REVIEW for What I Saw and How I Lied

A huge, huge thank you goes out to Nikole at Scholastic Books for sending me this great book!

TITLE: What I Saw and How I Lied

AUTHOR: Judy Blundell

GENRE: YA

RATING: 4 Stars

I really wasn't sure that I was going to like this book all that much as I am not a fan of novels set in war time and I don't normally care for the "noire" genre. All of that was thrown out the window the instant I opened the book and read the first few paragraphs.

This story of a young girl - Evie who finds herself daring to believe that her family, especially her mom and dad, can be happy and find a new life together after the war is touching in places but also thrilling and had me completely on the edge of my seat.

This story is billed as a mystery of sorts and I loved the way the author introduces completely confusion in Evie's perfectly built up dream. When Evie's dad decides to uproot the family and move to Florida for an extended vacation, the story quickly develops. There, we meet a grandmother that is less than thrilled with the thought of having her family on her doorstep, we meet an ex soldier who is both gorgeous and huge trouble, especially since he knows things about Evie's dad that is best kept secret. Between a mother who is just a tad too "needy and loving" and a father that has way too many secrets - we quickly find out that nothing, in this story, is to be taken at face value.

The writing is perfect and so is the pace and tone of the book. I like the Evie character because she soon figures out that her life is about to explode and she tries desperately to put all the pieces together and I love that all the pieces are difficult to put together - which leaves me/us guessing to the end.

What a great book!