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A review by finesilkflower
Alice Alone by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3.0
Alice starts off enjoying high school - she joins the newspaper and drama crew, and hosts a party for her friends - but soon, it becomes clear that things are changing with her longterm boyfriend, Patrick. Enrolled in the accelerated program, he never seems to have time for her; and Alice, increasingly involved in activities, isn't available when he does reach out. Then her friends report that he has been flirting with another girl. Suddenly, they're broken up, and Alice doesn't know how to define herself when she's not half of "Alice and Patrick."
To get over her breakup, Alice tries to think about others, including hosting a disastrous Thanksgiving, and worrying about her dad's long-distance relationship. And Elizabeth reveals a personal secret. (See Random Observations for spoilery comments.)
Bottom Line Alice Alone upsets my theory that the Alice books are getting worse and worse by being better than its predecessor The Grooming of Alice. At its heart, it's a simple, emotionally true and realistic story of high school heartbreak (which is the worst kind, isn't it?) The end of Alice and Patrick's long relationship is given the burial it's due, including a painfully realistic build-up of sickening dread.
Random Observations
* This book has an interesting structure: about 25% buildup to the breakup, about 30% directly grieving and getting over the breakup, and a full 35% or so of random incidents afterward. By the time the book is over, it feels like enough time has passed that she is truly over it and well ensconced in her post-breakup life.
* The breakup itself comes in fits and starts; it's messy, and complicated, and totally realistic. Alice's emotions in the wake of it are so real and true. I totally feel for her, and was reminded of extremely specific feelings and thoughts that I've had in the wake of breakups of my own. Very well-done.
* This is a pivotal book for Melody Inn staff changes, if you care about that sort of thing. SpoilerJanice puts in for a transfer after finding out about Ben's engagement, and Marilyn convinces Ben to promote her to manager. Her first act is to extend Alice's Saturday Gift Shop hours to full-time. Alice jumps at the chance, wanting to occupy her time with something other than Patrick-related moping. I like this mini-plotline because I love work. There seems to be a small continuity error, though; Alice discusses displaying Beethoven undies and those old "Chopin Liszt" notepads. I thought these were Loretta's choices of sale goods and that Marilyn had already overhauled it to more classy stuff.
* On the subject of small continuity errors (possibly): to stop Alice from demonizing the "other woman," Alice's father tells the story of how he wooed Alice's mother, Marie, away from her fiancé at the time, Charlie Snow. In Alice in Lace, Aunt Sally says she thought Charlie Snow "was on the verge of proposing" before Marie met Ben. It's certainly possible that Aunt Sally didn't know everything that was going on in her sister's life, but an engagement is something you'd think the family would know about. Still, the stories are very similar in the essentials, including the crucial importance of Ben's wonderful love letters.
* This book contains one of the all-time wackiest of wacky Alice hijinks, hearkening back to the tone of, say, [b:Alice in April|563501|Alice in April (Alice, #5)|Phyllis Reynolds Naylor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175819188s/563501.jpg|550636]. SpoilerIn an effort to get her thoughts off herself by focusing on others, Alice searches for underprivileged people to invite to her family's Thanksgiving, and ends up inviting three women trying to readjust to society after getting out of prison. She tries to hide where she found these "refugees" and to cook an enormous turkey. Antics ensue. I actually found a fair amount of this genuinely funny, especially Alice's bluffs and double-bluffs as she tries desperately to keep this bizarre social situation afloat.
Alice writes up the incident as her first major article for the school paper, but leaves out the bit about the female offenders. What? That was the best, and only interesting part of the story! What's left? Just turkey antics? Why did kids like that?
* Elizabeth's deep lifelong secret, or, more accurately, Elizabeth's hugely irritating character retcon: SpoilerSafe the intimacy of a girls-only sleepover, Elizabeth reveals she was molested as a child by a family friend (now conveniently dead). I'm positive this was not planned from the beginning because Elizabeth's conservatism and prudishness were played for laughs in the first several books, and I don't think the author would have made so much fun of her with the backstory in mind. Back then, Elizabeth's personality didn't need any explanation, and I still insist that it doesn't. Also, a few times earlier in this book, Alice claims to have long believed that Elizabeth seems to have secret depths and that she's always felt she doesn't really know her fully, yet this feeling has never come up in any of the previous books. I think in every other book, Alice felt pretty sure she knew everything she needed to know about Elizabeth.
I also feel like this character choice perpetuates this common misconception that uptight attitudes about sex MUST be a result of childhood sexual abuse. Anyway it is my understanding that someone who's reacting to childhood molestation is more likely to grow up sexually precocious, not anti-sex. It's not that I don't think someone with the conservative yay-virginity attitude CAN'T have been molested, I'm just saying it would have made more sense coming from Pamela.
Overall, this storyline comes off as a cheap way to bring in more Important Issues at the expense of character cohesiveness.
Quotes & Nitpicks
* "While the cake was baking, I did a quick cleanup of the house. I dusted the tops of all the furniture, ran an electric broom over the rug, made the beds, and wiped out the sinks—sort of like counting to one hundred by fives, skipping all the numbers in between." this passage has always haunted me because this would be considered a major deep clean in my house. WHAT AM I SKIPPING
* Whenever a nail polish color is mentioned in this series, it's always dusky rose or rusty rose.
To get over her breakup, Alice tries to think about others, including hosting a disastrous Thanksgiving, and worrying about her dad's long-distance relationship. And Elizabeth reveals a personal secret. (See Random Observations for spoilery comments.)
Bottom Line Alice Alone upsets my theory that the Alice books are getting worse and worse by being better than its predecessor The Grooming of Alice. At its heart, it's a simple, emotionally true and realistic story of high school heartbreak (which is the worst kind, isn't it?) The end of Alice and Patrick's long relationship is given the burial it's due, including a painfully realistic build-up of sickening dread.
Random Observations
* This book has an interesting structure: about 25% buildup to the breakup, about 30% directly grieving and getting over the breakup, and a full 35% or so of random incidents afterward. By the time the book is over, it feels like enough time has passed that she is truly over it and well ensconced in her post-breakup life.
* The breakup itself comes in fits and starts; it's messy, and complicated, and totally realistic. Alice's emotions in the wake of it are so real and true. I totally feel for her, and was reminded of extremely specific feelings and thoughts that I've had in the wake of breakups of my own. Very well-done.
* This is a pivotal book for Melody Inn staff changes, if you care about that sort of thing. SpoilerJanice puts in for a transfer after finding out about Ben's engagement, and Marilyn convinces Ben to promote her to manager. Her first act is to extend Alice's Saturday Gift Shop hours to full-time. Alice jumps at the chance, wanting to occupy her time with something other than Patrick-related moping. I like this mini-plotline because I love work. There seems to be a small continuity error, though; Alice discusses displaying Beethoven undies and those old "Chopin Liszt" notepads. I thought these were Loretta's choices of sale goods and that Marilyn had already overhauled it to more classy stuff.
* On the subject of small continuity errors (possibly): to stop Alice from demonizing the "other woman," Alice's father tells the story of how he wooed Alice's mother, Marie, away from her fiancé at the time, Charlie Snow. In Alice in Lace, Aunt Sally says she thought Charlie Snow "was on the verge of proposing" before Marie met Ben. It's certainly possible that Aunt Sally didn't know everything that was going on in her sister's life, but an engagement is something you'd think the family would know about. Still, the stories are very similar in the essentials, including the crucial importance of Ben's wonderful love letters.
* This book contains one of the all-time wackiest of wacky Alice hijinks, hearkening back to the tone of, say, [b:Alice in April|563501|Alice in April (Alice, #5)|Phyllis Reynolds Naylor|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175819188s/563501.jpg|550636]. SpoilerIn an effort to get her thoughts off herself by focusing on others, Alice searches for underprivileged people to invite to her family's Thanksgiving, and ends up inviting three women trying to readjust to society after getting out of prison. She tries to hide where she found these "refugees" and to cook an enormous turkey. Antics ensue. I actually found a fair amount of this genuinely funny, especially Alice's bluffs and double-bluffs as she tries desperately to keep this bizarre social situation afloat.
Alice writes up the incident as her first major article for the school paper, but leaves out the bit about the female offenders. What? That was the best, and only interesting part of the story! What's left? Just turkey antics? Why did kids like that?
* Elizabeth's deep lifelong secret, or, more accurately, Elizabeth's hugely irritating character retcon: SpoilerSafe the intimacy of a girls-only sleepover, Elizabeth reveals she was molested as a child by a family friend (now conveniently dead). I'm positive this was not planned from the beginning because Elizabeth's conservatism and prudishness were played for laughs in the first several books, and I don't think the author would have made so much fun of her with the backstory in mind. Back then, Elizabeth's personality didn't need any explanation, and I still insist that it doesn't. Also, a few times earlier in this book, Alice claims to have long believed that Elizabeth seems to have secret depths and that she's always felt she doesn't really know her fully, yet this feeling has never come up in any of the previous books. I think in every other book, Alice felt pretty sure she knew everything she needed to know about Elizabeth.
I also feel like this character choice perpetuates this common misconception that uptight attitudes about sex MUST be a result of childhood sexual abuse. Anyway it is my understanding that someone who's reacting to childhood molestation is more likely to grow up sexually precocious, not anti-sex. It's not that I don't think someone with the conservative yay-virginity attitude CAN'T have been molested, I'm just saying it would have made more sense coming from Pamela.
Overall, this storyline comes off as a cheap way to bring in more Important Issues at the expense of character cohesiveness.
Quotes & Nitpicks
* "While the cake was baking, I did a quick cleanup of the house. I dusted the tops of all the furniture, ran an electric broom over the rug, made the beds, and wiped out the sinks—sort of like counting to one hundred by fives, skipping all the numbers in between." this passage has always haunted me because this would be considered a major deep clean in my house. WHAT AM I SKIPPING
* Whenever a nail polish color is mentioned in this series, it's always dusky rose or rusty rose.
* Black characters described as food alert: Alice tries to soften this book obligatory food-related description of Gwen by also describing herself as food and by attributing the sentiment to another black character, Gwen's boyfriend Legs, claiming that he says Alice and Gwen remind him of chocolate and pink candy. First off, no, and also, okay, but it seems like you know this is weird, maybe don't do it anymore?
* Alice begins to take pleasure in the free time and emotional energy she has now that she's single, calling this period of her life her "Alice Time." Was this a previous working title of the book, perhaps?