The Lie Tree in Mock Printz 2026

Mar 26, 2016 Amy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-starred-reviews, abrams, little-brown, vr-5-2016

It’s Victorian England, and among natural scientists and others who put on a good show of digging around, Darwin is shaking the what is known to be true. Accepting Darwin as truth not only suggests that the Bible may be a lie, which is one possible problem, but it also dethrones humans as all-powerful overlords of the natural world, connecting us to the animals we dig up in the ground. Darwin reminds us that we, one day a long time from now, are going to have a lot in common with the fossils we It’s Victorian England, and among natural scientists and others who put on a good show of digging around, Darwin is shaking the what is known to be true. Accepting Darwin as truth not only suggests that the Bible may be a lie, which is one possible problem, but it also dethrones humans as all-powerful overlords of the natural world, connecting us to the animals we dig up in the ground. Darwin reminds us that we, one day a long time from now, are going to have a lot in common with the fossils we obsess over today.

Darwin introduces uncertainty into our own little worlds, and the fear of uncertainty motivates Faith to seek out the Lie Tree to avenge her father’s death. If Faith lies, she’ll receive a truth from the tree. If Faith sees the truth from the tree, she’ll be able to stop the lies.

Hardinge writes carefully and intentionally. She knows she wants to immerse the reader in thinking about what the truth is and whether, in some cases, a noble-seeming quest for truth (e.g. science) can transform into selfish and greedy insistence on certainty (which is what Biblical creationists do.) How can this insistence on certainty first become something of a lie that we tell ourselves when we deny possible contradictory evidence, and how can it then transform into a more insidious and harmful lie. And… should all lies be treated the same way? What about the ways in which women lie in order to protect themselves? Hardinge brings in this questions, tantalizes us, made me furiously place post-its all over my book, and in the end gives us a satisfying (enough) answer to some of these questions.

Where I think Hardinge is strong philosophically, I found her weak point to be the characterizations of women. Not that her characterizations weren’t nuanced, but rather I felt that she was trodding on familiar trope-y ground with these characters and I wanted to see something fresh.

This book can be slow the same way books of its time (Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, etc.) are slow and it’s not for the faint of heart among teen readers due to pacing, vocabulary, writing style, and, to an extent, depth of details. I’m not going to bother putting my ARC in my seventh grade classroom, and I’ll instead pass this on to avid high school readers. I’m not sure they’ll fall in love with this one either.

Where I think this book could belong, though, would be a college-level history/philosophy of science class or a Victorian literature/history class. I’d love to hear from a more knowledgeable reader about the extent to which this book accurately reflects Victorian-period ideals and anxieties. I’m also curious about whether this book reads better as a mimic of Victorian lit or rather as a blend of contemporary YA and Victorian lit. Hardinge provides a brief bibliography in the acknowledgements section as well for any college student who wants to do further research into these questions!
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May 02, 2016 Allison rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, printz17

I found this one to be slow to get going but by the end I could see why this has garnered 6 starred reviews. I could see that it was well-written but I just didn't quite love it myself. It was a very good exploration of feminism and women's roles at the time. I enjoyed the mystery aspect and found Faith to be a very interesting and complex character. She is the best part of the book, actually. I was just a little disappointed with the tree storyline. I guess I wanted it to either be creepier or ...more

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Sep 06, 2016 Carrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, mystery, science-fiction, middle-grade, social-justice, young-adult, magical-realism, historical-fiction, lgbtq, suspense-thriller

If anyone knows how to spin a story, it's Hardinge. While this started off a bit slow for me, I found myself returning back to sections I read through too quickly and realizing that I missed something that was actually perfectly placed. This reminded me in both mood and story to Jonathan Auxier's The Night Gardener and also Hardinge's Cuckoo Song, two of my favorites. ...more

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Dec 03, 2016 Ms. B rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, mystery, ya

Frances Hardinge knows how to write a good mystery and whodunnit with interesting characters like Faith who is growing up in the late 1800s. She is fascinated by science at a time when women like her were frowned upon and shunned.
Teens and young adults looking for mysteries will enjoy this one.

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May 07, 2016 Bestbookihavenotread rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wonderful story-a very different setting than any I've read. Loved the main character Faith as she navigates trying to solve the murder of her father. ...more

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