Many a times, books communicate the mind of the writer and that is one of the things that draws my attention to novel most times. Last week I felt so bored at home and I had already read the books I have in my library so I had to check out some online novels that seem interesting, Of all the books I saw, this book caught my interest. "WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED
WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED is a historical mystery novel written by Judy Blundell and published in the year 2008. It won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature the same year.
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Judy Blundell is an American author who is renowned for her captivating works of young adult fiction, I had to make some research about her books and I discovered she has written lots of books right from her early age, some of her books are Star Wars and the 39 Clues, I will get to read them later on.
WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED is about a 15-year-old girl named Evie, who lives in New York just after World War II. Her stepfather, Joe, had come back from the war and life seemed to be going back to normal for Evie and her family.
One day, Joe who was Evie's stepfather decides to take Evie and her mom Beverly, on a sudden trip to Palm Beach, Florida. It was supposed to be a nice vacation where they will forget about the past leave everything behind and press forward but something felt off at the Palm Beach.
While still at Florida, they meet a young man named Peter Coleridge, who used to be in the army with Joe. He is charming, kind, and older than Evie, Evie fell in love with Peter quite fast.
Evie is young and trying to feel like a grown-up, and Peter makes her feel special. But it soon becomes clear that Peter didn’t show up by accident, he has a past with Joe, and it was not a good one. Things did not seem right at all and Evie noticed that but watched in silence.
As Evie watches the adults around her lie, act shady, and pretend everything is fine, she slowly realizes that the people she loves are not who she thought they were. Then something tragic happens, Peter died and Evie is forced to decide whether to stay quiet and protect her family, or tell the truth and risk losing everything, she was seriously in dilemma as Evie is left to choose either to protect her family’s secrets, or tell the truth?
My Thoughts and Rating
At first, the book started slowly and it takes its time setting the scene, introducing the characters and letting us into the story proper.
Evie is one of the most human characters I’ve ever read, I was able to put myself through her shoes. She’s not perfect. She doesn’t always understand what’s happening around her, she is still very young and naive but that is what makes her real. She wants to be grown-up, she wants to be loved, and she wants to believe her family is good even though she later found herself in in the middle of a heartbreaking mystery, She is stuck between loyalty to her family and doing what she believes is right. In the end, Evie must make a hard choice that shows how much she has grown up.
This book though interesting left me with a lots of unanswered questions that was what I didn't really enjoy, I did not like how it ended, off course I am still curious and eager to know the exact truth and how she lied.
Even though the ending left me hanging, I still learnt some lessons from it. You know, sometimes telling the truth isn’t the easiest thing, sometimes, it means losing the people you love.
Evie’s story reminded me that growing up is not just about age, it’s about the choices we make when things fall apart.