One Great Lie by Deb Caletti is a captivating read for young adult book lovers who appreciate atmospheric settings, complex characters, and intriguing themes of feminism, self-discovery, and the power of creative expression, set against the romantic backdrop of Venice and Italy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

A wholly feminist novel set in a lovely, wish-fulfilling setting. Caletti is uniquely skilled at attacking themes of feminism, youth and more.

Interesting story but not what I enjoy the most. I liked the setting and the main character. More descriptive detail would have helped to draw me in. I received an Arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was the first book I read by Deb Caletti, and it was enjoyable. I didn't realize it was a YA drama at first. I did enjoy the plot, especially the twists and turns, but the best part for me was the weaving of history and vivid imagery throughout. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

Books change lives. Words have power. But whose voices do we hear? One Great Lie asks the question about whose voices are lost when we are so focused on supporting a “genius’” work. If we only hear the voices of those with power and recognition, are we losing the art and possibility by those who are shut out when they speak up? A Me Too story about Charlotte who gets the chance of a lifetime to spend the summer at her author idol’s villa in Venice for a writing seminar. But when she and others speak up about his misbehavior, she finds her true purpose and passion in finding the forgotten stories and art of women writers in 16th Century Venice.

Oh, this was a fun, albeit difficult, ride. The mystery plot was intriguing and it was such a well-done story. Loved every minute.


I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love Coletti's writing and this book is no different, but I didn't connect with the story the way I did with "A Heart in a Body....". Something about the historical element and past storyline/focus didn't work for me. It took me out of the story.. I think it's a well rounded look at finding who your voice and all while tackling very difficult topics. I can see how this will really work for some, and I'll definitely be reading more from this author as I love my YA contemporary to be hard hitting.
CW: sexual assault, grooming, rape, slut shaming.

Winning a scholarship to author Luca Bruni’s summer writing intensive means Charlotte can escape from an needy boyfriend and her combative parents for Venice, where she can hone her own writing and pursue a family mystery - why does a book from ancestor Isabella di Angelo include a poem attributed to a male poet of the same time period?

The #metoo vibes are heavy. Luca is clearly predatory and though Charlotte recognizes this almost from the start, she struggles with what constitutes his power and her consent. Caletti layers this expected story arc with layers of the unexpected and plenty of big ideas. How does history impact the present? What haunts you? What does it look like for women to support each other? Venice is a powerful setting and Caletti masterfully combines the past and the present as Charlotte walks in the steps of Isabella. The repetition of the names and brief bios of Venetian women poets of the 1500s gain power as the book progresses and the reader gains an understanding of their struggles and erasure. A memorable work. EARC from Edelweiss.

Powerful, as one would expect for the followup to A HEART IN A BODY. This explores power dynamics in a really profound way, and explored questions of separating the art from the artist that I think are only growing more and more relevant.

Did not finish. Writing style was pretty bad and I couldn't get into the characters. Still ordered it for my library's YA section but I personally did not enjoy it.

Not my favorite of Caletti, but overall I still enjoyed reading it. I just feel like I didn’t connect with the characters well.

3.5 stars. While this wasn't my favorite of Deb Caletti's books plot-wise, it is hard to deny that she is unmatched when it comes to writing hard-hitting, feminist YA. While I thought that this was beautifully written and handled the subject of grooming and emotional manipulation very sensitively, I struggled to connect to Charlotte and her connection to Venice. I wanted to know more about what was happening in the present and I didn't really care much for the mystery-esque plot line, so the book as a whole ended up falling kind of flat for me.

CW: rape, sexual assault, grooming, slut shaming

Deb Caletti is one of my will-always-read writers, and this book shows why. She somehow manages to balance stunning prose, well-drawn characters, interesting interstitials (like the facts about women writers), and an overwhelming sense of dread even among the lush landscape. Her books are so important, and I’ll always, always buy them.

Charlotte is a young writer in her final year of high school. She applies (and wins!) a scholarship opportunity to spend the summer in Venice with renowned author Luca Bruni as a mentor. With other students on the island of La Calamita, Charlotte is given the rare opportunity to hone her craft with one of her generation's most brilliant voices. Additionally, Charlotte may have familial connections with a little-known poet from Italy and she begins her journey to find more works and information with Dante, a handsome young academic who connects with Charlotte. As she spends more time in Venice, what she does not expect are the red flags from their author-host and his treatment of the young women of the program. So begins a coming-of-age tale of disillusionment and heartbreak.

This book is told in third-person from Charlotte's POV with lovely imagery of Venice. A story like this is important for young people to see what red flags can look like and how social media can influence responses to predatory behavior of prominent people. Unfortunately, the writing of this book was...to put it bluntly...lazy. In the first chapter, Charlotte notes how clichés weaken writing and this book is littered with clichés, summaries, telling instead of showing, and a lack of connecting characterization of the main character. I rushed through it, but was disappointed that the main plot points fell so flat.

This tied in a lot of unique concepts travel, mystery, love which makes it a juicy read to indulge in or share with a book club.
Premise
When Charlotte wins a scholarship to a writing workshop in Venice with the charismatic and brilliant Luca Bruni, it’s a dream come true. Writing is her passion, she loves Bruni’s books, and going to that romantic and magical sinking city gives her the chance to solve a long-time family mystery about a Venetian poet deep in their lineage, Isabella Di Angelo, who just might be the real author of a very famous poem.

Bruni’s villa on the eerie island of La Calamita is extravagant—lush beyond belief, and the other students are both inspiring and intimidating. Venice itself is beautiful, charming, and seductive, but so is Luca Bruni. As his behavior becomes increasingly unnerving, and as Charlotte begins to unearth the long-lost work of Isabella with the help of sweet, smart Italian Dante, other things begin to rise, too—secrets about the past, and secrets about the present.
It was very vividly written and you instantly felt transported to beautiful Italy. Dante was also a lovely addition to the story as well in the way he helps Charlotte throughout the novel. It kept me guessing and turning the pages until the very end.

The third person narration is strange. Feels like a lot of telling rather than showing. Lots of history when she gets to Italy, which doesn’t really add to the plot. Overall, it lacked for me even though I too dream of being a writer.

Two story lines, Charlotte winning a scholarship to a writing seminar in Venice with her dream author, and another line of her trying to find the poet Isabella de Angelo who they believe she is related. Things seem great until Luca makes moves on the girls and Charlotte immediately goes home. But all is not lost because the boy, Dante, she has fallen in love with has a colleague searching for Isabella. Charlotte is depressed until Dante calls to tell of all the discoveries and she returns to Venice. Each chapter opens with a short bibliography of a 15th or 16th cnetry woman poet/writer. Book reveals how little the women writers were respected same as the author, Luca, had little respect for the women he invited to the seminar.

One Great Lie
A compelling story about a young aspiring writer earning a spot for a summer writing program with her favorite author, Luca Bruni, at his estate in Venice, Italy. Luca Bruni is a popular, brooding author whose work is widely used in literature classes. Charlotte feels like his work speaks directly to her; it is as if he truly understands her. As a budding young writer, Charlotte is honored and excited to have the opportunity to meet her literary idol, and learning from the master can set her on a path to a literary career.

Charlotte soon learns that her literary idol has flaws, that he habitually sexually harasses young women. As more and more young women come forward to share their stories of unwanted sexual advances, they decide to go public with the story. Because Bruni is such a popular figure, and people love his writing, there is a backlash against his accusers.

The story does a good job of making the reader consider the flaws of our public heroes, and what we will tolerate to believe and support said heroes. The novel is of the time with the #MeToo cancel culture, and looks at whose voices are heard and whose voices are silenced.

There is a sub-story where Charlotte is trying to find out about her ancestor Isabella di Angelo. A book of Isabella’s poetry has been handed down through the generations to the women in her family, and a mystery has surrounded the book. While in Venice Charlotte hopes to learn about Isabella’s life and to solve the mystery of her book.

Each chapter of One Great Lie begins with a reference to a female Italian writer from the sixteen or seventeen hundreds. These are talented women writers and yet their work is unknown. As Charlotte digs for answers, she discovers how men controlled the lives of women, and the lengths men would go to silence them. The story of her ancestor parallels Charlotte’s, and while we think women rights have come far over the centuries, this shows we still have far to go.

One Great Lie sounds like it would be a really great story, but I couldn't get past the first quarter of the book. It drags and it is almost completely in the head of the main character. It's as if you're reading someone's account of what happened (that happens to have both not enough interactions and details and at the same time too many unimportant details) instead of being a part of the story. Perhaps the author is just trying to set up the story, but I don't feel that it should take so much of the book to do so. If it takes more than a chapter or two to set up the story than you're doing it wrong. Up until this point the main character is also not very likable. This is supposed to be a story about Charlotte learning about the history of powerful men among other things, but the story starts with her abusing the power that she has over her boyfriend. From the way she describes their relationship, she is only dating him because she feels sorry for him and she likes having sex with him. Isn't that typical behavior of powerful men? Using women for sex? Being so consumed with their own wants that they don't really care about others? Showing the main female character behaving in these same manners in the beginning of the story doesn't help the story. So yeah, I really don't like Charlotte and since so far I have been mostly stuck in her head being told about the things that have happened instead of experiencing them with her it just isn't a story that I can convince myself to waste my time to finish. So if you can get past all of that, maybe the story gets better, but I really wouldn't recommend it to anyone.