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| The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett |
The cover of The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti called to me and I requested an advance reader copy. I immediately thought of Pretty Little Liars, Speak, and Ten Reasons Why which all relied on lies for the success of plot. Yet, as I was pulled into the YA Novel by the teenage misfit narrating the story, I eventually discovered that the title and cover really dealt with a far more emotional teen angst topic – depression. The main character was actually Hawthorn Creeley, not Lizzie Lovett, and the issue in the novel was the elephant in the room that we all know is there, but which we shy away from talking about. Maybe reading this novel will help students take action and talk about depression and suicide?
Lizzie Lovett, who disappears mysteriously while camping with her boyfriend, becomes an obsession for Hawthorn Creely, the off-beat narrator who becomes immersed in Lizzie’s life. Lizzie, a magnetic popular girl who dated Hawthorn’s football star brother in high school, is someone Hawthorn never really knew. They were not friends and our narrator was jealous and hurt because Lizzie had snubbed her in the hall after school instead of stepping up to be her mentor freshman year. Hawthorn thought Lizzie could change her life and make her acceptable to the other students who make fun of her daily for being awkward and unique. So, why does Hawthorn even care and more importantly, why can’t I seem to put this book down? I binge read it late into the early morning hours and am still thinking about the characters Sedoti created.
This story is not really about Lizzie Lovett as the title would make you believe, or even about the “lies” the title implies she told. As you trudge through the high school drama at the Mills, a small town where everyone knows everyone else, you eventually learn that Lizzie lead a double life. Hawthorn remembers how beautiful and popular the cheerleader was and bemoans the fact that she feels she will never fit in anywhere, let alone have a group of popular teens following her every move. As a former guidance counselor, I know these stereotyped characters all too well, yet Sedoti has created them with such voice and dialogue that they become more than mere characters, they become real people dealing with real life problems just like you and me.
Yet the truth is that high school is never really as teens perceive it. Haunted and lonely, Hawthorn longs to live Lindsey Lovett’s life, which she thinks is perfection. Hawthorn comes up with a theory about what has happened to Lizzie and in order to prove it takes over Lizzie’s former job as a waitress, starts searching for Lizzie with her former boyfriend, Enzo, and eventually has to face the truth of what actually killed Lizzie. Under the surface of dances, parties, and football games when students are supposed to be living the “best days of their lives”, comes the realization that those dreams don’t always work out the way one expects. Rush, Hawthorn’s football star brother, has lived his glory days and lost out on being chosen to the big league college team of his choice, so he has settled for the local community college and coaching a team of fourth grade football hopefuls. He is secretly dating the mother of one of his football proteges and is afraid to share this truth with his parents. Lizzie, the Homecoming Queen cheerleader, who held center stage in high school, is living in a tiny, crummy apartment in a neighboring town, where she has a dead-end job as a waitress at a diner. No one there even knows she was ever a Homecoming Queen cheerleader.
The community comes together for searches and prayer vigils for Lizzie while suspicion falls upon Enzo, the last person to see her alive. When no evidence or leads are found in the searches, they slowly stop and Lizzie’s mother continues to make pleas for information via the local newscasts. Finally, months later two hikers find her body hanging from a tree in the woods near where the searches were held. Hawthorn is devastated by the discovery. How could the popular girl who appeared to have everything going for her in high school purposefully end her own life? How could she leave everyone behind? Now it is time for the important conversation about the elephant in the room to begin. What “lies” or deceits did people miss? How could people have reached out to help her with her depression? What could her friends have done to help her see that death was not the answer?
So, as a result of the brilliant writing and beautiful characters the subject of depression and teenage suicide has engaged YA readers. They have laughed and cried with them and identified in the wonderful narrative descriptions? But, like Hawthorn, no one really wanted to believe that Lizzie left this world of her own free will.
What can teens do to help each other with depression? Would people come out to hear professionals offer advice about warning signs and questions to ask like they do for athletic bonfires? Why is everyone so afraid to talk about the elephant that takes away too many teen and adult lives each and every year? Thank you, Chelsea Sedoti, for this awesome YA novel that can change lives if we only take time to reach out to others.
*I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
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