The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple by Joanna Davidson Politano {book review}

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~ About the Book

Peter Driscoll, an underground investigator to the wealthy, has never met anyone like Lily Temple. The beautiful silent-film actress spins fairy tales and plays frivolous roles in front of the cine-camera, but beneath the costumes and stage makeup is a woman with a quick wit--and a murky past.

Peter has been tasked with locating the legendary Briarwood Teardrop, an exquisite sapphire, which Lily wears beneath her gown. In order to stay close to her and hopefully unravel the mystery of her story--and the sapphire--Peter employs Lily's help on a case, which leads to a useful partnership. But as they are investigating together, Peter is also investigating Lily. The closer he gets to the truth, the more danger they face. And the closer he gets to Lily, the clearer it is that he needs her even more than she needs him.

Award-winning author Joanna Davidson Politano whisks you away to Edwardian England in 1903 for a whimsical and layered tale that treads the crooked line between real and make-believe.


~ Review

3 stars 


I typically have high hopes for Joanna Davidson Politano’s books, but unfortunately this one was a miss for me. After liking but not loving The Lost Melody, I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple. 


What I Liked:

-Adelaide and “her soldier” was my favorite part of the book honestly. They were side-characters making up only a small portion of the book. But I loved it. 

-Peter. He was a cool dude. And he wears glasses sooo #boyswithglassesftw 

-Lily’s desire to “return to the garden” and the connection to our human desire to return to The Garden (Eden) was really cool. Made for some cool, relatable imagery. 

-The quotes from classical stories at the start of each chapter were neat and definitely added to the “garden fairytale” vibe. 


What I Didn’t Like: 

-Most of the characters seemed flat and uninteresting. I found that I didn’t care what happened to most of them. 

-Lily. She annoyed me at times. I felt like I never connected with her at all because there was SO much important backstory that was only given in teensy glimpse throughout the book, and then all dumped right at the end. It felt like there was no way to get to know her earlier on. 

-There seemed to be a lot of people and places and things that didn’t really have anything in common. 

-I feel like usually with this author, her hints are more clear, or we (as the readers) are given more information earlier on. With this book, I felt like I was guessing about almost everything until less than 50 pages from the end. Sometimes things were implied, but not clear enough to know if we (as the reader) should believe it or not. Although, that said, maybe if I’d cared more and paid more attention I would’ve figured it out quicker. As it was, I found myself caring less if I solved it ahead of time or not. 

-Peter and Lily’s romantic relationship. In my opinion, it felt like they were only together because they were the main guy and gal in the book so of course they’re going to fall in love. 

-Without giving spoilers, the start of chapter 37 really confused me. I feel like it was a purposeless add-in, but that’s just me. 

-Usually I love this author’s writing and find myself going “wow what a unique way to say that.” But with ETLT, it was more like “that was alot of words and I’m still not entirely sure what that meant.” 


Anyway… I will continue reading all of JDP’s releases because I’ve really loved some of her books. This just wasn’t one of them, unfortunately. 


**I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Books publishing in exchange for this honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.**

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