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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reading this feels like listening to a story where the wrong people keep holding the mic
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Abortion, Toxic friendship
It's told from the perspective of people Alice knows and goes to school with which i found very interesting.
Conceptually interesting because of its multiple narrators, all sharing how the titular character's reputation got destroyed. Unfortunately, the characters are highly stereotypical, and some plot lines are more captivating than others.
Jennifer Mathieu set really high hopes for me after Moxie, which made The Truth About Alice even more disappointing. The ending especially ruined it for me. None of the characters suffer actual consequences for what they did, they just feel either really bad about themselves because they are bad people (Kelsie and Josh) or feel great about themselves for being nice to the bullied girl after being the one bullying her (Elaine). The debt about how much Alice could have been impacted is just unexplored and even in the end she is reduced to being someone's love interest, in a book about her.
Sure, the story explores the subject of slut-shaming, which is not nearly talked about enough, but it's one of the only things I liked about The Truth About Alice.
Sure, the story explores the subject of slut-shaming, which is not nearly talked about enough, but it's one of the only things I liked about The Truth About Alice.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Creatively written. You feel for Alice, and you are glad you survived High School.
Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via Netgalley for the free review copy in exchange for my honest review.
I read this book ages ago, and I feel like I should apologize for not writing a review sooner. Not sure what happened, why I got sidetracked, but whatever the reason, this book has stuck with me since the day I started it.
This is one book that every teenager should read. It shows just how easy it is for the rumour mill to spin out of control.
I loved how the author had four points of view throughout the whole book until the very end, when Alice gets her say. It made the book that much more interesting and memorable. Whether directly or indirectly, each of the four narrators plays a part in perpetuating the rumour involving Alice having sex with two boys in the same night and the subsequent rumour of how she caused the death of Brandon, King of the Town. All four characters seemed realistic and true to me, but Kelsey was the one who surprised me the most. She was written amazingly well, and she brought out such intense feelings of disappointment and sadness in me. I think a lot of people will hate her when they read this book, but I honestly just felt sorry for her - sorry for how her friendship with Alice was breaking down even before the rumours, sorry for what happened to Kelsey herself, and sorry for what she does to Alice to maintain her popularity. It's just a miserable situation all around.
I found myself really relating to Kurt. He reminds me of my son! I only hope that someday my son will feel as comfortable with himself as Kurt is portrayed to be. That's not to say Kurt is always confident, because he's definitely not when it comes to Alice. I just admire how he knows he's different but he's totally okay with that, and if people don't want to hang out with him or include him at all, he's okay with that too because he'd rather be doing his own thing anyway. You rock, Kurt!
And as for Alice? Where do I even begin? It's so cool how she's a main character, but we only get to know her through others' eyes until the very end. Anyway, I just wanted to give her a big hug and adopt her - she's something else!
So yeah, go read this book, especially if you don't mind shedding a tear or two - I'm pretty sure you'll love it as much as I did!
I read this book ages ago, and I feel like I should apologize for not writing a review sooner. Not sure what happened, why I got sidetracked, but whatever the reason, this book has stuck with me since the day I started it.
This is one book that every teenager should read. It shows just how easy it is for the rumour mill to spin out of control.
I loved how the author had four points of view throughout the whole book until the very end, when Alice gets her say. It made the book that much more interesting and memorable. Whether directly or indirectly, each of the four narrators plays a part in perpetuating the rumour involving Alice having sex with two boys in the same night and the subsequent rumour of how she caused the death of Brandon, King of the Town. All four characters seemed realistic and true to me, but Kelsey was the one who surprised me the most. She was written amazingly well, and she brought out such intense feelings of disappointment and sadness in me. I think a lot of people will hate her when they read this book, but I honestly just felt sorry for her - sorry for how her friendship with Alice was breaking down even before the rumours, sorry for what happened to Kelsey herself, and sorry for what she does to Alice to maintain her popularity. It's just a miserable situation all around.
I found myself really relating to Kurt. He reminds me of my son! I only hope that someday my son will feel as comfortable with himself as Kurt is portrayed to be. That's not to say Kurt is always confident, because he's definitely not when it comes to Alice. I just admire how he knows he's different but he's totally okay with that, and if people don't want to hang out with him or include him at all, he's okay with that too because he'd rather be doing his own thing anyway. You rock, Kurt!
And as for Alice? Where do I even begin? It's so cool how she's a main character, but we only get to know her through others' eyes until the very end. Anyway, I just wanted to give her a big hug and adopt her - she's something else!
So yeah, go read this book, especially if you don't mind shedding a tear or two - I'm pretty sure you'll love it as much as I did!
“There are some things, like your eighth grade boyfriend kissing some other girl at a middle school dance, that are easy to forgive.And there are some things that are just unforgivable.”I’ve heard a lot about THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE but I’m not sure if I ever clicked on it on Goodreads or anything. It also always seems to be on those “Top YA Books You Should Read Before You Die” lists and I am huge sucker for those. So when I saw it at the library I thought, why not?
At first I wasn’t too happy with THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE because it relied on stereotypes. However, I soon I realized how ingenious this was. Although each character, each POV, technically fits a cliche, we get to know each of them and are shown the reasoning behind their thoughts. They think like real people, just like any of us. I think that’s where the beauty of the story lies: they are so stereotypical because they are supposed to be.
True to life, this book depicts how one person’s actions can spark a fire greater than they ever imagined, creating lies you can’t come back from and showing how just one person can influence many. It depicts how something so little, a small rumor, even, can easily spiral out of control and ruin lives.
THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE represents reality and how we aren’t all perfect angels. It addresses topics that are sometimes considered taboo in YA but need to be talked about because they are part of everyday life. Is a very interesting read that I would probably recommend to anyone but I’m not sure how memorable this one will be and although the stereotypical characters have purpose, they are still little bit of a negative for me.
You can find more of my reviews on Readers in Wonderland!
Je n’ai pas du tout aimé le style d’écriture. Très immature à mes yeux pour des lycéens de 16-17 ans. Mais c’était simple à lire - je l’ai lu d’une traite, en deux heures.
Le bouquin aborde des sujets importants : le harcèlement scolaire, les rumeurs, les relations sexuelles à l’adolescence, la première fois, l’avortement… Mais peut-être de façon pas assez crédible à mes yeux ? Un côté « teen show » à l’américaine, quoi. J’ignore dans quelles mesures ça se passe « comme ça » parfois. Concernée par le sujet du harcèlement scolaire, ça ne s’est pas passé « comme ça » pour moi.
Quoiqu’il en soit, le message est bon et important - et je pense que je l’aurais vraiment beaucoup aimé si je l’avais lu quand j’étais plus jeune plutôt qu’aujourd’hui.
2,5/5
Le bouquin aborde des sujets importants : le harcèlement scolaire, les rumeurs, les relations sexuelles à l’adolescence, la première fois, l’avortement… Mais peut-être de façon pas assez crédible à mes yeux ? Un côté « teen show » à l’américaine, quoi. J’ignore dans quelles mesures ça se passe « comme ça » parfois. Concernée par le sujet du harcèlement scolaire, ça ne s’est pas passé « comme ça » pour moi.
Quoiqu’il en soit, le message est bon et important - et je pense que je l’aurais vraiment beaucoup aimé si je l’avais lu quand j’étais plus jeune plutôt qu’aujourd’hui.
2,5/5
I haven't had the best luck with contemporary novels this year. There were some that were good, such as [b:52 Reasons to Hate My Father|9791906|52 Reasons to Hate My Father|Jessica Brody|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344448228s/9791906.jpg|14681991] but there was a lot more good than bad ([b:How to Love|17332564|How to Love|Katie Cotugno|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366904609s/17332564.jpg|24037773] and [b:What I Thought Was True|22521559|What I Thought Was True|Huntley Fitzpatrick|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403189808s/22521559.jpg|21569082] were particularly memorable) so far for me. With The Truth About Alice though, my faith has been renewed. This novel is a pretty short read, coming in at just under 200 pages but it explores many complex issues: about body image, about slut-shaming, about grief and handles its themes very well. I'm honestly impressed by Jennifer Mathieu's debut effort and there were definitely times where I wished the book was longer!
Alice Franklin is known to be a slut. Everyone in her community knows about the rumours when she slept with two different guys in the span of an hour. And there's also the vicious rumour that she was texting golden boy Brandon Fitzsimmons, the high school quarterback, when he got into a car accident that cost his life. As a result of the accident, she's shunned by her peers and everyone, from the popular girl to her ex-best friend, from the best friend of Brandon to the boy who's always been too shy to speak to her, has an opinion about who Alice Franklin really is.
And at the end, what really matters is Alice's perspective. What does she think about herself and about everything else that has happened?
It's rare where there are so many different perspectives that are crammed in one book but Mathieu manages to make it really work. All the voices are very distinct from each other and even without looking at the header of the chapter to figure out who was speaking, I could usually tell from the word choice and their tone. And surprisingly, I actually found myself sympathetic to all the characters because of their histories and the demons that they've had to deal with.
There's Elaine, the most popular girl at school with the power to either strike someone down or to bring someone to her level of popularity. Elaine's always been pretty and she was on-and-off with Brandon for the longest time. But she's also had to deal with her own body image issues, with a mother that's obsessed with Weight Watchers and with the amount of calories that's in every piece of food. When rumours about Alice are circulating, she tends to believe them. After all, that's the same girl who kissed Brandon way back at their eighth grade dance when she and Brandon arrived together, as a couple.
There's Kelsie, Alice's ex-best friend. The girl who's desperate to be accepted and to have friends, after moving into Alice's town. Kelsie's not as experienced as Alice when it comes to boys, having never been able to figure out how to speak to them. And when Alice insinuates that Kelsie's way more innocent than she has ever been, Kelsie takes things into her own hands to tragic consequences. So when rumours about Alice are spreading, she drops her best friend and leaves everything about their friendship behind her. Except she can't out-run the past. Sooner or later, she has to live with what she's done.
There's Josh, the best friend of Brandon and a member of the high school football team as well. He was there when Brandon got into the accident and in fact, he was the one who inadvertently started the rumours about Alice texting Brandon and causing the accident. When the rumours about Alice runs wild, he finally recalls everything about the accident and has to live with the fact that his best friend is no longer around.
There's also Kurt, the highly intelligent boy who lives next door to Brandon and who's always nursed a secret crush on Alice. He's never participated in their high school drama but when the rumours about Alice starts, Kurt feels bad for this girl who's never been anything but kind to him and decides to help her out. It's not just because she's hot that he's doing it though. It's also because she's a good person.
And finally, we have Alice Franklin. The girl who's the center of all that attention and hostility, of being blamed for an accident that she has no way of controlling. Frankly speaking, I did find her perspective to be a bit of a letdown after reading all the others, with it coming across as a little flat.
Overall, The Truth About Alice is an amazing read! Do check it out if you've got the chance!
Alice Franklin is known to be a slut. Everyone in her community knows about the rumours when she slept with two different guys in the span of an hour. And there's also the vicious rumour that she was texting golden boy Brandon Fitzsimmons, the high school quarterback, when he got into a car accident that cost his life. As a result of the accident, she's shunned by her peers and everyone, from the popular girl to her ex-best friend, from the best friend of Brandon to the boy who's always been too shy to speak to her, has an opinion about who Alice Franklin really is.
And at the end, what really matters is Alice's perspective. What does she think about herself and about everything else that has happened?
It's rare where there are so many different perspectives that are crammed in one book but Mathieu manages to make it really work. All the voices are very distinct from each other and even without looking at the header of the chapter to figure out who was speaking, I could usually tell from the word choice and their tone. And surprisingly, I actually found myself sympathetic to all the characters because of their histories and the demons that they've had to deal with.
There's Elaine, the most popular girl at school with the power to either strike someone down or to bring someone to her level of popularity. Elaine's always been pretty and she was on-and-off with Brandon for the longest time. But she's also had to deal with her own body image issues, with a mother that's obsessed with Weight Watchers and with the amount of calories that's in every piece of food. When rumours about Alice are circulating, she tends to believe them. After all, that's the same girl who kissed Brandon way back at their eighth grade dance when she and Brandon arrived together, as a couple.
There's Kelsie, Alice's ex-best friend. The girl who's desperate to be accepted and to have friends, after moving into Alice's town. Kelsie's not as experienced as Alice when it comes to boys, having never been able to figure out how to speak to them. And when Alice insinuates that Kelsie's way more innocent than she has ever been, Kelsie takes things into her own hands to tragic consequences. So when rumours about Alice are spreading, she drops her best friend and leaves everything about their friendship behind her. Except she can't out-run the past. Sooner or later, she has to live with what she's done.
There's Josh, the best friend of Brandon and a member of the high school football team as well. He was there when Brandon got into the accident and in fact, he was the one who inadvertently started the rumours about Alice texting Brandon and causing the accident. When the rumours about Alice runs wild, he finally recalls everything about the accident and has to live with the fact that his best friend is no longer around.
There's also Kurt, the highly intelligent boy who lives next door to Brandon and who's always nursed a secret crush on Alice. He's never participated in their high school drama but when the rumours about Alice starts, Kurt feels bad for this girl who's never been anything but kind to him and decides to help her out. It's not just because she's hot that he's doing it though. It's also because she's a good person.
And finally, we have Alice Franklin. The girl who's the center of all that attention and hostility, of being blamed for an accident that she has no way of controlling. Frankly speaking, I did find her perspective to be a bit of a letdown after reading all the others, with it coming across as a little flat.
Overall, The Truth About Alice is an amazing read! Do check it out if you've got the chance!