What I Saw and How I Lied

Reader reviewed by Jillian R

Synopsis: It
is 1947, and fifteen-year-old Evie Spooner's life is slowly returning
back to normal. Her stepfather, Joe, has just come back from the war.
Joe decides that they all need a break; "a much-needed vacation." Just
like that, Evie and her parents pack their bags and head on for the
trip.

Review: First, let me already say that I liked this book. I thought the plot was very original, and the writing was very simple
but beautiful. I didn't feel as if any of the characters or their
situations were cliche and over-the-top. I liked that it was a fast
read, and that in its entirety, was very mysterious.
Another strength that this young adult book has is its ambiguity. It's one of those, 'You think you know what's going on, but you have no idea' sort
of thing, and I find that extremely intriguing. Add on to that the very
innocent and charming character of Evie Spooner, who I liked and rooted
for the entire time. Yes, she is indeed a very naive girl, but I think
this added to her likability factor, as weird as this may sound. Maybe
it's because we've all been naive before, in one way or another?

That being said, I have to say that overall, I enjoyed this book. It is not great, and
is far from being a favorite of mine, but I liked it nonetheless. It is
well-written, has a creative story, and has a main character that we
can all somehow empathize with.
Do I recommend it? I
do, actually -- but only to certain readers. If you don't usually read
YA books, but would like to check some titles out, this might not be
such a good pick for you. However, if you read YA books already to
begin with, go ahead and try it out.

Reader reviewed by Super Reader Girl

Judy
Blundell is an extremely talented author. She paints an amazingly vivid
picture of an era - the styles, the people, the setting, the feel - and
makes you fell almost as if you lived it. I wondered at first if maybe
she had. She did her research well.



The story consists of the painfully honest and startlingly clear
recollections of a 15-year-old girl's experiences during one season of
her life. It tells of how greed, want, love, and especially war can
influence people to do things they normally would not.


The first chapter takes place near the end of the narrator's story,
giving us a foreshadowing of unpleasant things to come. Then she delves
into what has happened to her up to this point, beginning shortly after
the end of World War II. We see what she saw and experienced from her
then mostly naive point of view, only with our own new shared knowledge
that something is not right. We can see what she missed the first time
around only too clearly. We keep wanting for it not to be true and find
ourselves almost wishing for the naivete with which Evie originally
experienced the story.



I thought the story was very well written. It was definitely a
"page-turner" and I finished it in one sitting, staying up until almost
2am. :) I, however, do not know that I would recommend it to most of my
friends. It contains some sex, as well as murder and a lot of deceit,
so it cannot be categorized a "clean read". I did like the picture
painted of the era and the way the main character tried to bring
something good away from something truly bad.



(Super Reader Girl Reviews: http://superreadergirlreviews.blogspot.com/)

Reader reviewed by Suzanne

Set in the 50's, the main character is spun into a web of lies concerning her new step-dad, and his sketchy history. When she falls in love with the mature enemy of her father, she's stuck between which side to take. After a fatal boat accident, she learns the truth,and has to decide if her family is worth saving. Disappointing ending, but OK overall.

Reader reviewed by Amy Ward

The cover of this book was enought to sell me.  I see why it's a National Book Award Winner.  The character of Evie is so wonderful.  She's a girl you would want to know, be friends with.  And Peter.  What girl wouldn't fall in love with him?  I really can't say enough about this book.  I could tell you how much I loved it, how it sucked me right in.  But to truly understand, you have to read it yourself.  The plot is so artistically woven together.  And Evie grows so much over the course of the book.  She even outgrows her parents, which is a good thing in this instance.  I can't recommend this book enough!  One of the best books I have read so far! 

Reader reviewed by KK

The main character of this book is Evie, a 15 year-old girl who matures very quickly throughout the book when she comes to realize her parents are not the people she thought they were. When her stepfather Joe returns home from the war, he announces to the family that they are going to Palm Beach on vacation, which seems slightly strange to Evie. A lot of shady things happen while they are on "vacation." Joe, Evie's stepfather makes a business deal with the Grayson family, another couple staying at the hotel, and Evie falls in "love" with an ex-GI that Joe happens to know. Ironic right? Especially there is the fact that Joe does not want Evie or her mother spending time with Peter, the ex-GI. There is a terrible secret that Evie wants to discover, and needs to when everything begins to fall apart. This book contains murder, love, and deception.

Reader reviewed by Lianne

Reader reviewed by stephanie

Reader reviewed by Alicia Kaiah Mason

What I saw and how I lied, was a phenomonel book. It had the perfect amount of mystery and romance, and a twist you would never come to happen. All in a simple book.

This book takes place in the 1940's and tells a tradgic tale of Evie Spooner, a fifteen-year-old girl living in Queens, a small yet nice town. A child of Bevery Spooner, and a man she never really met, her life was never full...antil now. Previous to WW II, Evie's mother had married a charming man, named Joe Spooner, quite a catch fo him, Bev's a dish. Well, Joe's moping lands the happy family in Palm Beach, Floida...in the off season. They had landed in a ghost town, and this is already a bad start. It's amazing how you can go from being not bored at all, to bored out of your mind in the time it takes to tie your shoe.

But soon, Evie meets a "hunk", an ex G-I named Peter Coleridge. He's gorgeous, loaded, and older. Soon though, there's an awful happening, and Evie is surrounded by lies. Someone has to be redeamed, someone betrayed...but who?

What I Saw and How I Lied is a real page-turner, and will have young readers reading through the night. It has a great theme, though I found it too short. I would have liked about 300 pages more, but, it's not my choice. All I can say is, I loved this book, and it kept me reading for endless moments, and with dashes of almost all genres, is sure to keep anyone interested. The ending is a knockout, a surprise...and to find out, I guess you'll just have to read What I saw and How I Lied and see what I mean.

 

 

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

After her stepfather Joe returns home from serving in the Second World War, 15-year-old Evie Spooner believes that things can now return to normal. No more rationing, no more faking, no more worrying with her beautiful mother Bev if he will be in a particular battle on a particular day.

However, things from Joes war past seem to come back to haunt him, and he spontaneously moves his family down to a hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. There they befriend the Graysons, a wealthy-looking couple, and Peter Coleridge, a handsome young man who knew Joe from the war. Joe doesnt seem to like Peter, and Evie cant figure out why. She certainly likes him very much, as they go out to town together with Bev and occasionally have romantic encounters.

But something is seriously wrong with this group. Lies, betrayals, and hatred arise, culminating in a devastating event that forces Evie to choose whether to be loyal to her parents or be just. Bev cant hide Evie behind a makeup-less face and childish dresses anymore; its time for Evie to grow up and face the complex adult world.

Judy Blundell packs so much into this small but giant book. Issues regarding anti-Semitism, family loyalty, love, growing up, and lying all come up, among others. While I thought Evie seemed over-the-top naïve sometimes with relationship tensions that are obvious to readers, Blundell does a fantastic job of making her grow up through the book. WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED is by no means perfect, but its a good read if youre looking for a historical suspense coming-of-age story.