Pretty Little Devils by Nancy Holder

Hazel Stone wants nothing more than to be a part of the hottest clique in school, the Pretty Little Devils, but she's stuck at a lunch table full of high school C-listers. Hazel has resigned herself to life as a nobody—when suddenly everything changes. The PLDs invite Hazel to one of the group's famous parties, held at the site of one of their babysitting jobs. Before Hazel knows it, she's in with the in crowd—and she couldn't be more thrilled!

But nothing turns out the way she expects. Especially when one her classmates becomes jealous of her newfound status—deadly jealous.

Stars: 3.5/5

Cover: B

Hazel Stone wants nothing but to be a Pretty Little Devil --- an exclusive group of the most popular girls at school. So when the PLD leader, Sylvia, wants her in the group, Hazel gladly accepts. But she soon finds out life as a PLD isn't what she thought it would be.

The girls start receiving mysterious texts from an unknown source. Animals are hacked up mercifully, and it's not long before high school students start being murdered, too. And the girls know the culprit is someone in their group of friends --- but who?

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard and Pretty Little Devils have a lot of similarities. (PLD came out ten months before PLL.) There is the stalker sending weird and creepy notes, there's the element of not knowing who to trust, and also, in both books, the stalker could be a variety of people. 

But putting that aside, I liked this book a lot. Most of the characters were pretty well developed. But, I didn't really feel like Megan, one of the PLDs, was given enough traits. She was just kind of there.

The plot was fast-paced, and there weren't really any dull moments in the story. I actually read this a couple of years ago, and even while re-reading it I still felt the suspense. I remember that when I first read the book, and I found out who the stalker was, I was extremely shocked. I'm pretty sure I gasped out loud. 

One thing that really bugged me was the errors in this book. I know, I know, I can't expect everything to be perfect, but for whatever reasons the misspelling of characters' names made me a little irritated.

At times, the writing was a little awkward and choppy, and at other times it flowed really smoothly. One example of something that kind of took away from the suspense-fulness of the story was when there were exclamation points where I felt there shouldn't be. For example, the last sentences of Chapter Six:

"Hazel put her hand on the knob. The door burst open --- and she screamed!" (Page 113)

 But, putting all of that aside, I enjoyed Pretty Little Devils. It was a fast, fun, and entertaining read.

I actually put Posessions, another one of Nancy Holder's books, on my Christmas list, so expect some more Nancy Holder reviews.

*Don't read the last page of Pretty Little Devils --- it will give the entire book away!

FTC: I bought this book.