Literary Devices in What I Saw and How I Lied
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
What I Saw and How I Lied takes place in seemingly idyllic Palm Beach. Joe decides to take his family there on an impromptu vacation, and at first, they're taken in by the glamour and the ritzy qua...
Narrator Point of View
What I Saw and How I Lied is told entirely from the perspective of our sweet young protagonist, Evie Spooner. The first person perspective allows us to see all aspects of the story from Evie's pers...
Genre
Coming-of-Age Since the entirety of What I Saw and How I Lied follows Evie Spooner (who's in the midst of teenage turmoil and angst), it makes sense that the story would track her path to growing u...
Tone
The book's title may be What I Saw and How I Lied, but the tone takes on a what-I-learned feel by being rather reflective and thoughtful about what Evie sees and how she reacts to the events around...
Writing Style
The writing style of What I Saw and How I Lied is reflective of the narrator, who is a teenage girl. Because of this, the writing style is simple, confessional, and includes a great deal of emotion...
What's Up With the Title?
What I Saw and How I Lied is an incredibly straightforward title that basically describes the whole plot of the story. Evie comes to see the truth about her family's vacation to Palm Beach—that h...
What's Up With the Ending?
The ending of What I Saw and How I Lied takes place in the same place that the novel opens up in—New York City. Even though most of the book takes place in Palm Beach, we're brought back home wit...
Tough-o-Meter
Although What I Saw and How I Lied isn't a technically difficult book to read—the language is simple and straightforward—it does involve complicated and adult themes. The book is a coming of ag...
Plot Analysis
Seeking ParadiseThe beginning of What I Saw and How I Lied presents the reader with the Spooner family—Joe, Bev, and Evie—who are heading to Palm Beach for a ritzy vacation. Joe has returned fr...
Trivia
One of Judy Blundell's favorite books growing up was Freddy the Detective. Maybe that's why What I Saw and How I Lied has such a mysterious feel to it.
(Source.)
According to Judy Blundell, there...
Steaminess Rating
There's no blatant sex in What I Saw and How I Lied, but that doesn't mean the book lacks steaminess. First of all, Evie has a serious crush on Peter Coleridge throughout the book, which leads...
Allusions
World War II (throughout)Revlon's "Fatal Apple" Lipstick (throughout)