brynners89's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
pollyroth's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
The message behind this book is so important, but I think the execution falls flat. Characters are reduced to stereotypes, and the ending is just inconsequential, really. However, [book:The Truth About Alice|16068341] carries a powerful theme and does an excellent job getting its point across.
The message behind this book is so important, but I think the execution falls flat. Characters are reduced to stereotypes, and the ending is just inconsequential, really. However, [book:The Truth About Alice|16068341] carries a powerful theme and does an excellent job getting its point across.
erinlynn1989's review against another edition
5.0
I originally reviewed this book for Amanda's blog, Of Spectacles and Books. I'd like to thank Amanda for the book and for letting me review this for her blog! Please check out the review on her blog and leave a comment!
Why I Chose This Book
During the summer of 2014, I saw a lot of hype about The Truth About Alice. I was intrigued but also a little nervous to give such a buzzed about book a chance so soon after its release. I knew I was eventually going to read it, but I put it on the back burner because the bullying subject matter hit pretty close to home for me, as I was also bullied in high school. Then, not too long ago, I started to see people getting excited for Jennifer's upcoming book, Devoted. I knew right then and there that I had to read The Truth About Alice, even though the two books are completely different and unrelated. I just had to figure out why everyone fell in love with this book and Jennifer Mathieu.
My Review
For a book that's just under two hundred pages, Jennifer Mathieu's The Truth About Alice packs a punch and delivers the pain right to the guts. This book is one will wow readers so much that they'll want to savor it and make it last just a little longer. I did the latter, and decided to savor it, and it paid off. The novel is both heartbreaking and healing, though much of the book deals with heartbreaking issues, such as sex, drinking, and religion are brought up in the book, so it has a little something for everyone. Matthieu tackles these issues with grace and writes about them beautifully with such a vast array of emotions.
The novel is told from four different perspectives, and each character has his or her own opinion about the infamous Alice Franklin. Rumors are swirling around the small town of Healy, Texas, and teenage residents, Elaine, Kelsie, Josh, and Kurt all have something to say about Alive and what allegedly happened at Elaine's party and the weeks that followed.
The multiple narrator aspect allows for a multi-faceted story that perturbs and engages readers as they turn every page. I really liked that this novel was told from the different points of view. As the book progresses, readers are able to put the puzzle pieces together to figure out the truth until Alice finally comes out to tell her side of the story. Each character had his or her own voice, and this springboards Matheiu amongst some of the best contemporary YA authors. I was never confused about who was narrating each chapters, and I loved each character's unique voice.
I did feel like the four narrators represented the typical high school stereotypes and were clichés but the inclusion of that feature made the book more realistic and believable. No matter where you go to school, there are popular girls, jocks, nerds, and quite possibly, back-stabbing friends. I really enjoyed reading and learning about these characters they all conform to their respective stereotype in certain ways, but they are still able to break the mold and surprise readers by doing unexpected things at unexpected times.
Final Thoughts
Every teenager (and fan of young adult books) should and must read The Truth About Alice. Even with it's more mature content, it's such a powerful and emotionally slaying read because it realistically shows just how vicious teenagers can really be. On the other hand, it seems like all hope is lost. I would recommend this book for fans of gut-wrenching books and movies like The Breakfast Club and Mean Girls. If you're looking for something realistic and suspenseful, read this book.
Why I Chose This Book
During the summer of 2014, I saw a lot of hype about The Truth About Alice. I was intrigued but also a little nervous to give such a buzzed about book a chance so soon after its release. I knew I was eventually going to read it, but I put it on the back burner because the bullying subject matter hit pretty close to home for me, as I was also bullied in high school. Then, not too long ago, I started to see people getting excited for Jennifer's upcoming book, Devoted. I knew right then and there that I had to read The Truth About Alice, even though the two books are completely different and unrelated. I just had to figure out why everyone fell in love with this book and Jennifer Mathieu.
My Review
For a book that's just under two hundred pages, Jennifer Mathieu's The Truth About Alice packs a punch and delivers the pain right to the guts. This book is one will wow readers so much that they'll want to savor it and make it last just a little longer. I did the latter, and decided to savor it, and it paid off. The novel is both heartbreaking and healing, though much of the book deals with heartbreaking issues, such as sex, drinking, and religion are brought up in the book, so it has a little something for everyone. Matthieu tackles these issues with grace and writes about them beautifully with such a vast array of emotions.
The novel is told from four different perspectives, and each character has his or her own opinion about the infamous Alice Franklin. Rumors are swirling around the small town of Healy, Texas, and teenage residents, Elaine, Kelsie, Josh, and Kurt all have something to say about Alive and what allegedly happened at Elaine's party and the weeks that followed.
The multiple narrator aspect allows for a multi-faceted story that perturbs and engages readers as they turn every page. I really liked that this novel was told from the different points of view. As the book progresses, readers are able to put the puzzle pieces together to figure out the truth until Alice finally comes out to tell her side of the story. Each character had his or her own voice, and this springboards Matheiu amongst some of the best contemporary YA authors. I was never confused about who was narrating each chapters, and I loved each character's unique voice.
I did feel like the four narrators represented the typical high school stereotypes and were clichés but the inclusion of that feature made the book more realistic and believable. No matter where you go to school, there are popular girls, jocks, nerds, and quite possibly, back-stabbing friends. I really enjoyed reading and learning about these characters they all conform to their respective stereotype in certain ways, but they are still able to break the mold and surprise readers by doing unexpected things at unexpected times.
Final Thoughts
Every teenager (and fan of young adult books) should and must read The Truth About Alice. Even with it's more mature content, it's such a powerful and emotionally slaying read because it realistically shows just how vicious teenagers can really be. On the other hand, it seems like all hope is lost. I would recommend this book for fans of gut-wrenching books and movies like The Breakfast Club and Mean Girls. If you're looking for something realistic and suspenseful, read this book.
xina's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kba76's review against another edition
4.0
This was a strange novel in some ways.
It deals with a really relevant topic, but I felt it was rather lightweight.
Told from a range of views we can see just how important reputations and rumours are in this environment.
Alice has some integrity, but none of the characters come out of this particularly well.
Things were resolved well by the end.
Second time I read this (2018) I feel the topic holds more resonance. I still feel it’s quite a quick read and that some areas could have been developed further, but the story itself and the issues it explores are very relevant.
It’s a sad truth that we still have such double standards. The use of the various narrators is clever, and it allows us to gain understanding of the event/ideas.
My overwhelming feelings having read this a second time are sadness and anger. When will people learn?
Thank you NetGalley for reissuing this.
It deals with a really relevant topic, but I felt it was rather lightweight.
Told from a range of views we can see just how important reputations and rumours are in this environment.
Alice has some integrity, but none of the characters come out of this particularly well.
Things were resolved well by the end.
Second time I read this (2018) I feel the topic holds more resonance. I still feel it’s quite a quick read and that some areas could have been developed further, but the story itself and the issues it explores are very relevant.
It’s a sad truth that we still have such double standards. The use of the various narrators is clever, and it allows us to gain understanding of the event/ideas.
My overwhelming feelings having read this a second time are sadness and anger. When will people learn?
Thank you NetGalley for reissuing this.
rcaivano's review against another edition
Really good book told in different POVs. Everyone is talking about Alice and what a slut she is, and how she caused a deadly accident. No one is friends with her anymore, and she completely isolated. But as everyone recounts their stories, the truth comes out.
koala_reader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
3.0
Let me start of this review by saying that this book was zero percent plot and one hundred percent character based. If you asked me what happened in this book I would barely be able to tell you anything since literally nothing happened. So if you're looking through the reviews for this book right now wondering if this is a good book for someone that likes a lot of plot, let me tell you right now, it isn't. That being said, I didn't dislike the fact that it was purely character based. In fact I think it gave me the option of really getting to know the characters and understand them more.
The characters in this book were simply detestable though which I think also made the book so much more interesting. Because we aren't reading from the perspective of perfectly nice teenagers. No, these are selfish, hypocritical and awful kids that care about nothing other than themselves and would to anything reach their goals, no matter how many people that hurts in the process. Which I think really reflects how we all are as humans. Whilst most would never admit it, we're all selfish one way or another, obviously some way more than others but everyone is to some degree. So I honestly just thought that the characters were so much more human for acting the way they did even though what they did was a pretty extreme example of what most people would do. I mean honestly the things these characters did were so far from ok. One of them spread rumors and held a grudge from eighth grade. Another was completely hypocritical and spread a rumor about something she herself had done. A bunch of them wrote awful things about Alice in a bathroom stall. Honestly the list is so long that I could quite simply go on forever.
Although the book didn't necessarily have many flaws in my eyes, it still didn't get an extremely good rating simply because of the fact that I found it slightly boring. It's different to what I normally read which of course made it interesting to get through but in general it just wasn't something I would want to read again or liked particularly much. I do have to say that whilst I didn't find it amazing, I still think it's a must read, especially for teenagers. At least so that they can truly understand the power and damage that rumors can have on others.
tlynn_07_14_21's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
claresbookshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5 out of 5 stars.
If you're looking for a book with a happy ending - this isn't the book for you.
There isn't a happy ending, per se. There is an ending that isn't totally depressing, but it's also a realistic ending for a very realistic story about the nature of high school popularity, a lack of empathy, and how quickly a rumour can spiral out of control.
This isn't a book with likable characters. This a book full to the brim with shitty, awful, selfish characters who do nothing but try to fulfil their own goals regardless of the damage it will cause people, knowingly and unknowingly. But unlike other books I've read with these types of characters, this bunch was compelling to read about because they felt human.
There is no happy ending, because in real life the chances of that happening are next to zero.
This book is brutal, but a must read for teenagers, even just try to and raise a little empathy.
If you're looking for a book with a happy ending - this isn't the book for you.
There isn't a happy ending, per se. There is an ending that isn't totally depressing, but it's also a realistic ending for a very realistic story about the nature of high school popularity, a lack of empathy, and how quickly a rumour can spiral out of control.
This isn't a book with likable characters. This a book full to the brim with shitty, awful, selfish characters who do nothing but try to fulfil their own goals regardless of the damage it will cause people, knowingly and unknowingly. But unlike other books I've read with these types of characters, this bunch was compelling to read about because they felt human.
There is no happy ending, because in real life the chances of that happening are next to zero.
This book is brutal, but a must read for teenagers, even just try to and raise a little empathy.