The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: June 3, 2014
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Summary:
But did you know Alice was sexting Brandon when he crashed his car?
It’s true.
Ask ANYBODY.
Rumor has it Alice Franklin is a slut. It’s written all over the bathroom stall at Healy High for everyone to see. And after star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, the rumors start to spiral out of control.
In this remarkable debut novel, four Healy High students – the girl who had the infamous party, the car accident survivor, the former best friend, and the boy next door – tell all they know.
But exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there’s only one person to ask: Alice herself.
First Sentence: I, Elaine O’Dea, am going to tell you two, definite, absolute, indisputable truths.
My Review:
It’s no secret that The Truth About Alice is one of my most anticipated 2014 books. Ever since I saw the cover of the ARC and read the summary of the book, I knew I had to get the book in my hands. I mean, I wanted to read The Truth About Alice so badly that I nervously asked Jennifer Mathieu, the author of The Truth About Alice, if she wanted to do an author interview with me, the first interview I did with any anybody, nevertheless an author whose book I really wanted to read. That was how excited I was for The Truth About Alice.
It’s weird, because Alice Franklin doesn’t sound like a slutty name. It sounds like the name of a girl who takes really super good Chem notes or volunteers at the Healy Senior Center…But that’s totally not Alice Franklin. Hell no. (ARC 2)
A quick warning to all of you: The Truth About Alice will be a hard book to get into at first. The first chapter starts with massive info-dumping and to be honest, most of The Truth About Alice was full of info-dumps and telling, not showing. The Truth About Alice was written kind of like in the style of a diary without the “dear diary” headline. The main characters are basically telling you what had happened and what’s currently going on through their minds as they are retelling those events that had happened. You’re not watching the events unfold, they are just informing you about them. There was a little dialogue in The Truth About Alice compared to other contemporary books I’ve read, making it really hard for me to connect to the book (I connect to books with more dialogue than books with less dialogue), but I got used to The Truth About Alice‘s style as I read on.
“You want to sleep with me, don’t you?” Alice said, shutting her Algebra II textbook. You might even say she slammed it. “You think I’ll, like, do it with you in exchange for math help, don’t you?” (ARC 87)
One word to describe The Truth About Alice is real. Or raw. Either one works. I can picture any event in The Truth About Alice happening in real life – all the drama, the rumors, the bullying, the isolation, everything. Not one thing in The Truth About Alice was overly fake or exaggerated; everything just rings true. The Truth About Alice explores the world of high school really well (I just graduated from high school two years ago so you can trust me on this) and opens your eyes to the silly reasons why people who attend high school would do the things they do.
On the other hand, although I do like how raw and real The Truth About Alice was, in the end, I felt like I got nothing much out of the book. Yes, I got the message The Truth About Alice is sending out, but I just didn’t have a strong sense of the book. I finished reading The Truth About Alice about nineteen minutes ago from the time I’m writing this review and I’m already losing the impact the book had on me, if that makes any sense. The Truth About Alice just didn’t linger in my mind as books about this topic should had. The problem for me is that I felt that The Truth About Alice didn’t explore the topic of the rough side of high school thorough enough or in depth enough. I’m sure that The Truth About Alice will make a larger impact on other people, but to me, it sadly didn’t.
I really can’t handle talking about this for too long because it just hurts too much, but I do want to say that there is one thing I’ve learned about people: they don’t get that mean and nasty overnight. It’s not human nature.
If you give people enough time, eventually they’ll do the most heartbreaking stuff in the world. (ARC 193)
Overall, if you’re looking to read a book that’s real and raw and will show you the rough side of high school, then The Truth About Alice is the right book for you. However, if you’re looking for a book that looks deeper into the issue, then The Truth About Alice may just not be the book for you.
I recently read and reviewed an ARC of this book too. I really liked the story and the characters as well! For me, I get that the message isn’t that long lasting or powerful, but I think that hearing from the perspectives was the thing that made the book stick with me the longest. It showed how there are so many different versions of a rumor there can be, which I liked. But I agree, there are deeper young adult books out there with this topic.
Katherine recently posted…Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige Review
Yeah, I love how Jennifer Mathieu chose to write the book from different perspectives that’s not Alice’s perspective, with the exception of the last chapter, to show us how rumors start and why they start.
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: Embarrassing Things
I’ve been on the fence about reading this book, and I might not be in the mood for a BIG ISSUES book right now. I’m sorry to hear that this didn’t meet your expectations (hate when that happens!) It’s also not a good sign that the book didn’t make much of a lasting impact on you. That sort of defeats the purpose of this type of story!
Stephanie @ Inspiring Insomnia recently posted…Review: Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell
Even though you’re not in the mood for a big issue book right now, I think The Truth About Alice may fit your current mood since it didn’t have much of a lasting impact. It felt so undone if you know what I mean.
Maybe you’ll enjoy it more than I did though! (:
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: Embarrassing Things
I understand the feelings you have coming out of this book. I’ve read similar books that have great messages but didn’t probe so deeply into the issue that it lasted with me. I’ll probably pass on this read since I prefer dark contemporary reads that have the emotional impact. Great review, Kelly!
Kris @Imaginary Reads recently posted…International Giveaway: Book of Your Choice
This is the first book I’ve read that didn’t deal with a big issue so deeply, so yeah, I can’t help but be disappointed.
Thank you Kris! (:
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: Embarrassing Things
This review helped me decide on wether or not to buy the book, because it was as well one of my most anticipated books, or borrow it from the library since that is what I do with books I’m wary of. I really take your reviews into consideration when looking for new books to read. Thank you for this review.
I’m glad my review helped you Aneli! :D<3
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: Embarrassing Things
I have to agree with you about connecting with novels that have more dialogue and less info. I saw the cover of this novel probably two weeks ago, and I fell in love. I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Great review!
Meredith recently posted…The Murder Farm Review
I’m glad I’m not the only one like that – the less dialogue there is, the harder it is for me to connect with the book.
Yes, I fell in love with both the ARC cover of this book and the final cover too. It is GORGEOUS.
Thank you Meredith! :D<3
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: Embarrassing Things
I understand exactly what you’re feeling, I have read some books like this and it’s sad because if you can’t connect, it’s easier to forget the impact it had on you.
I was really excited about this one, but now I’m not sure.
It’s sadly not only that, it’s more like the book didn’t talk about much. I felt that in the end, the book didn’t go anywhere.
Some people really liked this one. Who knows, maybe you’ll like this one more than I did!
Kelly recently posted…Life Of A Blogger: Embarrassing Things
I can see what you mean about all the telling and info dumping. One of my biggest complaints was the stereotypical roles some of the characters had, so I can see the occasional eye rolling at some of the high school stuff. I think the message is a good ones though!
Ashley @The Quiet Concert recently posted…Thoughts for Thursday (24) – BEA 2014 Recap
I personally don’t think Jennifer Mathieu meant to be stereotypical – I think she was just trying to show us the truth using different points of views. I did eye roll at the parties and beer stuff though. :P
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: The School for Good and Evil – Soman Chainani
This book sounds really interesting! Great review!
Yep! If you ever read this one, I hope you’ll like it more than I did!
Thanks! (:
Kelly recently posted…Book Review: The School for Good and Evil – Soman Chainani
I’m so excited for this one too. I’ve yet to read it though. I guess there are a lot of books which tackle the same issue already? So it’s somehow hard to capture your attention to the core. But I’m so glad that it was real and raw. At least, it wasn’t entirely disappointing.
Nina recently posted…Release Day Book Review + Giveaway: Underworld’s Daughter (The Chrysomelia Stories # 2) by Molly Ringle
This book is on my most anticipated book releases for this month. Although I’ve seen some mixed reviews on this, I still want to read and see what I thought about it :D
Interesting review! Thank you!
EM @ Books and Iced Coffee recently posted…Coffee Shop Musings (16): Delirium Pilot Review
I actually love the idea of this novel a lot. It feels like a twist of Thirteen Reasons Why and I also enjoy the idea of hearing other people’s perspective of what’s happening. How I do wish that I would enjoy it in any case I do read it!
Jayvee @ Writer For Misfits recently posted…Book Review: Nihal of The Land of The Wind by Licia Troisi
This book gave me a tough time as far as deciding to read or not. The synopsis caught my interest, but even the blurb had me questioning if this book was going to satisfy. Not many books get to the real gritty, dark side of high school, so that does make me want to read this, but I think I’ll put it on the back burner. Thanks for the great review! :)
Zandalee recently posted…Release Day Blitz: Mosaic (Dragonfly #4) by Leigh T. Moore +Giveaway
Awesome review!