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2.95 AVERAGE
2.95 AVERAGE
1.5 stars
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, this book was so bad. I mean, it was written well hence the .5 star instead of just one star but the story itself was awful. This story is about Hawthorn Creely, who becomes obsessed with finding out the mystery behind local woman Lizzie Lovett's disappearance. Armed with strange theories, Hawthorn steps into Lizzie's life and takes her job and her boyfriend to figure out what happened (cause, ya know...that makes sense).
Okay, yeah, this will probably be a ranty review because this book and Hawthorn just made me so mad. I could have DNF'd this at 50% through when I realised it wasn't going to redeem itself but I'll be honest, I did something I hate to do which is hate-read it just so I could fuel myself up for tidbits I could rant about in this review. And O BOY, there were some.
The first thing you need to know about this book is that Hawthorn Creely's just a terrible person. She's rude, snide, uncaring, unforgiving and basically blames the entire world for being happy and content when she's not. She has hardly any friends and it's no surprise as who would want to be friends with someone who never cares about anyone except herself and can't be happy for you when things are going well. There were certainly people in the school that were awful and bullies, but Hawthorn was a fairly toxic person to be around on account of her negativity. She wasn't nice to the one friend she had and she wasn't nice to her family. The author kept playing Hawthorn off as being quirky and cute because she always had insane ideas but no, I couldn't accept that.
Hawthorn's obsession with Lizzie Lovett was weird to begin with because she didn't even like her. And not because Lizzie ever did anything to Hawthorn, no Hawthorn hated her because Lizzie was pretty and popular and was basically everything Hawthorn wanted to be but couldn't admit to herself that she wanted. So naturally, she had a deep hatred for Lizzie? But then Hawthorn decided that Lizzie went missing because she was a werewolf. Like I;m sorry but WHAT? This made no sense whatsoever, and what was worse is that people just went along with it like Enzo. And let's get started on him...what.a.creep.
I understand Enzo feeling a bit alone and horrible after Lizzie's disappearance but the way he was okay with being so friendly with a 17-year-old girl and he was 25 was weird and creepy to me. I am 25 now and I would hate to have to be around 17 year olds. Also, where were his friends and family? Did he have no friends except Lizzie because that's what it seemed like but it was never explained.
I also felt the sex scene here was extremely problematic because it seemed like Hawthorn didn't really give proper consent and she obviously didn't know what she was doing or how she was feeling. And it made me feel icky. I'm not saying the author had to write a first time with bows and sparkles cause it's not real life, but younger readers shouldn't read this sex scene and think it's a proper first time with someone much older than you, and someone who doesn't seem to care that much. Also Enzo showed how much of a creep he was at the end when he seemed to get with the Mycelle girl who was also 17 and that was never even explained. Why did he end up being with her when he had heard how horrible she was from Hawthorn and why did he spill all of of Hawthorn's secrets. I guess we will never know
I also thought there was a problem in this book with mental health. You can't throw what was done in this book into a story and not have appropriate conversations around it ESPECIALLY when a book is aimed at a YA audience. I mean, one could argue that Lizzie's suicide showed that what you see on the outside isn't always what you get on the inside and people can be suffering internally and you wouldn't know but this was glossed over. It was like, hey she killed herself and that's sad but whatever. No deeper look into why or how she was suffering. Nothing. I just hope the finished copy of this book comes with some sort of page about hotlines to call if someone is suffering because I feel all books that touch on this subject should have this.
Overall, I'm glad this ended up being a fast read because I wouldn't have wanted to spend any more time on it. I'm happy I read this book though just so I can recommend that other people don't.
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, this book was so bad. I mean, it was written well hence the .5 star instead of just one star but the story itself was awful. This story is about Hawthorn Creely, who becomes obsessed with finding out the mystery behind local woman Lizzie Lovett's disappearance. Armed with strange theories, Hawthorn steps into Lizzie's life and takes her job and her boyfriend to figure out what happened (cause, ya know...that makes sense).
Okay, yeah, this will probably be a ranty review because this book and Hawthorn just made me so mad. I could have DNF'd this at 50% through when I realised it wasn't going to redeem itself but I'll be honest, I did something I hate to do which is hate-read it just so I could fuel myself up for tidbits I could rant about in this review. And O BOY, there were some.
The first thing you need to know about this book is that Hawthorn Creely's just a terrible person. She's rude, snide, uncaring, unforgiving and basically blames the entire world for being happy and content when she's not. She has hardly any friends and it's no surprise as who would want to be friends with someone who never cares about anyone except herself and can't be happy for you when things are going well. There were certainly people in the school that were awful and bullies, but Hawthorn was a fairly toxic person to be around on account of her negativity. She wasn't nice to the one friend she had and she wasn't nice to her family. The author kept playing Hawthorn off as being quirky and cute because she always had insane ideas but no, I couldn't accept that.
Hawthorn's obsession with Lizzie Lovett was weird to begin with because she didn't even like her. And not because Lizzie ever did anything to Hawthorn, no Hawthorn hated her because Lizzie was pretty and popular and was basically everything Hawthorn wanted to be but couldn't admit to herself that she wanted. So naturally, she had a deep hatred for Lizzie? But then Hawthorn decided that Lizzie went missing because she was a werewolf. Like I;m sorry but WHAT? This made no sense whatsoever, and what was worse is that people just went along with it like Enzo. And let's get started on him...what.a.creep.
I understand Enzo feeling a bit alone and horrible after Lizzie's disappearance but the way he was okay with being so friendly with a 17-year-old girl and he was 25 was weird and creepy to me. I am 25 now and I would hate to have to be around 17 year olds. Also, where were his friends and family? Did he have no friends except Lizzie because that's what it seemed like but it was never explained.
I also thought there was a problem in this book with mental health. You can't throw what was done in this book into a story and not have appropriate conversations around it ESPECIALLY when a book is aimed at a YA audience.
Overall, I'm glad this ended up being a fast read because I wouldn't have wanted to spend any more time on it. I'm happy I read this book though just so I can recommend that other people don't.
this was very quirky, at times very funny and others times I was wondering "why??". something happens in the second half of the book that I really did NOT like. I loved the voice as well as the different relationships. overall odd but enjoyable! also I really really loved the last chapter.
I'm a sucker for any narrator with sass. Give me a witty narrator with a sense of humor and I'll read whatever they have to tell me. One obsessed with werewolves didn't hurt either.
I found this book a blend of To Kill A Mocking Bird and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Hawthorn was simultaneously innocent, native, imaginative, an outsider, and coming of age. In some parts I wondered if she might be on the spectrum, but it didn't really make a difference either way. I loved her analysis of things, and I can definitely relate to not thinking on the same wavelength as most people.
An interesting slice of life, coming of age, self discovery story for the modern era, with a bit of mystery and magic woven in.
I found this book a blend of To Kill A Mocking Bird and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Hawthorn was simultaneously innocent, native, imaginative, an outsider, and coming of age. In some parts I wondered if she might be on the spectrum, but it didn't really make a difference either way. I loved her analysis of things, and I can definitely relate to not thinking on the same wavelength as most people.
An interesting slice of life, coming of age, self discovery story for the modern era, with a bit of mystery and magic woven in.
Wow. I really don't know how I feel about this book. Hawthorne, the main character, had an incredible voice, which was so vivid it made her feel real (and, sometimes, very relatable). And, the mystery was intriguing enough to keep me reading throughout most of the book. Yet, sometimes, it felt like the story dragged and got sidetracked. And sometimes Hawthorne was incredibly annoying (which I understand was intentional). But, I did, overall, enjoy it. And I definitely totally loved Connor. And Emily. And even Sundog.
**Thank you to Raincoast for providing me with an ARC for review.
A girl from Hawthorn’s town goes missing after a camping trip and, seeing how boring her town is, the event is exciting. Though at first Hawthorn didn’t truly believe that Lizzie Lovett was missing and thought that she would turn up sooner or later, as days passed and Lizzie remained unseen, Hawthorn started to get more and more curious. As the town moves on, Hawthorn takes it upon herself to figure out the mystery that she had no interest in before.
I stopped reading the book on page 240 because it took me fifteen (15) days to read just that many pages and this book is 380. I could feel myself slipping into a reading slump and was not up for reading the book for another two weeks or so. It wouldn’t have been fair to me if I forced myself to finish the book, read only one book that month because of it and also slipped into a reading slump, so into the DNF pile this book goes.
I didn’t like the writing in this book. It used words like “totally” and “kinda” in ordinary sentences in order to be Relatable™ but it failed miserably, I found. I couldn’t get into the world because I kept noticing these words. I understand that these are viable contractions or words that could be used in everyday language and so I wouldn’t mind them in dialogue but when they’re used in a normal sentences, or both in the same sentence, I lose my mind a little. Also, the sentence structure seems very immature and I just didn’t enjoy it at all. It may not bother other people too much but I’m very particular.
I didn’t enjoy Hawthorn’s character at all. She is self-obsessed and has an abundance of self-pity. She is constantly going on about how she was the only person in the school who didn’t go to the dance (because she didn’t have a date! Like, in which rule book ever has it been necessary to have a date to go to a dance? Going stag with friends is so much fun!), and whines about it every chance she gets, even though we find out that her best friend (a person to go stag with. Or just ask her to the dance, like ffs, I don’t know.) didn’t go either! At first, I was quite sympathetic towards her because she recounted getting bullied in occasions and saying that she was the one person who didn’t fit in at all but from various examples and interactions, I’ve found that that’s simply not true. She also doesn’t treat her friend well and I can’t be sympathetic towards someone for having no friends if they don’t respect their friend or put effort into the relationship. She is also very hypocritical and that is one trait I truly loathe.
Hawthorn also became friends with Enzo, Lizzie’s (ex?)boyfriend and it made me so uncomfortable. Like, she’s 17 and he is 25 and she goes on expeditions with him while there is a possibility that he killed Lizzie. Hawthorn is adamant that Enzo didn’t harm Lizzie even before she properly met him and it perpetuates the idea that you can tell whether someone committed a crime or not simply by looking at them. It’s toxic, the way she was so convinced that he was a loving boyfriend (and Lizzie possibly used him) instead of ever entertaining the possibility that he may have a hand in what went on the night Lizzie went missing. Also, there are romantic undertones and I have no clue how it ended or where it went but I really hope they didn’t date or something. Some people already thought they were dating from where I stopped and she had asked him to Homecoming (in a mostly platonic way). I just couldn’t deal with it and it was so uncomfortable.
An incredibly forgettable book and I highly doubt I will pick it up again. I don’t even have the energy to truly rant and pick the book apart, just thinking about it drains the energy out of me.
A girl from Hawthorn’s town goes missing after a camping trip and, seeing how boring her town is, the event is exciting. Though at first Hawthorn didn’t truly believe that Lizzie Lovett was missing and thought that she would turn up sooner or later, as days passed and Lizzie remained unseen, Hawthorn started to get more and more curious. As the town moves on, Hawthorn takes it upon herself to figure out the mystery that she had no interest in before.
I stopped reading the book on page 240 because it took me fifteen (15) days to read just that many pages and this book is 380. I could feel myself slipping into a reading slump and was not up for reading the book for another two weeks or so. It wouldn’t have been fair to me if I forced myself to finish the book, read only one book that month because of it and also slipped into a reading slump, so into the DNF pile this book goes.
[...] it was kinda boring, but not totally boring...
I didn’t like the writing in this book. It used words like “totally” and “kinda” in ordinary sentences in order to be Relatable™ but it failed miserably, I found. I couldn’t get into the world because I kept noticing these words. I understand that these are viable contractions or words that could be used in everyday language and so I wouldn’t mind them in dialogue but when they’re used in a normal sentences, or both in the same sentence, I lose my mind a little. Also, the sentence structure seems very immature and I just didn’t enjoy it at all. It may not bother other people too much but I’m very particular.
I didn’t enjoy Hawthorn’s character at all. She is self-obsessed and has an abundance of self-pity. She is constantly going on about how she was the only person in the school who didn’t go to the dance (because she didn’t have a date! Like, in which rule book ever has it been necessary to have a date to go to a dance? Going stag with friends is so much fun!), and whines about it every chance she gets, even though we find out that her best friend (a person to go stag with. Or just ask her to the dance, like ffs, I don’t know.) didn’t go either! At first, I was quite sympathetic towards her because she recounted getting bullied in occasions and saying that she was the one person who didn’t fit in at all but from various examples and interactions, I’ve found that that’s simply not true. She also doesn’t treat her friend well and I can’t be sympathetic towards someone for having no friends if they don’t respect their friend or put effort into the relationship. She is also very hypocritical and that is one trait I truly loathe.
Hawthorn also became friends with Enzo, Lizzie’s (ex?)boyfriend and it made me so uncomfortable. Like, she’s 17 and he is 25 and she goes on expeditions with him while there is a possibility that he killed Lizzie. Hawthorn is adamant that Enzo didn’t harm Lizzie even before she properly met him and it perpetuates the idea that you can tell whether someone committed a crime or not simply by looking at them. It’s toxic, the way she was so convinced that he was a loving boyfriend (and Lizzie possibly used him) instead of ever entertaining the possibility that he may have a hand in what went on the night Lizzie went missing. Also, there are romantic undertones and I have no clue how it ended or where it went but I really hope they didn’t date or something. Some people already thought they were dating from where I stopped and she had asked him to Homecoming (in a mostly platonic way). I just couldn’t deal with it and it was so uncomfortable.
An incredibly forgettable book and I highly doubt I will pick it up again. I don’t even have the energy to truly rant and pick the book apart, just thinking about it drains the energy out of me.
"After that, I started to get fascinated by the whole situation, mostly because I noticed a bunch of weird stuff. Which was how I figured out Lizzie Lovett’s secret."
The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti follows Hawthorn Creely, with all of her quirks and insecurities, as she delves deeply into uncovering the reason behind a local girl’s disappearance. Determined to leave no theory unexplored, Hawthorn takes to the woods where the disappearance occurred to satiate her need for answers.
"Lizzie Lovett went into the woods and never came out. But I would. I would come back with all her secrets."
Lizzie Lovett appears to everyone, especially Hawthorn, as the epitome of perfect high school popularity- pretty, well-liked and stuck-up. She is the opposite of Hawthorn in every way. However, as the story progresses, Hawthorn learns this may not be quite true. A complicated love interest, developed as a result of her investigation, helps her see that.
"Lizzie was… magnetic. But once you started talking to her, you realized there was no substance. She’s the kind of person who can be summed up in one sentence. You’re strange and complicated and sometimes really frustrating, but that’s what makes you interesting, Hawthorn. Doesn’t that mean something?"
As the plot move along it becomes more about Hawthorn finding herself in the midst of finding answers to the disappearance of Lizzie Lovett. As she learns more about Lizzie’s life post-high school she quickly sees life doesn’t revolve around popularity and cliques. She learns that you are not defined by people but rather by yourself.
"I would never have the guts to walk away from everything and everyone I knew. I thought of Lizzie, of course. Like Sundog, she shed her old skin and became someone new, started over from scratch. I wished I had their courage."
Hawthorns theories about Lizzie take both sinister and fantastical turns satisfying her need for adventure and mystery. Eventually she comes to learn the truth and is left with the stark realization that things, and people, aren’t always what they seem.
"There was no shapeshifting involved. Hers was a much simpler story than that. Afterward, everyone nodded and said of course, of course, as if they’d known what happened all along. But they didn’t. How could they have known? Their guesses were as good as mine."
Sedoti has crafted a solid coming-of-age tale that will be easily relatable to anyone who has ever felt to be a little outside of “normal”.
www.readvoraciously.com
The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti follows Hawthorn Creely, with all of her quirks and insecurities, as she delves deeply into uncovering the reason behind a local girl’s disappearance. Determined to leave no theory unexplored, Hawthorn takes to the woods where the disappearance occurred to satiate her need for answers.
"Lizzie Lovett went into the woods and never came out. But I would. I would come back with all her secrets."
Lizzie Lovett appears to everyone, especially Hawthorn, as the epitome of perfect high school popularity- pretty, well-liked and stuck-up. She is the opposite of Hawthorn in every way. However, as the story progresses, Hawthorn learns this may not be quite true. A complicated love interest, developed as a result of her investigation, helps her see that.
"Lizzie was… magnetic. But once you started talking to her, you realized there was no substance. She’s the kind of person who can be summed up in one sentence. You’re strange and complicated and sometimes really frustrating, but that’s what makes you interesting, Hawthorn. Doesn’t that mean something?"
As the plot move along it becomes more about Hawthorn finding herself in the midst of finding answers to the disappearance of Lizzie Lovett. As she learns more about Lizzie’s life post-high school she quickly sees life doesn’t revolve around popularity and cliques. She learns that you are not defined by people but rather by yourself.
"I would never have the guts to walk away from everything and everyone I knew. I thought of Lizzie, of course. Like Sundog, she shed her old skin and became someone new, started over from scratch. I wished I had their courage."
Hawthorns theories about Lizzie take both sinister and fantastical turns satisfying her need for adventure and mystery. Eventually she comes to learn the truth and is left with the stark realization that things, and people, aren’t always what they seem.
"There was no shapeshifting involved. Hers was a much simpler story than that. Afterward, everyone nodded and said of course, of course, as if they’d known what happened all along. But they didn’t. How could they have known? Their guesses were as good as mine."
Sedoti has crafted a solid coming-of-age tale that will be easily relatable to anyone who has ever felt to be a little outside of “normal”.
www.readvoraciously.com
Don’t get me wrong I loved Hawthorn. She is one chaotic bisexual with ADHD and I love it. She is obviously in love with Lizzie Lovett, but rather than admitting she’s sad that Lizzie Lovett is probably dead she comes up with this crazy impossible theory instead. She’s so dumb that she couldn’t connect the dots and just same. The whole book she is obsessing about Lizzie Lovett. She even hooks up with Lizzie Lovetts boyfriend and when she kisses him the only thing on her mind is “Lizzie Lovett kissed these lips” LIKE HOW OBVIOUS DOES IT HAVE TO BE. Even when they find Lizzie Lovett’s body she then wishes Lizzie’s ghost would haunt her like in Wuthering Heights.
My only complaint is that ENZO SHOULD BE IN JAIL AND RUSH SHOULD KILL HIM. After that just stop queerbaiting and make Hawthorn admit she’s in love with Lizzie Lovett.
I really loved the book and I really related to Hawthorn. It’s scary and kind of pathetic. Like yes I would come up with a crazy theory of my dead crush being some mystical creature than admit I liked her. Cause that’s just who we are.
My only complaint is that ENZO SHOULD BE IN JAIL AND RUSH SHOULD KILL HIM. After that just stop queerbaiting and make Hawthorn admit she’s in love with Lizzie Lovett.
I really loved the book and I really related to Hawthorn. It’s scary and kind of pathetic. Like yes I would come up with a crazy theory of my dead crush being some mystical creature than admit I liked her. Cause that’s just who we are.
Ended up liking the book more than I thought I would. Yes, the main character got on my nerves and made some not so bright decisions, but the overall story and meaning behind this book were on point and just what I needed to read. Amazing how most of the time every book you read has something that you just needed to read at that point in your life.
I really enjoyed this book! I received an arc copy from netgalley back when it was first published and never read it until now. I’m not sure what took me this long to read it because this book will tug at your heartstrings all the way around. It’s an emotional rollercoaster but one of my favorite books of the year! You follow the main character Hawthorne and her friends when something mysterious happens in the community. The plot line was amazing and I didn’t want it to end.
This is the book that got me back into reading last year. The story was extremely intriguing, and the conclusion was solid.