The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett - by Chelsea Sedoti - Book Review

Looking at the cover of "The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett" I'm pretty sure most readers would not be able to correctly guess the book's plot. In an ultimate test of "do not judge a book by its cover", this book most certainly does not match the bright yellow cover and flower petals it is adorned with. " The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett" was absolutely not what I expected at all - in some not so great ways, but also in some awesome super surprising ways...





The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett
Chelsea Sedoti
3.5/5 stars

Hawthorn wasn't trying to insert herself into a missing person's investigation. Or maybe she was. But that's only because Lizzie Lovett's disappearance is the one fascinating mystery their sleepy town has ever had. Bad things don't happen to popular girls like Lizzie Lovett, and Hawthorn is convinced she'll turn up at any moment-which means the time for speculation is now. So Hawthorn comes up with her own theory for Lizzie's disappearance. A theory way too absurd to take seriously...at first. The more Hawthorn talks, the more she believes. And what better way to collect evidence than to immerse herself in Lizzie's life? Like getting a job at the diner where Lizzie worked and hanging out with Lizzie's boyfriend. After all, it's not as if he killed her-or did he?
Told with a unique voice that is both hilarious and heart-wrenching, Hawthorn's quest for proof may uncover the greatest truth is within herself.

Book Review and Discussion of
"The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett" by Chelsea Sedotti 

Initially, my biggest issue with this book was the narrator, Hawthorn. For the first half of the book she was just so incredibly immature - particularly in her thoughts about Lizzie. Lizzie Lovett is someone Hawthorne, and most of her small community, has put on a pedestal. And as such, it is hard to imagine anything bad happening to her - but I have to think that most 17-18 year old high school seniors, like Hawthorn, know that bad things happen to girls every day, even those on pedestals.  Hawthorne's complete ignorance to that was just so incredibly frustrating for me as a reader.

" I was trying to explain that I wasn't trying to be a jerk. I just didn't believe anything bad could really happen to a girl like Lizzie. That's not how her life worked."

And then, Hawthorn took it to the next level. Instead of acknowledging that something real might've happened to Lizzie, for the majority of the book Hawthorn pursue's the idea that Lizzie has in fact become ... a werewolf. Yeah... I just, ugh. There were times when Hawthorn seemed so naive and easily tricked that I was genuinely worried for her wandering around in the woods.

I considered not finishing the book a couple of times throughout the weird werewolf phase... but then something magical happened, Hawthorn grew on me. She is such a confused, but lovable teenager and overtime, despite her antics I really started to enjoy her voice and story and was genuinely sad went it was over! All of this, of course, is due to the incredibly writings talents of Chelsea Sedoti. And regardless of how I feel about portions of this book I would absolutely read another book by this author.

While I wasn't always a huge fan of Hawthorne's at times, the other characters in the book were definitely compelling - particularly the assortment of hippies that live in Hawthorne's backyard. I enjoyed reading the interaction between their ragtag leader, Sundog, and Hawthorn. But really the whole cast of secondary characters are incredibly strong and keep the story grounded whilst Hawthorn is going through her werewolf conspiracy phases.

If you enjoy YA fiction and have ever felt like your imagination was under appreciated or enjoy female coming of age stories, and don't mind the occasional werewolf side story - you will enjoy reading " The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett".

Thinking about reading this book? Click here to find a copy at your local library, or click below to view the book on Amazon. Have you already read "The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett"? What did you think about Hawthorn and her antics? Let me know your thoughts about this unique YA novel below!

Many thanks to Sourcebooks for allowing me to read this book prior to publication. As a "girl about library", where books are always free, you can be sure that all opinions expressed are my own. Happy reading!