What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Synopsis:

In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome change her life and that of her family forever.

Excerpt:

"You don't love me, kiddo," Peter said softly. "You're a lovely little girl with a lovely little crush. You don't know me ---"
"I do know you. I know you right down to the ground," I said. "I know that whatever you did, however bad it was, that you're not that bad."
He stood there, and I saw something change for him. I saw me change for him. That dress I thought had changed me in his eyes? It had been nothing. This was it, this was finally it, when I got what I wanted.

My Thoughts:
Good news: I kept reading this book because I wanted to find out what happened.

Bad news: I was sorely disappointed when I got to the end. 

The book started off well. Blundell did a fantastic job of placing us in post-war America. I felt like I was truly there. 

I loved Evie. I thought she was the perfect representation of a fifteen year old--that in between phase when you want the respect of your elders and your independence, while not realizing your own limitations. She was perfect in every way. Her loss of innocence was obviously a major theme in the novel, and I thought the writer portrayed it all very well. 

Unfortunately, no matter how much I liked Evie, I hated almost every other character in the book. Joe was sleazy, the mother was airheaded, and Peter--the guy Evie falls for--wasn't developed. When the tragedy struck, I didn't feel sorry for anyone, but Evie. In fact, I was mad at Evie for lying to save everyone else. 

The side plot discuss the anti-Semitism that existed in post-war America. Although it was interesting and I felt like the author really had something--I felt that at one point it was just thrown back in. It was there at the start and then forgotten until halfway through the book when it was suddenly brought up again. Maybe I didn't understand or didn't read anything into the text and it was my fault for missing the cues.

All in all, I was just disappointed with this book. 

Recommendation: Not really worth your time, in my opinion. 

Rating: 2.5/5 stars