What Would You Lie For? A REVIEW

Welcome back everyone! I am so thankful for all the views that I have been getting so far with my blog! Let me know if there is ever something that you guys are wanting to see! I started a blog notebook, and I have been jotting down different ideas!

Today we are going over something new and a little different. If you know me at all, you will know that I LOVE TO READ!!!!! When I was younger I would read a certain number of books during the school year and summer, and the next year I would read even more than the previous year. After starting college, I didn't have the time to read for fun and that made me very sad... even though I was a big nerd reading everything in my textbooks. Yes, you can laugh at me! I will not deny that I love learning and reading!! Today we are going to start a blogging series where I read (convenient, right) and then I will review the book, and/or I will also give some questions that will aid in a book discussion or book club. We are really racking in those nerd points aren't we..

LETS INTRODUCE THE BOOK:

The Lie Tree- Frances Hardinge 

Let's start with just giving you information directly from the author. On the book sleeve it gives this overview:

"To earn a secret so profound. I would need to tell momentous lies, and make as many people as possible believe them. Faith Sunderly leads a double life. To most people, she is modest and well mannered-- a proper young lady who knows her place. But inside, Faith is burning with questions and curiosity, She keeps sharp watch of her surroundings and, therefore, knows secrets no one suspects of her knowing-- like the real reason her family fled Kent to the close-knit island of Vane. And that her father's death was no accident. In pursuit of revenge and justice for the father she idolizes, Faith hunts through his possessions, where she discovers a strange tree. A tree that bears fruit only when she whispers a lie to it. The fruit, in turn, delivers a hidden truth. The tree might hold the key to her father's murder. Or, it might lure the murderer directly to Faith herself. The lies-- like fires, wild and cracking quickly take a life of their own" (I would do a citation, but I'm not that official of a blogger. All text in this paragraph is from the author).

QUICK SYNOPSIS: NO CRAZY SPOILERS!

To be honest, at first I did not love this book. The book started really slow and it was initially difficult to connect with the characters. I love a good story though so I kept reading despite my initial opinion. Gladly it ended up getting a lot better after a few chapters and I ultimately really enjoyed it! I guess it has to be pretty good for it to earn the Costa Book of the year and Costa Children's Book Award! IMPRESSIVE! To introduce the story, the main characters are a 14 year old girl named Faith Sunderly, her mother Myrtle, her brother Howard, her uncle Miles, and her father Revered Erasmus Sunderly.  There are some other characters involved in a dig and other servants in the house, but they are not as important (thus I can't remember their names). To supplement the overview listed above I will tell you a little bit more about the book. Faith is a very strong willed girl especially for a young women in the 19th century when women were not regarded as highly as their male companions. In the book, the author writes a lot about the natural sciences and how the family's move from Kent to Vane was due to her father's passions as a natural scientist and some other things (but I'm not about those SPOILERS). I'm not going to give too much detail because I don't want to ruin the story! I'm supposed to be convincing you to read it! With the "hint hint" death of Faith's father and with information from his personal letters, she discovers a plant that grows with lies NOT PHOTOSYNTHESIS, and with those lies bears fruit of truth. Let me tell you this, this discovery creates a lot of problems for her and for the quiet town because she ends up using it just as her father had. With her desire to lie in order to find the truth, the whole town changes and she does as well. We learn a lot about the power and consequences that one person can have with a lie as well as the truth. Faith ultimately discovers what happened to her father, but what will she do with that information? I guess you will have to find out yourself.

QUESTION TIME!

If anything, this book made me come up with a lot of questions that I would ask myself and would like other people to answer as well! It is always cool to take a story and then browse what hidden meanings there may be, or if there are any details that you might have missed. Here are a few questions that I came up with!

1. How has the role of women changed from the 19th century to today? How can we continue to fight for the rights of women? How did Faith stand up for women?

2. What would you tell a young girl concerning her worth and abilities? 

             (i.e In the book one of the doctors in the story told Faith that too much intellect would spoil              the human mind like a rock in a souflee, noting that women weren't made to understand the                 sciences).

3. How do lies gain power/grow?

4. Why do we tell lies?

5. Are white lies or bigger lies easier to tell?
6. How do lies change the way you view others?
7. What persuades us to lie to people that we may or may not know?

8. Do you agree with Faith's actions with the lie tree and with her family?

9. What did you enjoy/Not enjoy about this book?

10. How did the story mature like the tree?

11. What would you do to save the reputation of a family member who were being wrongly judged?

12. Did you initially think that the reverend committed suicide or was murdered? 

13. What are some themes that you find in this book? Would a child understand the themes?

14. Did you like the fantasy within this book? 

15. Which theory concerning the plant did you believe the most? Any alternative theories?

16. What objects/people do we commonly give power to? Good or bad?

17. Were Myrtle's reactions justified after the death of her husband? How could she have handled it differently? Was she herself telling her own various lies? Examples?
18. Why do you think this book has already won so many awards?

Do you have any other questions that should be added to this list? Post them in the comments below! Do you like this kind of blog post? If you do, let me know! Do you guys want more of a review, more of a book club format, or both? I like it all, but let me know what you guys think! Would you like me to write the questions and then answer them myself? Also, let me know if you have any requests of books that you would like me to review!?

Thank you again, and make sure to return and let me know what you think and want to see! I have many more book reviews coming your way since I just finished another book this morning!

~Anna Wilson :)