<h1> Chick Lit </h1> <h2> The Perfectionists & The Good Girls - Sara Shepard </h2>

I've already read - and watched - the Pretty Little Liars books and the six "The Lying Game". I liked it, so when I saw that Sara Shepard wrote "The Perfectionists" I asked my dad to order it from Amazon (because I wanted to read them in english, and I live in Belgium so Amazon was the easiest way to get my hands on them).

I literrally devoured them. I couldn't stop reading. The end is just...waouw ! I was like "whaaaaat ?!!!". I won't spoil anything, I just hope it makes you want to read it too, because it's definitely worth it.

The book is about a bunch of high school girls who don't know each others but end up in the same group in film studies class. They start talking about the film, and they end up saying the names of a few people they wouldn't mind seeing dead, and the way they might get killed. It's a bit creepy I guess, but the book present it in such a way it looks like an innocent chat between the girls. Meanwhile, they figure there is a person all of them hate, for different (and good) reasons. They decide to prank him, but a bit later he's found dead - in the way they planned it. They start trying to protect the fact that they prank him, afraid it would look so bad they would be suspected of the murder. They also kinda try to figure out what happened, but it's more a "let's protect our own asses" mode than a real investigation. Meanwhile, they continue to live their lives, to have boyfriend and parents problems etc.

The fact that there are "only" two books (unlike in Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game) has advantages : you have no time to get bored, you know you'll know soon and you also know you can start looking for clues pretty soon (because let's face it, when you know there are more than 10 books left before the end, you are more like "ok, everything point to this person right now so I'm pretty sure it's not him who did it". It also comes with some disadvantages : the end seems a bit rushed to me, even so it took my breath away. I'm also sad it's "already" over, but I guess it means I liked it a lot.

The + and -

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You wonder who might be guilty until the very end of the book The different things going on in the characters life are almost as interesting as the murders, for someone who like girly stuff I liked that the books somehow talk about major things in society in a natural way, without making it a huge philosophical deal but accepting that it exists : suicide because of bulling, pressure to be perfect, sexy pictures getting out, teachers (or other authority figures) hitting on girls, questioning about the future, parents unable to take care of their kids, people hidings things, betrayal,...these are dealt with in the book, and are not minimized, but are also not made "exceptional", and I think it's good : those things happen, and too often people just ignore it because it makes them uncomfortable I liked that Caitlin is adopted by two moms, and that there is nothing wrong with that. It's not even a subject of discussion in the book

the characters are a bit cliché : the popular one, the freak, the nerdy girl, the sport lover,... I would have liked more explanations at the end of the book. Once they figured out what actually happened, I would have enjoined more "flash-backs" explaining how, concretely, they didn't see that coming. It seems a bit like the truth is thrown at us, we are like "wooow, whaaat seriously ?!" and then nothing. #DealWithIt Why was Nolan such a douche? We are asked to accept it as it comes, without further explanation. It's not a major problem, but sometimes I would have liked to know "why" he has done things. I find it even more weird since Parker, who seemed pretty cool, used to be a good friend of him.  I won't say more because I don't wanna spoil the book, but : AND THEN WHAT ?!!!!