The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett 
by Chelsea Sedoti

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett

Author: Chelsea Sedoti

Length: 400 pages

Release date: January 3, 2017

Content note: YA, Sexual content, underage drinking

“There's no such thing as a normal high school experience, Thorny. You assume everyone else is happy all the time and living an ideal life. You don't get that other people are pretending too.” 

Brief Synopsis:  Hawthorne Creely is seventeen, a high-school senior, a misfit, lonely, and a little mouthy. She has a former “hippie” mother, a college professor father, and a former high school football star older brother. Hawthorn loves, hates, envies, and idolizes Lizzie Lovett who was a senior cheerleader when Hawthorne was a freshman. Now, Lizzie Lovett is missing. Hawthorn has an unusual reaction to this disappearance. She comes up with crazy explanations and she starts to take over Lizzie’s life. Her story, told in first person narrative, and her interactions with her family, her classmates, and her own thoughts give insight to a smart but self-absorbed high school odd-girl.

My thoughts:

This book was part of a “big library read.” I decided to participate. It was not what I expected, but when I read a book “cold,” like I did this one it rarely is. It is not a mystery so if you want a whodunit , you might be disappointed. However if you want a character-driven funny, upsetting, and insightful book you will like this one. This book explores and lays bare issues such as bullying, high school alienation, gossip, and hopeless directionless issues. Since this book is character-driven here are some of the wonderful characters I found interesting.

Hawthorn

Hawthorne seems very immature for a high school senior, and she is often unlikeable because of her mouth. Much of the things she says are not necessarily untrue, but they would be best unsaid.  She can be quite funny. For example when she becomes angry with high school mean girl Mychelle, she wishes that “someone would replace her fancy shampoo with a drugstore brand,” and that “her mascara would suddenly dry out after she’d only done one eye.” When Hawthorne learns that popular/beautiful/former cheerleader who graduated three years earlier Lizzie Lovett has disappeared, Hawthorne is unconcerned because nothing bad ever happens to people like Lizzie. 

But guess what? Bad things can happen to anyone… even Lizzie Lovett.

When Hawthorne figures this out she becomes obsessed with Lizzie…to the point of stalking her life. This becomes a little creepy and dark because Hawthorne takes over Lizzie’s job and she starts hanging out with Lizzie’s broken boyfriend, Enzo (who is twenty-five years old by the way). 

Hawthorne really needs to think before she speaks, grow up, and fact facts.

Enzo:

Enzo is the main suspect in Lizzie’s disappearance, even though the police say he is not a suspect. He is an artist, he struggles financially, and like I said before he is broken (mainly by Lizzie’s disappearance and by the suspicion that follows him). I did not dislike Enzo, but he participates in Hawthorne’s little world of insanity and that makes him a bit of a bad person. Not to mention that he is way to old to hang out with a seventeen year old high school girl.

Emily:

Emily is Hawthorne’s only high school friend. I love Emily. She eats lunch with Hawthorne, puts up with her crazy notions, and is a calming force in Hawthorne’s life. But eventually even she has limits. However, she is the true picture of a friend and loyalty. Everyone should have someone like Emily in their life. The world is a better place because of people like her.

Rush:

Rush is Hawthorne’s older brother who once had quite a crush on Lizzie Lovett when they were in high school together. Rush is a bit lost since high school ended his football days are over. However, he loves his sister even when she is not kind to him. 

Sundog:

Wow! The wise diffusor of enlightened guidance. Sundog is the leader of a “hippie commune” even though the word “hippie” is long out-dated. I suppose today we would call his little group “counter culture.”  Sundog and his friends camp out in Hawthorne’s yard because Sundog is friends with Hawthorne’s mother. He becomes someone who Hawthorne goes to when she wants cryptic advice, obscure answers to questions, and no judgmental looks or comments. He seems wise, but when I looked up the meaning of “sundog,” I found that a sundog is a “mock sun.” So, maybe he is a guiding light or maybe he is a mock light. Either way, he does help Hawthorne with her journey toward maturity.

Mychelle:

This is a typical high school “mean girl.” She makes Hawthorne miserable every chance she gets. She is not a nice person, and even though everyone knows someone like Mychelle, it doesn't not make it easier to watch her cruelty. ‘

There is not a lot of action in this book, but the characters and all their interactions, especially Hawthorne’s quest to know and find out about Lizzie Lovett, drive the plot. I enjoyed this book even though it is not the kind of book I usually read. It would be a great book for discussion because Hawthorne is a mess and are plenty of issues to talk about ... especially for high school students.