Book: Ruthless by Sara Shepard

Publishing Info: Published by HarperTeen; 336 pages in hardcover

Ruthless is the 10th book in the Pretty Little Liars series.

We learn Spencer started doing drugs while taking AP classes at Penn State to help her study.  She gets arrested for possession of drugs, but frames her roommate Kelsey.  She starts having hallucinations after getting the role of Lady Macbeth in the school play.  She thinks Kelsey is A, and getting her revenge for being framed.  Emily, however, meets Kelsey at a party and falls in love with her.  She tells Kelsey what Spencer did, and Kelsey tries to kill herself.   While the girls are visiting her at the Preserve, they realize that Tabitha was a patient there; she happened to be there at the same time as Courtney and Alison.

Hanna helps her father with his campaign, and falls for Liam, the son of the man running against her father.  They break up when she realizes he’s been seeing other people.  As for Aria, she breaks up with Noel, and wants to rekindle her relationship with Ezra, her old English teacher.  Things are strained, and after she discovers Ezra and Klaudia in a closet after the school play, she gets back together with Noel.

I loved the first 8 books, but now?  I’m liking it less and less.  I can’t bring myself to care about who A is or the secrets they’re hiding.  They feel as superficial as they did at the beginning, and they haven’t really changed over the course of the series.  You’d think they’d grow up at least a little, and stop doing stupid things, but they don’t care about- or realize the- consequences.  Not that they seem to face many, if any at all, because they tend to get away with everything.  Even when they do ‘fess up, they tend to get a pat on the shoulder.  That, or everyone thinks they’re crazy.

This one didn’t add really add anything to the series, and I think I might be done with the series.  It’s going on a little too long, but if the 12th book really is the last one, then I might read up to that point.  But I am starting to lose interest in the series.

I give it a 1 out of 5.  It’s by far the weakest book in the series.