Pretty Little Liars #10- Ruthless

Fiona Grant 804

Pretty Little Liars #10- Ruthless

            I am currently reading Pretty Little Liars #10- Ruthless, the tenth book in the Pretty Little Liars series. I have just stopped at the end of chapter 22, where Hanna, Aria, and Spencer are searching for Emily, as she left the cast party with Kelsey. As I was reading, I noticed something: Emily somehow always gets enticed by the antagonist, and Aria, Spencer and Hannah are always the ones who need to search for her.

            A few books ago, Emily had left Foxy with Toby, Jenna Cavannaugh’s brother, and Aria, Spencer and Hannah were convinced Toby was A. Despite the fact he wasn’t, the three girls desperately searched for their friend, just as they are preparing to do now. I think Emily is the stereotypical naïve, good girl next door, kind of character, and it’s always up to the characters who have stronger personalities, such as “kooky” Aria, “perfectionist” Spencer, and “glamorous” Hannah to rescue her. In a way, I think this makes the story both better and worse. It’s good to have characters like these, who kind of stir the pot in an oblivious sort of way to make the plot move forward and make the story interesting. Although I also think Pretty Little Liars really isn’t your typical kind of story, and doesn’t have your run-of-the-mill characters in it, so why should Emily be the typical naïve girl next-door kind of character?

            I think Sarah Shepard included Emily, and her personality into these books to give the readers someone to relate to. Obviously readers won’t relate to every aspect of Emily, but she gave Emily a pretty general persona, so readers can at least relate to one part of at least one character.

It’s easy to love and hate Emily at the same time. Her ever-lasting crush on Ali and anyone who remotely resembles her in any way can be cute, but this is the one thing about her that I simply can’t stand. I think her puppy dog attitude is what makes her special, but she also needs to realize that things aren’t going to be perfect forever. The remark Spencer made at Otto at the cast party was a perfect explanation of Emily’s weaknesses, and if she just let down her puppy dog barrier for once, maybe she could acknowledge them as well. However, Emily’s occasional bursts of fearlessness are what makes readers (me, at least) love her. Sometimes, Emily will just let her guard down and do what Emily wants to do, not what her friends or family will want her to do. She’ll deal with the consequences later, but for now she’s just going to be who she wants.

Overall, I think Emily is a really complex character. At first glance, she may seem like a simple character like I described her as in the beginning of this post, but zoom in and she’s very complicated, and without her, Pretty Little Liars wouldn’t be the one we know today.