Review: The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti 


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Release date: January 3, 2017

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: YA Mystery

Blurb: 

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. 


Review: 

I think it’s time for me to stay away from YA mysteries. I love YA and respect it as a genre, some of my favorite books are YA novels. But I can’t think of a single YA mystery that I’ve liked, much less loved. So no matter how intriguing a blurb sounds, or how pretty and striking the cover may be, I’m going to steer clear of YA mysteries for the foreseeable future. I have way too many other fantastic books on my TBR to waste any more time on a genre that just doesn’t work for me.

I think my biggest problem with this book was that I was totally mislead by the title and blurb. I expected Hawthorne to become caught up into this crazy investigation regarding Lizzie’s disappearance. I wanted suspense, tension and of course a whole bunch of lies. What I got what something completely different and not altogether interesting. Hawthorne did develop an obsession with Lizzie, but I assumed they would have had some previous connection to each other and they didn’t whatsoever. It was more than a little bit strange that she took her disappearance so hard. The so called lies that the title spoke of? Yeah, nothing earth shattering there. Hawthorne’s absurd theory was seriously a joke. I honestly thought she was just kidding with it, but it turns out she really believes it. Eye roll. (If you want to know just ask me, I don’t want to spoil it in case anyone still wants to read this) 

Even though  I wasn’t all that thrilled with the plot and the direction that this book was heading, I still wanted to see how it all turned out. At least at first I did. I ended up getting really bored the more I read and I actually fell asleep twice reading it. That really never happens to me, usually I have to force myself to put a book down. Maybe it was just because I was really tired from all of the holiday celebrations, but either way I had to really power through to finish. 

Hawthorne wasn’t exactly a character that I liked, she had some funny moments, especially with her eternal dialogue, but as one of the other characters tells her, she always takes things too far. She takes Lizzie’s job, then she starts a fling with her boyfriend, Enzo. Instead of coming across as creepy and interesting, it was just sad and pathetic. Enzo was also twenty five and she’s only seventeen, so that grossed me out a bit. Overall she was often rude, very immature for her age and annoying. By the time the end came and you find out what actually happened to Lizzie, I honestly didn’t care anymore. I was just happy to be finished. I actually forgot Hawthorne’s name when I started writing this, so I guess it’s pretty forgettable overall. 

Overall rating: 2/5

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for my review copy. 

31 thoughts on “Review: The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti ”

  3. rashthedoctor says:
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    I have experienced very few good YA views , which has led me to stay away from the genre as a whole , granted I havent read any YA Mysteries before , your review vindicates my decision to not pick any YA mysteries before

    Liked by 1 person

      • rashthedoctor says:

        tbh I only ever liked Harry Potter series and the Bartimaeus Trilogy , and if we are stretching the definition of YA than Kingkiller chronicles , other than those I have never liked a YA book , that’s why although i have a few YA in my TBR , I try to stay away

        Liked by 1 person

  5. rantandraveaboutbooks says:
    Reply

    When I saw you were reading this the other day, I knew you wouldn’t like it. This book isn’t for the hardcore mystery readers at all. I also thought I was getting a legit mystery and instead it was a weird romance of some sorts. I didn’t expect that at all. I liked the MC in the beginning because she was snarky, but the werewolf thing really wore me down and became way too repetitive. I was probably a little more generous in my rating since I read it months ago, but it was probably more like a 3 star review for me. Love your review, Amy! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. TeacherofYA says:
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    Finally a person who didn’t love this book. I don’t read contemporary really (I will give one a try soon) but I’ve seen so many rave reviews I almost buckled and requested it. But I trust your opinion! Great review!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. kmorrison04 says:
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    Hi, I found your blog by searching for bloggers on wordpress and I’m glad I did because I also read this book and lets just say….it wasn’t good.
    I went in thinking the same as you..that it was going to be an interesting read and that there would be suspense and a really cool mystery story to enjoy. I thought the author would reveal lies and oh I just thought so much would happen. And then nothing did. Well hardly anything. I liked Hawthorn ok even though she did have a really stupid theory on Lizzie’s fate and that whole weird part with her and Enzo dating…ugh. It did drag and I felt like I wasn’t going to finish but I kept on and here I am. I gave it a 3/5 because I did finish so that says something but I thought it was kind of a waste but I think its her first book so…well…I guess you start somewhere. I’m not sure I would read another of hers.

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