The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett –by Chelsea Sedoti

AVAILABLE 3 JANUARY 2017

Fiction / Teen & Young Adult

400 pages

5 Stars

Legalities: I received a free copy from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

O. M. G. This was a one-sit read. It's been more than a few years since I've been a senior in high school, and I had forgotten all the teen angst over being, well, a teen in high school. This book brought all those marvelous memories back and then some.

Hawthorn Creely is our heroine, and also our narrator. Her voice, as she tells her story, is both funny and when necessary, poignant. I laughed out loud in places, and yes, shed a tear or two.

When Lizzie Lovett, a beautiful and popular girl goes missing, Hawthorn comes up with her own theories, as outrageous and oddball as they may seem. Never one of the "in" crowd at school, she finds herself ridiculed and teased even more once her ideas become fodder for the school gossip machine. Amazingly, Lizzie's boyfriend is one of Hawthorn's staunchest defenders.

Yes, this is a coming-of-age book, and one of the most engrossing ones I've read in a long time. Hawthorn is believable, her family is believable (if I didn't know better, I'd swear they were my neighbors!), and her teachers, were produced by the same teacher cookie cutter as were mine. 

The saddest thing about The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett is it won't be released until after the Winter Gifting Season is over. This book would make a fantastic Winter Gift not just for any teens on your list, but for any of your friends who may have, at one time or another, been a teen.

Firefly: Ice Born: Book One --by P. M. Pevato

Fiction / Fantasy / Teen

298 Pages

5 Stars

I read this book a couple of times, in its rougher iterations, and am very impressed with the changes Ms. Pevato made. She listened to the suggestions her readers made, took the ones that were helpful, and discarded the ones that weren't, and ended up with a  well crafted book.

The story flowed from the snowy beginning through to the end. It was logical, as logical as teen witches and generations old witch hunters can be, and the ending left me wanting more. Fortunately, she has two more novels planned, and with any kind of luck will get Book Two finished, polished, and published before I forget Book One ;-) .

Pay attention to the chapter headings, as the POV shifts between the protagonist and the antagonist. Although it's usually easy to spot within the first paragraph, it's nice to have that heads up.

The characters are well developed, and the world in which they live, play, and work is equally well developed and believable. The imagery is beautiful, and I found myself wanting a blanket as I read. (It takes place in an alpine village in the winter, and I was cold.) I truly cared about some of the characters, and others, well—I wasn't supposed to like them.

One of the joys of Young Adult/Teen fiction is there is no gratuitous sex or violence, and for that reason, many adults take great delight in reading books written for younger folk. I truly hope adults wanting a good story will pick this book up and read it. And for the teens out there looking for a good paranormal not filled with horny werewolves and vampires, this is the one for you!

A unique story, and a fun read. Thank you, P. M. Pevato for writing this. And, please, hurry up with Book Two.