The girls have to deal with many things that involve their love lives. First of all Emily is confused about her sexuality. While at a huge party, she kisses her new friend Maya. Emily knows she is enjoying the kiss, but when Ben, her boyfriend, sees her and calls her a “dyke” she starts denying it. It was obvious that she was hurt and really confused. We also find out that not only did Emily kiss Alison a few years ago, but that she actually loved Alison. Emily struggles with her confusion and that fact that people could find out, including her racist mom, who would be much more then unhappy. The author really makes you feel bad for Emily and wish that people would understand and her figure out who she loves. Aria also struggles with love. When she finds out that a guy she met at a pub named Ezra is her new English teacher, she is determined to make the relationship work. Ezra doesn’t think it’s a good idea because if anyone found out they would both get in huge trouble. So Aria decides to make him jealous by flirting with another guy who is actually her age. Her plan works and she is invited to Ezra’s house. But when Aria leaves her phone there Ezra sees a text on her phone from “A” saying “Aria, that’s some kind of extra credit!” Ezra assumes that “A” is Aria’s friend and that she told someone about them, or that this was some sort of joke. Aria is heartbroken when Ezra tells her to leave him alone. Though I feel bad for Aria I don’t think she should be with Ezra. Even if they love each other the relationship is too dangerous for them and is just not right. Aria struggles with not just the heartbreak, but that “A” caused it.
The girls also struggle with their family life. For example Hanna. Her father left her and her mom a few years ago. When he left Hanna was already overweight and eating far too much, but when he left she started eating even more and gaining more weight. To make her situation worse, Hanna’s dad got a new girlfriend and her daughter was beautiful and exceptionally skinny. Hanna felt left behind and like her dad was forgetting about her. One night her and Alison went to have dinner with her dad, his new lover, and her daughter. That night things got even badder for an already overweight and miserable Hanna. Throughout the dinner she gets made fun of by Alison for eating all the popcorn and gets compared to a pig by her own father. Hanna finally breaks, she goes to the bathroom and makes herself throw up, only to have Alison see. Obviously Hanna is struggling with many things. Her dad has started a brand new life without her and now she has started a very unhealthy habit. I think this is relatable for a lot of teenage girls. So many people have a hard time with how they look. Aria also has family issues, when she is put in a challenging situation by her own father. One day Alison and Aria were hanging out on what seemed like a regular day, but Aria saw something she would never forget. She saw her dad kissing one of his students. Aria doesn’t know what to do, tell her mom or keep her dads secret. She is torn but when her dad asks her not to tell her mom, she keeps the secret. Even a few years later Aria is still troubled by this. When she starts to think about it, she tells herself “You’re not thinking about this, you’re not thinking about this.” This shows what a hard time Aria is having and how much guilt she has for not telling her mom. She doesn’t know if she made the right decision. As teenagers the girls deal with very intense problems.
From reading this book I have learned a very important lesson. I have learned that no one is perfect. When I was reading the section of the book when Hanna was making herself throw up I realized what a realistic problem that is. So many teenagers have an eating disorder. I realized that the reason a lot of people do such an awful thing to themselves is because other people’s words or actions drive them to do it. People’s words make them insecure and want to harm themselves. In theory making yourself throw up is the same thing as cutting yourself, and so many people cut themselves for the same reasons. Alison’s jokes may have seemed harmless to her, but to Hanna they hurt her so intensely that she thought she needed to be bulimic to be “prettier”. In reality everyone is beautiful no matter what size they are. Personally I know what it feels like to not like the way you look and be insecure about the way you look, or the fact you don’t look like a celebrity. The media makes it seem like you have to look like a celebrity to be beautiful, or you need to wear makeup and be skinny to be presentable. None of that is true and I feel like society, especially our youth, is brainwashed into thinking it really is true.
Even though these girls had to endure so much pain and struggle, they all have had something positive happen to them too. Even though they are bound to encounter more hardships, they are also destined to have bright futures and more great achievements.
