the author kept reminding us who and what these men are doing to her started getting a little redundant after a while. But it made sense to me.

This story is the beginning of a trilogy which I know some people didn't like. Although I see their point (in this day and age, too many authors are adding sequels to books that could've been great stand-a-lones), in Deeper's cause I disagree. The revenge porn incident is the catalyst that brings West and Caroline together. I want more of her journey. I want to see what happens with their school and Nate getting in trouble. I want to see the legal interactions in court instead of a two paragraph summary in a epilogue. I want to see Nate finally understand the extent of damage he's done to Caroline and to feel remorse. I want to see how this scandal will effect Caroline's future and how she'll deal with it. I also want to see West's journey in regards to his family. His mom pisses me the fuck off and I'm really worried about what may happen to his little sister. That's why I loved this story. It's so realistic in the point that people have more going on then just their romantic relationships. And not just how those other things effect their relationship or as mild sub-plots but as actual issues for the characters. I definitely recommend this book!