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A review by rallythereaders
The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu
4.0
Also posted on Rally the Readers.
* I received an ARC via NetGalley.
I normally don’t go for potentially drama-heavy books like this one, but I happened to be in the mood to read something different, and I’m glad that I picked up The Truth About Alice. There’s really not a whole lot that’s extraordinary about the plot itself; you have a teenage girl who’s not only been labeled as a slut by just about everyone in school but who’s also blamed by most of her small town for the death of its high school football star. High school football is one of the few sources of entertainment in a place like Healy, making the loss of Brandon Fitzsimmons even more devastating. Wild rumors dog Alice Franklin wherever she goes, and she’s a pariah at school. These aren’t exactly elements that I usually seek out in a book, but they totally work here. Credit Jennifer Mathieu with writing a very well paced novel that I found difficult to put down.
I’ve blathered on before in other reviews of contemporary novels about how my attention needs to be grabbed quickly. That was not a problem here; the prose was engaging from the get-go. The book could have easily become bogged down in trite melodrama, but the sharp writing prevents that. You know from the beginning that you don’t have a full picture of Alice’s character, only a sketch that’s based on what everyone else says about her, most of which is far from flattering. The promise of finding out who Alice really was and what actually happened the night Brandon died were what kept me turning the pages eagerly.
The book is narrated from the alternating POVs of a handful of Alice’s classmates, and whatever you learn about her is through their eyes. It’s a technique that works extremely well as you’re left to absorb all of the details and then form your own opinion of Alice. Each chapter isn’t just about Alice, though; Elaine, Kelsie, Josh, and Kurt are all given a good deal of depth. Even when I was angered by the way some of the characters, like Elaine and Kelsie, treated Alice, I was as invested in their individual stories as I was in Alice’s. Mathieu does an excellent job tying her characters’ lives together and utilizing multiple POVs to great effect.
Sometimes a book just clicks with you, even when there’s a familiar ring to some elements of the plot. The top-notch storytelling in The Truth About Alice sets it apart, though, making is a very worthwhile read.
Merged review:
Also posted on Rally the Readers.
* I received an ARC via NetGalley.
I normally don’t go for potentially drama-heavy books like this one, but I happened to be in the mood to read something different, and I’m glad that I picked up The Truth About Alice. There’s really not a whole lot that’s extraordinary about the plot itself; you have a teenage girl who’s not only been labeled as a slut by just about everyone in school but who’s also blamed by most of her small town for the death of its high school football star. High school football is one of the few sources of entertainment in a place like Healy, making the loss of Brandon Fitzsimmons even more devastating. Wild rumors dog Alice Franklin wherever she goes, and she’s a pariah at school. These aren’t exactly elements that I usually seek out in a book, but they totally work here. Credit Jennifer Mathieu with writing a very well paced novel that I found difficult to put down.
I’ve blathered on before in other reviews of contemporary novels about how my attention needs to be grabbed quickly. That was not a problem here; the prose was engaging from the get-go. The book could have easily become bogged down in trite melodrama, but the sharp writing prevents that. You know from the beginning that you don’t have a full picture of Alice’s character, only a sketch that’s based on what everyone else says about her, most of which is far from flattering. The promise of finding out who Alice really was and what actually happened the night Brandon died were what kept me turning the pages eagerly.
The book is narrated from the alternating POVs of a handful of Alice’s classmates, and whatever you learn about her is through their eyes. It’s a technique that works extremely well as you’re left to absorb all of the details and then form your own opinion of Alice. Each chapter isn’t just about Alice, though; Elaine, Kelsie, Josh, and Kurt are all given a good deal of depth. Even when I was angered by the way some of the characters, like Elaine and Kelsie, treated Alice, I was as invested in their individual stories as I was in Alice’s. Mathieu does an excellent job tying her characters’ lives together and utilizing multiple POVs to great effect.
Sometimes a book just clicks with you, even when there’s a familiar ring to some elements of the plot. The top-notch storytelling in The Truth About Alice sets it apart, though, making is a very worthwhile read.
* I received an ARC via NetGalley.
I normally don’t go for potentially drama-heavy books like this one, but I happened to be in the mood to read something different, and I’m glad that I picked up The Truth About Alice. There’s really not a whole lot that’s extraordinary about the plot itself; you have a teenage girl who’s not only been labeled as a slut by just about everyone in school but who’s also blamed by most of her small town for the death of its high school football star. High school football is one of the few sources of entertainment in a place like Healy, making the loss of Brandon Fitzsimmons even more devastating. Wild rumors dog Alice Franklin wherever she goes, and she’s a pariah at school. These aren’t exactly elements that I usually seek out in a book, but they totally work here. Credit Jennifer Mathieu with writing a very well paced novel that I found difficult to put down.
I’ve blathered on before in other reviews of contemporary novels about how my attention needs to be grabbed quickly. That was not a problem here; the prose was engaging from the get-go. The book could have easily become bogged down in trite melodrama, but the sharp writing prevents that. You know from the beginning that you don’t have a full picture of Alice’s character, only a sketch that’s based on what everyone else says about her, most of which is far from flattering. The promise of finding out who Alice really was and what actually happened the night Brandon died were what kept me turning the pages eagerly.
The book is narrated from the alternating POVs of a handful of Alice’s classmates, and whatever you learn about her is through their eyes. It’s a technique that works extremely well as you’re left to absorb all of the details and then form your own opinion of Alice. Each chapter isn’t just about Alice, though; Elaine, Kelsie, Josh, and Kurt are all given a good deal of depth. Even when I was angered by the way some of the characters, like Elaine and Kelsie, treated Alice, I was as invested in their individual stories as I was in Alice’s. Mathieu does an excellent job tying her characters’ lives together and utilizing multiple POVs to great effect.
Sometimes a book just clicks with you, even when there’s a familiar ring to some elements of the plot. The top-notch storytelling in The Truth About Alice sets it apart, though, making is a very worthwhile read.
Merged review:
Also posted on Rally the Readers.
* I received an ARC via NetGalley.
I normally don’t go for potentially drama-heavy books like this one, but I happened to be in the mood to read something different, and I’m glad that I picked up The Truth About Alice. There’s really not a whole lot that’s extraordinary about the plot itself; you have a teenage girl who’s not only been labeled as a slut by just about everyone in school but who’s also blamed by most of her small town for the death of its high school football star. High school football is one of the few sources of entertainment in a place like Healy, making the loss of Brandon Fitzsimmons even more devastating. Wild rumors dog Alice Franklin wherever she goes, and she’s a pariah at school. These aren’t exactly elements that I usually seek out in a book, but they totally work here. Credit Jennifer Mathieu with writing a very well paced novel that I found difficult to put down.
I’ve blathered on before in other reviews of contemporary novels about how my attention needs to be grabbed quickly. That was not a problem here; the prose was engaging from the get-go. The book could have easily become bogged down in trite melodrama, but the sharp writing prevents that. You know from the beginning that you don’t have a full picture of Alice’s character, only a sketch that’s based on what everyone else says about her, most of which is far from flattering. The promise of finding out who Alice really was and what actually happened the night Brandon died were what kept me turning the pages eagerly.
The book is narrated from the alternating POVs of a handful of Alice’s classmates, and whatever you learn about her is through their eyes. It’s a technique that works extremely well as you’re left to absorb all of the details and then form your own opinion of Alice. Each chapter isn’t just about Alice, though; Elaine, Kelsie, Josh, and Kurt are all given a good deal of depth. Even when I was angered by the way some of the characters, like Elaine and Kelsie, treated Alice, I was as invested in their individual stories as I was in Alice’s. Mathieu does an excellent job tying her characters’ lives together and utilizing multiple POVs to great effect.
Sometimes a book just clicks with you, even when there’s a familiar ring to some elements of the plot. The top-notch storytelling in The Truth About Alice sets it apart, though, making is a very worthwhile read.