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.
Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
"The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett". What can I say? I really did not like this book at first. I did not like Hawthorn at all. She was annoying and weird, and although her blunt remarks on Lizzie's disappearance made me snicker, I wasn't sure I could handle several hundred pages of it. Then I realized that Hawthorn reminded me of myself at that age, oops! So insecure, hardly any friends. At least I had gymnastics to keep me busy in the evenings and on weekends, but Hawthorn turns that downtime into a time to investigate Lizzie's disappearance, which is seriously a bad idea. She starts by getting Lizzie's old job, waitressing as a café in the next town over. I suppose this is somewhat understandable since Hawthorn was looking for a job anyway, so even though it was a little strange for her to go into the café snooping around for dirt on Lizzie, I could look at it as "being-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time". A vacancy opened when Lizzie disappeared, and somebody needed to fill it, whether it was someone like Hawthorn, a girl with, let's face it, ulterior motives, or not.
From there, things got even more strange. Hawthorn strikes up a friendship with Lizzie's boyfriend. Then, she comes up with this bizarre theory on Lizzie's disappearance! At this point, I was thinking, "This girl is nuts!" Really, Hawthorn had no proof that Lizzie's boyfriend was not involved in the disappearance, just some sort of gut feeling, or wishful thinking, maybe. Anyway, by this point of the book, I was quite invested in finding out just what the heck was going on, and no matter my irritation with Hawthorn and her increasingly stupid decisions, I still had to read on!
There are some really touching moments between Hawthorn and her family and friends, and those were some of the most redeeming qualities of this book for me. I especially ended up loving Hawthorn's brother, which was a bit of a surprise. There were also some moments that made me rather uncomfortable, but I think they were necessary for the arc of the story, so I wouldn't take those moments back at all.
Would I recommend this book? I think certain readers will appreciate seeing the world through Hawthorn's eyes, but I predict that others will not know what to make of "The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett". All I can say to prospective readers is stick with it past the first few chapters and you might be as surprised by this one as I was.
My rating:
From there, things got even more strange. Hawthorn strikes up a friendship with Lizzie's boyfriend. Then, she comes up with this bizarre theory on Lizzie's disappearance! At this point, I was thinking, "This girl is nuts!" Really, Hawthorn had no proof that Lizzie's boyfriend was not involved in the disappearance, just some sort of gut feeling, or wishful thinking, maybe. Anyway, by this point of the book, I was quite invested in finding out just what the heck was going on, and no matter my irritation with Hawthorn and her increasingly stupid decisions, I still had to read on!
There are some really touching moments between Hawthorn and her family and friends, and those were some of the most redeeming qualities of this book for me. I especially ended up loving Hawthorn's brother, which was a bit of a surprise. There were also some moments that made me rather uncomfortable, but I think they were necessary for the arc of the story, so I wouldn't take those moments back at all.
Would I recommend this book? I think certain readers will appreciate seeing the world through Hawthorn's eyes, but I predict that others will not know what to make of "The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett". All I can say to prospective readers is stick with it past the first few chapters and you might be as surprised by this one as I was.
My rating:
I'm glad that this book ended up working out for you in the end Roxy, this really does sound like a great read! Lovely review! :)
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