Spring WAS in the air here in New Jersey... It HAD been WARM- like 57 degrees warm. Which WAS quite welcoming given the crappy weather that we've had. The first day of April was rather chilly and the last day in March was just rain... Cold yucky rain but much needed rain at that! Then it was really nice on Sunday and Monday but then the rest of the week was meh. Like I took Baby C out in the stroller down through the downtown streets in the town where I grew up.
But alas... The warm weather is finally back it seems! Today especially!!
So to add a little something-something today, we have my review for this week! This week is a YA fiction review.
(For those of you who might be wondering about the April 2017 #TheBookDrop Jane Box book, I am in the process of writing the review (love, love, LOVE the book!) and it will be up soon!)
Aahh.... I love YA fiction... Why? You may ask. I love YA fiction because there's a beginning, a middle and an end. There's no fuss. There is just wonderfulness.
The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti is this week's review from moi.
I hate that I'm going to write this but... I really didn't care too much for this book. I know! Crazy right?? Since I'm usually one to say I like this book or that I love that one. This one... I sadly did not like. We'll get to why I didn't like it later on though.
First things first!
The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett is the book that follows Hawthorn Creely, a high school student on her quest to solve the missing person's case of Lizzie Lovett; in addition to navigating herself and figuring out who she is and what her role in life is.
Lizzie Lovett is a 21 year old female who was in the same class as Rush, Hawthorn's older brother. Lizzie goes out into the woods one night camping with boyfriend Enzo (Lorenzo) - only for her to disappear into the dark.
From the fall, when Hawthorn first heard that Lizzie Lovett disappeared until the winter time-the reader is with Hawhtorn when she finds out what happened to Lizzie and when she finds herself. We watch as Hawthorn chases her theory that Lizzie turned into a mythical creature (a werewolf to be exact) as she is accompanied by Enzo. We also get to see Hawthorn go through a break with Emily, her best friend and how she (Hawthorn) forges new friendships with people she never thought she would associate with.
I found an interview with Bustle, where Chelsea Sedoti stated that her inspiration from The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett came from her own feelings toward a story of a missing girl-someone she never had any interaction with. Sedoti explains that while she never met the girl, she was obsessed with her story, even though her disappearance was "nothing overly mysterious". You can find that article here. Sedoti goes on to explain a little about her character Hawthorn in the article as well.
I had a love-hate relationship with this book.
I feel like the way in which Sedoti tells the story of Hawthorn is great. She was able to express Hawthorn's emotions and thoughts beautifully in her writing. As a writer, Sedoti was able to convince me that maybe, just maybe, Hawthorn was right when she believed that Lizzie turned into a werewolf. To me, when a writer is able to do that, that's really impressive. You were also on this emotion roller coaster ride with Hawthorn. I felt anxious for her when Emily announced that they needed a break. I also was sad for Hawthorn after she slept with Enzo. I was left yearning for Hawthorn to find the happiness that she deserved.
The issues that Sedoti tackled in The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett, where issues that everyone has come across in their teenaged years. We've all had falling outs with our friends or taken breaks from our friends, like Hawthorn and Emily did. Even falling for someone who's older than you. The biggest issue, I think, that Sedoti addressed was finding happiness and finding yourself.
Hawthorn had this perceived notion that Lizzie was happy. She viewed Lizzie as someone who didn't have any problems, someone who had the world at their fingertips. Lizzie's happiness is something that Hawthorn so desperately wanted. Hawthorn had, what I would call, an obsession with Lizzie. I use the word "obsession" because Hawthorn went on to get hired as a waitress at the Sunshine Cafe (where Lizzie worked before she "disappeared") and Hawthorn had a brief relationship with Enzo (Lizzie's boyfriend at the time of her disappearance).
She had one conversation with Lizzie when she was a freshman and hiding in the girl's locker room. From that moment, Hawthorn believed that she and Lizzie had a "special connection" and that they would be able to forge a friendship. But when she found Lizzie in the hallway, Lizzie couldn't remember Hawthorn's name much less the conversation that she had with Hawthorn. It's even mention in the book that this is moment where the love/hate feeling Hawthorn has for Lizzie starts.
The aspect of the novel that I did not like was how Hawthorn acted. I felt like she was terribly immature. It was something that drove me over the edge on multiple occasions throughout the book. It got to the point where I was considering not finishing it because I wanted to grab Hawthorn by her shoulders and shake her. I was proud of Hawthorn by the end of the book though, you could see that she had grown up and starting to find her way.
I give this book 3.5 coffee beans out of 5. Even though it wasn't my favorite book, I still believe that it's worth a recommendation. If you liked Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, then I believe that you would like The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett.
~JBG
Article that was referenced: https://www.bustle.com/articles/156938-see-the-hundred-lies-of-lizzie-lovett-cover-read-the-first-chapter-of-this-ya
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