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    What I Saw and How I Lied
    What I Saw and How I Lied
    What I Saw and How I Lied
    Audiobook6 hours

    What I Saw and How I Lied

    Written by Judy Blundell

    Narrated by Caitlin Greer

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Evie slowly finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies in this brilliant mystery that won the 2008 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScholastic
    Release dateOct 1, 2009
    ISBN9780545222501
    What I Saw and How I Lied

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    Reviews for What I Saw and How I Lied

    4/5

    824 ratings94 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This is a National Book Award winner? It’s not terrible, but it’s not fantastic. It’ supposed to be this dark noir YA, but the story isn’t really compelling, and the mystery plot falls a bit short. It’s boring. The writing itself is great, but I can’t imagine a teen picking this one up, reading it by choice, and gushing at the descriptions and the atmosphere.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      As I was reading this book I had the thought in the back of my mind that this reminded me of an old movie, just couldn't remember which one. This book combines the questioning that comes from being a normal teen with the pressure of living in a step-family with becoming a reunited family after a long seperation, with learning that your heros can sometimes not be very heroic and turns out a book that kept me interested.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A coming of age story . A young 15 year old going on 16 girl finds in a diffucult and tragedic way the strength in herself.
    • 5/5
      What an exquisitely written story! Bravo Judy Blundell. You are a master at your craft! Your characters sprung to life, and you lead me to know them intimately. I can't wait to read more of your books. You are the gold standard and my inspiration to continue writing. Thanks for sharing your talent in this gorgeous story! I'm normally not one to gush over things, but wow. This is one of the best reads of my life!
    • 4/5
      Evie Spooner is in such a hurry to grow up. She watches adults carefully and tries to talk, walk, and look like the ones she admires.Her family's trip to Florida presents an opportunity for romance with an older man, and Evie is ready to learn all she can about love. But is Peter who he says? And why is Evie's stepfather so disturbed by Peter's presence?This historical mystery won the National Book Award. It definitely absorbed my thoughts for a few days. By the end of the story, Evie does grow up, but not how she expected.
    • 4/5
      Great and interesting story, however has an unfortunate anticlimactic ending.
    • 4/5
      I checked this book out from the local library to read with Modern Mrs Darcy Bookclub. All opinions are my own. What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell ???? This was a short, light read that will have you in the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens with Evie.  After WWII is over and Evie's stepdad is home they decide a Florida vacation is in order for this New York family. Leaving Grandma at home the three embark on an adventure in the heat of Florida in fall. And 15 year old Evie is amazed and then bored until 23 year old Peter shows up and asks her to dance. Then dinners and movies and soda shops. And oh my how in a 15 year old mind can a story be twisted to be so much more than it really is and just how naive their minds work. But after realizing the truth of matters, Evie has the perfect plot to set it all straight. Review also posted on Instagram @borenbooks, Library Thing, Go Read, Goodreads/StacieBoren, Amazon, Twitter @jason_stacie and my blog at readsbystacie.com
    • 5/5
      Loved the history of the book being set just after WWII. So well researched and integrated into the story of Evie’s coming of age and her parents corruption. I really didn’t pick where the story went and found i couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended!
    • 4/5
      I wasn't sure I could get past the first couple chapters and all the intense descriptions of smoking. Thankfully it got better. It was really good.
    • 4/5
      Things should have been wonderful when Evie's step-father returns home from WWII, but family relationships are strained. Someone is trying to talk to Evie's step-dad, Joe, but Joe isn't interested in acknowledging this person. What secrets, and lies, are going to be uncovered before Evie understands what is going on around her?
    • 2/5
      I found the book a bit unbelievable. A smart and educated fifteen year old girl that it seems had always been a good kid suddenly deciding she must sleep with a 23 year old? In 1947? Now, maybe, but then? I read it hoping for a good mystery, but it was a mundane creepy and hard to believe love story. I wanted to adore the main character, and I did at first, but she lost me the more she drooled over the creepy guy. I found the book disappointing and I’m not sure why it won an award. However, I think the author has potential and I hope she keeps writing, just something less creepy and more believable next time, with more character development and depth.
    • 5/5
      Excellent!
      I really enjoyed listening to this story that takes place during the post WWII period about a young girl’s coming of age. The book is VERY well done. In some ways it kind of reminds me of The Great Gatsby as, although it is a different story, has many of the same elements. I loved the period music intro and extro, and very much enjoyed listening to the short author interview at the end. I enjoy books that take place during this time period and, although written in recent times, it really does have the feel of taking place during the Post war period. Good narration!
    • 2/5
      Unfortunately, very predictable. I read it but wasn't wowed by any means.
    • 3/5
      Pretty good YA mystery and coming-of-age girl's story set in 1947 just after the big war. Content is a bit mature though, so I'd say it's for 15 and over.
    • 4/5
      The Second World War has just ended, and fifteen-year-old Evie's stepfather is finally back home. Something has changed and he certainly doesn't seem like his old self, but that could be because of the terrible things he's experienced during the war. Soon it becomes apparent something strange is going on when Evie's interfering grandmother keeps taking calls from someone asking for her stepfather, and when the three of them suddenly take off to Palm Beach in Florida for what seems like an adventure to get away from it all, a handsome stranger turns up.

      Peter Coleridge is a gorgeous ex-GI and Evie soon finds herself falling for him. But it's not long before more secrets emerge and poor Evie's world gets much darker as three people hire a boat during a hurricane, and only two come back, leading Evie into a court of law and about to make the biggest decision of her life.

      For what is essentially a young adult coming-of-age romance, the combination of the 1940's themed setting, the usage of appropriate words for that period, and the realistic and quite moving suspenseful plot shrouded by tragedy, certainly surprised me! What happened to Evie, and her struggles to be seen as a young adult and not the child everyone has grown used to, is to me something that teen girls would surely relate to, but it's only part of what makes this book stand out. Other themes include anti-Semitism during post-war America and the terrible treatment of the Jews. These were not conveyed as lectures, or as chunks where the author shows off her research knowledge, but were subtly woven into the story as things that shocked young Evie when she first understood what was going on in the true style of her character. A great way to educate teenage readers without boring them, and the perfect excuse to pack more into the plot.

      Overall: I found Blundell's style of writing descriptive and engaging. The fun and naivety of Evie's voice at the beginning slowly disappears, and as the unfortunate events unfold she conveys the sense of panic and confusion that a young girl in her position would feel; a marvellous way to set the tone for the book's intriguing ending.

      Incidentally, Judy Blundell is not new to the publishing world. For younger readers she has written under the psuedonym Jude Watson, Star Wars Episode I Journal Queen Amidala, which if you are a Star Wars fan, like I am, you'll love! Other books under her belt include the Ne w York Times bestselling series, 39 Clues 6: In Too Deep (The 39 Clues), written for teenagers.

      Finally, the book cover of "What I Saw and How I Lied" is amazing. It has dust jacket, which when removed reveals two colour covers. Even if I had disliked this book, I would have insisted on at least giving three stars and a pint of beer to the book designer.
    • 4/5
      As a coming of age novel, this meets the mark in every way. Naive young girl views the rather adult life that is happening before her eyes but only gains the experience to see what is really happening after the tragedy unfolds. The ending left me discouraged for Evie and the sacrifices she has to make for her family.
    • 2/5
      Wasn't crazy about it - didn't feel a connection to any of the characters.
    • 4/5
      Currently listening, actually. My brother recommended this after listening to it on his road trip, so I'm giving it shot while on walks. Not a book I'd pick up on own, though.

      -------------------

      Surprisingly good. The title and cover do indeed sum up what it's about - a young girl, on the cusp of womanhood, learning some hard lessons about real life, and how it's not as simple as 'evil vs pure' as in fairy-tales or in wartime patriotic propaganda, but rather 'gray.' Not subtle, but since it's Evie's interior monologues that talk to us, rather than the author, we don't feel preached at. I thought it a fairly thrilling mystery, too.

      The narrator was mostly pretty good, but she did have some trouble giving male characters consistent and distinct voices. Not enough to make me tell you to read, rather than listen, to it, though - I think if I'd read it on paper I would have read too fast and would not have appreciated the story as much.
    • 3/5
      This was a very heavy book, full of love triangles, mystery, stolen Jewish treasure and more. Evie is young, niaeve and maybe a little bit idealistic. On a family trip to Florida she falls for Peter a "friend" of the family they run into on the trip whose only a little bit older. There's more to Peter, her stepfather and her mother then meets the eye and Evie's life changes forever because of everything that happens.

    • 3/5
      It's 1947, and fifteen-year-old Evie Spooner, her mother, and returned veteran stepfather Joe, are ready to put the war behind them. In fact, when an old buddy of Joe's calls, they hightail it out of New York to Palm Beach, Florida. Then a young man named Peter sweeps Evie off her feet, and a tangle of intrigue and buried mysteries intrude.This was an award-winning, accolade-ridden book when it came out in 2008, and I finally got around to reading it this summer. It's sort of literary fiction for teens as Evie's coming of age story and the way in which the story is told, giving you some information but leaving a lot of the details to be filled in for the reader. I found it rather ambiguous for my taste, and admired it without really loving it.
    • 4/5
      Things families do to stay together.
    • 3/5
      A suspense that never solves!
    • 2/5
      This was only OK as teen/YA books go. Quite nice that it's set in an older era for a change, but the foreshadowings and drama are all a bit obvious.
    • 5/5
      From the first page the voice and tone of the young character draw you into a sinister story that you don't want to stop until you find out who is going to get killed and who did the killing.
    • 3/5
      My expectations going into What I Saw and How I Lied were high. Most of my friends really liked the novel, and it won the National Book Award, so it ought to be mind-blowing, right? Well, not really, at least for me. Though WISAHIL did provide adequate entertainment, I didn't learn or feel anything as a result.

      Set in the landscape of post-WWII America, WISAHIL centers around the coming of age of Evie Spooner. Evie has always lived in her mother's shadow; Bev Spooner gets compared by everyone to the most beautiful movie stars of the day. Evie feels plain and boring compared even to her friend Margie, who at least has already developed a figure, no longer needing to stuff her bra with tissues.

      Joe, Evie's step-father, comes home one day with an idea: they should all go on vacation to Palm Beach. Ever since he returned home from the war, he's been working hard and they all deserve a break. Their trip involves numerous annoyances and they arrive in Palm Beach to find the place deserted, since the creme de la creme never go down there until December. Evie enjoys the novelty of the beach, but that quickly wanes and boredom sets in.

      Of course, nothing dispels boredom like a handsome man. Peter Coleridge, a private from Joe's company with whom he seems to have a mysterious past, is everything Evie has ever wanted. Her imagination kicks into high gear and she starts wanting to grow up and fast, because Peter's 23 to her 15. Even before this point, I didn't much like Evie or Peter, but when it became clear that he was her love interest I decided definitively that I did not care for them. Honestly, almost every single character in this book is awful. Peter especially, because hitting on a fifteen year old girl who definitely acts and thinks like one when you're 23 is completely disgusting.

      If you like your historical fiction full of drama, betrayal and mystery, then I suspect you might enjoy WISAHIL. I kept expecting some big twist, but the book went exactly where I predicted it would, though that might not be the case for every reader. Still, I flipped through the pages really quickly, because, original though it wasn't, I had to know for sure what went down.

      Despite the accolades accrued by Blundell for this novel, the writing did not impress me. She uses the very simplistic style common in first person narratives. While that worked okay for Evie, I would have expected to see some more complex sentence structures spoken by other characters at least. Then again, if you have a better sense for Evie as a person, then perhaps the narrative will just fit her and you'll love it. All I know is that the writing did not hold any special appeal for me.

      All in all, this was an entertaining read, but lacked the depth and historical impact for which I hoped. Since I own another Blundell book, I do intend to give her work another shot.
    • 4/5
      Evie is 15 and from New York. She was raised by a single parent (her mom) after her father left them before Evie was even born. That is, they were alone until Joe came along and swept Mom off her feet. Evie was 9. Then the second Great War came and everyone went to war.Now, it is a year after the war. Joe is home and everything is getting back to normal, except that they are still living with Grandma Glad (who was anything but Glad). Then a mysterious man keeps calling and leaving messages for Joe which somehow makes Joe want to take a sudden vacation down to Palm Springs.This is where Evie meets Peter. He is blonde and beautiful, and 23. He and Joe were in the War together but Joe seems none to happy to have him around. But he doesn't have time to think about him because the rich Greyson's are staying at the same hotel. And they want to go into business with Joe.Through various scenes, Evie falls in love with Peter, who is her first love. Mrs. Greyson helps her to realize that she is beautiful, and she has her first kiss. She also experiences her first hurricane and testifies in court for the first time.This story was wonderful. I knew there was a twist in here but I guessed completely wrong. Evie loses her innocence here in Palm Springs and when she returns to New York she is a new woman, and no longer the little girl who wears pink dresses with lace collars. She is forever changed.
    • 5/5
      All Evie wanted was for life to get back to normal after her stepfather returned home from the war. She wants her mother to be happy again, she wants to move out of her grandmother's house, and she wants to be treated like a grown up. Things don't go as Evie hopes as her stepfather quickly whisks her and her mother to Florida on a spur of the moment vacation. Evie soon realizes that Jo and her mother are keeping secrets and these secrets will end up costing a man his life. I enjoyed the turn of events in this story and agree that it should be in the young adult section.
    • 5/5
      I have wanted to read 'What I Saw and How I Lied' by Judy Blundell as soon as I finished reading 'No Strings Attached'. I was amazed in so many ways by that book and here I am again! I know how Judy Blundell does it. This is a totally different story but she worked her magic again.The story starts out a simply coming of age story and slowly at first and then a fever pitch turns into a story with suspense, murder, adultery and ends without knowing who did it. Few books can do that without making you feel cheated. But this one did.The main character is Evie Spooner who seems very naïve at first but aching to grow up. Then she had some experiences that she shouldn’t have to deal with at her age. She was only 15 years old bonded closely with her mother but wondered why she seemed to hold her back when it came to putting on makeup and dating. Her step father, Joe Spooner, seems like a pretty good guy, standing up for her and protecting her when needed. But how much does she really know about her parents? Can she really trust them? Were they “normal”? Into life comes Peter Coleridge, 23 years old, an ex -GI who served under her father in WWII. Why doesn’t her father like him? Why does her mother act the way she does when Peter is there? The family meets Peter on a trip to Palm Beach, a vacation trip that each one of them wished they had never gone on.This book brings up many questions about parents, secrets and trust. Plus the story starts twist and twist as revelations about the parents and more are disclosed. I really enjoyed this book and have lots more things to think about. Ethical questions abound in this book.I highly recommend ‘What I Saw and How I Lied’.
    • 5/5
      This book is very mysterious and weird at the same time. A girl by the name, Evie is fourteen and has gone on a vaction to Palm Beach with the both of her parents. There she meets a twenty three year old man, Peter who served in the war with Evie's father. Evie's father resents him in every way because he Peter is seemingly love caught with Evie. Evie and her mother are at a lost of words and breaking Joe's rules by sneaking out with Peter, but neither her or Evie's mother care. The book is beginning to get interesting because it seems to show a quiet love interest between Evie's mother and Peter when the book is supposed to be Evie finding maturity in an older man. Also several other relationships all capsized by Peter.
    • 5/5
      This multi-faceted, complex book was the National Book Award Finalist for 2008.Covering many topics seamlessly, the author excellently portrays a tale of deceit, betrayal, murder, antisemitism, first love amid the adjustment of returning GIs and their families in post WWII America.Highly recommended!