ARC Review: The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti

Title: The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett
Author: Chelsea Sedoti
Series: N/A
Pages: 400
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: January 3rd 2017
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher, which does not influence my review*

      “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?“

Chelsea Sedoti’s debut novel The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett has a really unique protagonist, but for most of the novel, I was confused by the direction of the narrative. Hawthorn cannot fathom why former cheerleader and homecoming queen Lizzie Lovett could just go missing. Her town is completely torn over the twenty-one-year-old’s disappearance and Hawthorn tries to convince herself that she’s not just as obsessed. But as days pass with no sign of Lizzie, Hawthorn can’t get all the possibilities of what happened to Lizzie out of her head. Unable to shake off one implausible theory after another, she sets out to find out more.

Hawthorn is not always a likable character. She found it easy to disregard other people’s feelings and was apathetic when it first came to Lizzie disappearance, at times flagrantly callous to those who did care. Jealousy and resentment played a major part in how she felt about Lizzie and while it is explained later why Hawthorn felt this way, her attitude largely came across as immature. All that being said, Hawthorn had a really unique voice. She lives largely in her head, her imagination often getting the best of her. Bullied for being different, Hawthorn feels safe in her own shell and isn’t one to take chances. This changes the more she feels compelled to uncover the truth behind Lizzie’s disappearance. I really liked the evolution of Hawthorn’s relationship with her brother. Being so different has not helped either in understanding the other, but by the end of the novel, both begin to see the other differently. Hawthorn’s relationship with her best friend Emily has its rocky moments and I appreciated that there was someone in her life to call her out when she was acting ridiculous.

There were many choices that Hawthorn made that felt like really bad ideas, one of the most prominent was her growing relationship with Enzo, Lizzie’s boyfriend. This relationship made me feel really uncomfortable from the get go and not for the most obvious reason. The age gap between the two had me squirming (Hawthorn is seventeen, Enzo, twenty-five) and when it became clear that Hawthorn was starting to develop feelings for him, I kept expecting something to happen to put a stop to it. While Hawthorn’s behavior could be attributed to her lack of maturity, I was really disappointed that the people in her life (including her parents) didn’t object more to this relationship. I didn’t get the impression that I was meant to feel so uncomfortable, which actually made me feel even more uncomfortable. I’m not sure if the author ever expected readers to root for these two, but I was firmly against anything happening from the very beginning.

From reading the synopsis, the direction of the story seems pretty clear, only the story never really explored Lizzie’s disappearance enough and the more plausible explanations for it. While Hawthorn is convinced that Lizzie could have taken off on her own, aside from visiting a couple of places that have to do with her, Hawthorn really doesn’t do much investigating. If the novel had focused more on Lizzie, why she changed so much after high school, the things she kept hidden from the rest of the world, and Hawthorn discovering the truth behind the mask Lizzie showed the world, I believe this would have been a more interesting and rewarding novel.

Rating: 3/5

★★★