Novel

Ruthless, by Sara Shepard

Have you ever gotten away with something really, really bad? Like when you hooked up with that cute guy you work with at the bagel shop . . . and never told your boyfriend. Or when you stole that patterned scarf from your favorite boutique . . . and the security alarms didn’t go off. Or when you created an anonymous Twitter profile and posted a vicious rumor about your BFF . . . and said nothing when she blamed it on the bitchy girl who sat in front of her in Algebra III.

At first, not getting caught might have felt amazing. But as time went by, maybe you felt a slow, sick roll in the pit of your stomach. Had you really done that? What if anyone ever found out? Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the punishment itself, and the guilt can eat you alive.

You’ve probably heard the phrase She got away with murder a thousand times and thought nothing of it, but four pretty girls in Rosewood actually did get away with murder. And that’s not even all they’ve done. Their dangerous secrets are slowly eating them from the inside out. And now, someone knows everything.

Karma’s a bitch. Especially in Rosewood, where secrets never stay buried for long. (Shepard, Ruthless 4)

“I mean, you heard, right?” Kelsey’s posture was rigid and her left fist, the one that wasn’t holding the violin bow, was clenched tight. “I had to go to juvie for two months. You’re lucky they let you off with a warning.” She raised an eyebrow. “How’d you get away with that?”

It felt as if the temperature in the room had suddenly shot up twenty degrees. Spencer was too afraid to meet Kelsey’s gaze. She felt confused, too—she’d always assumed Kelsey knew, deep down, that she’d planted those drugs in her dorm room and told the cops about her checkered past. But what if she didn’t?

When Spencer looked up again, Kelsey was still staring at her. “Anyway, I heard you got into Princeton. Congrats.”

Spencer flinched. “H-how did you know I got into Princeton?”

“A little birdie told me,” Kelsey said lightly.

Amelia? Spencer wanted to ask, but she couldn’t make her mouth work. Kelsey had set her sights on Princeton, too, but it was doubtful the school had sent her a congratulatory early admission letter to cellblock D in juvenile hall. Then again, it seemed like they’d only sent one to Spencer by mistake. (Shepard, Ruthless 142)

...These two excerpts are perfect examples of the dishonesty that is present throughout the book. The first excerpt is from the introduction of the novel and I think that it is a really good example of how dishonesty can eat you alive and is not the best choice for somebody to make. However, for Spencer, Emily, Aria, and Hanna, they are known as "the pretty little liars" and are put into situations in which they are almost forced to be dishonest. They truly do 'get away with murder', but will their choices soon effect their future? Next, I chose an excerpt from the section in which Spencer runs into her old friend from last summer, who Spencer has been very dishonest with. When Spencer and Kelsey got caught with buying illegal pills, Spencer blamed it all on Kelsey and got away with a warning while Kelsey was sent to juvie. Kelsey still doesn't know that Spencer blamed everything on her, and the guilt is slowly starting to haunt Spencer. Just by reading these two sections of the book, you can get a pretty good idea of how dishonesty is used in this novel and how it affects each of the four girls. Dishonesty is clearly not the best policy and is a decision that not only can come with punishments and consequences, but also personal problems such as guiltiness...

... This video from the T.V show "Pretty Little Liars" helps to explain the intensity that is present throughout the series. The girls are forced to lie in order to keep their lives safe from "A" and even though they are trying to protect themselves by being dishonest with the people around them, they are slowly hurting their loved ones. As it says in the  theme song "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead" really stresses the dishonesty that is present in the story and how far "A" is willing to go...

Shepard, Sara. Ruthless. New York: Alloy Entertainment. 2011. Print.