The synopsis: Elizabeth Valchar-pretty, popular, and perfect-wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht, where she'd been celebrating with her six closest friends. A persistent thumping noise has roused her. When she goes to investigate, what she finds will change everything she thought she knew about her life, her friends, and everything in between. As Liz begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding her birthday night, she will find that no one around her, least of all Liz herself, was perfect-or innocent.

My thoughts: So this book has consistently caught my eye since it started making the rounds last year and for some reason I never fully read through the synopsis.  I'd look at the cover and think it was one thing, but that the synopsis disproved that, so I'd put it back.  Then,  I read the reviews and realized that this is one of the most perfect, accurate covers in quite a long time.  So naturally, as soon as I realize this and rush to get it, it's sold out of all my neighborhood (and every neighborhood between in a 30 mile radius).  Sigh.
Christmas Eve, I found it and snatched it.  3 hours later?  I was done.  What a seriously amazing story/plot. This is what I hoped Pretty Little Liars could have been.  The suspense, the surprises, and the all around storyline were compelling, and there were messages and points in the novel that came through without sounding all preachy.  A good read on many different levels for many different reasons, this will be a book that I keep around for a long time.  The ending elicited a very loud, shocked gasp and a couple tears.  I bet it will do it again on the next read.