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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Big Liane Moriarty fan here. A touching, heartwarming story of second chances and new perspectives. Just wish we got to see more of the get-back-together part of Nick and Alice’s relationship.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book went on too long, but the ending really made the book. It's not so much that I was yearning for her and Nick to get back together. But I liked the statement it made about love and marriage, it's ups and downs. You can love each other and then hate each other and come out of it with a richer love. It's almost like we're so obsessed with the idea of how this person makes me happy that it becomes a selfish thing. Adult love endures through unhappiness and through the benefit I get from it at any given moment, just as I love my child even when she's driving me crazy. As a 40 year old mom I can relate to how much life and how much you can change over 10 years.
Oh damn it, I'm changing my rating and upvoting it.
Oh damn it, I'm changing my rating and upvoting it.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Great beach read or palate cleanser. Unexpectedly layered. I appreciated the honesty and details about how hard motherhood is.
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I discovered Liane Moriarty about two years ago and I love her work. I am one of those readers who finds an author that I like and I want to read everything they write. I am slowly doing that with Moriarty. I started with "Big, Little, Lies" and loved it, then on to "The Husband's Secret" which was okay, but too predictable. It took a while to get "Alice" from the library, but now that I have read it, I will be ordering all of her books! I enjoyed "What Alice Forgot" even more than "Lies".
As you know from the book's summary, Alice clunks her head at the gym and forgets a decade of her life, and is piecing everything back together in this story. I was fascinated with the idea of her amnesia on the outset and assumed that the book would primarily be about that, but it is so much more. There are several subplots that are interesting and relatable: her, sister, her mother, her grandmother... and the way Moriarty sinks her teeth deeply into those plots, but does it subtly, before you realize it, you are caught up in this whole family; each member grieving a loss of their own and each in a different way. Alice is also doing that, but her amnesia affects all of them so much that the outcome helps them all to deal with their grief.
One small spoiler (sort of): one character suffers from infertility for many years, something that also happened to me for almost a decade, so that aspect of this book really pulled me in. I don't know if the author has personal experience with this type of grief, but the way she describes it in the book hit the nail square on the head. I could never put into words what I felt all those years, but the words are in this book and it was a relief to read them, as if I finally knew someone else understood what it is like. (My happy ending: I have four kids now, but that has nothing to do with "Alice").
One thing that I have consistently liked about Moriarty's writing is that she creates complex characters (in all of her books). I appreciate the growth she gives to each of her characters and "Alice" did not disappoint in this area. You meet Alice while she has amnesia, and she is one personality, then you slowly get to know the real Alice and she is a different personality altogether. When Alice regains her memory, these two people merge, and the author actually pulls it off to make it work. One of the Alices is insufferable and you wonder, 'How did she get that way?' Which made me think back on the last ten years of my life (the amount of time Alice loses to her amnesia) and ask myself, 'Am I who I think I am? How did I get this way?'. A lot of self reflection has been stirring inside of me while reading "Alice". All of Moriarty's characters in this book reflect on their lives, and how they got to where they are, and all of them grow by the end.
This is not a perfect book of course, thus four stars. I didn't really buy into the "Gina plot" much; there was not much bonding with that character so I was a bit unsatisfied with the effect it had on Alice. Also, this is petty, but why in the world was Alice on a run instead of at the hospital when Francesca was born? Are you kidding me?
All in all, I thought it was a great book with solid character development, a page turning plot, and a story that inspires self-reflection. It is chick-lit but still, I am excited to read more of Liane Moriarty's work.
As you know from the book's summary, Alice clunks her head at the gym and forgets a decade of her life, and is piecing everything back together in this story. I was fascinated with the idea of her amnesia on the outset and assumed that the book would primarily be about that, but it is so much more. There are several subplots that are interesting and relatable: her, sister, her mother, her grandmother... and the way Moriarty sinks her teeth deeply into those plots, but does it subtly, before you realize it, you are caught up in this whole family; each member grieving a loss of their own and each in a different way. Alice is also doing that, but her amnesia affects all of them so much that the outcome helps them all to deal with their grief.
One small spoiler (sort of): one character suffers from infertility for many years, something that also happened to me for almost a decade, so that aspect of this book really pulled me in. I don't know if the author has personal experience with this type of grief, but the way she describes it in the book hit the nail square on the head. I could never put into words what I felt all those years, but the words are in this book and it was a relief to read them, as if I finally knew someone else understood what it is like. (My happy ending: I have four kids now, but that has nothing to do with "Alice").
One thing that I have consistently liked about Moriarty's writing is that she creates complex characters (in all of her books). I appreciate the growth she gives to each of her characters and "Alice" did not disappoint in this area. You meet Alice while she has amnesia, and she is one personality, then you slowly get to know the real Alice and she is a different personality altogether. When Alice regains her memory, these two people merge, and the author actually pulls it off to make it work. One of the Alices is insufferable and you wonder, 'How did she get that way?' Which made me think back on the last ten years of my life (the amount of time Alice loses to her amnesia) and ask myself, 'Am I who I think I am? How did I get this way?'. A lot of self reflection has been stirring inside of me while reading "Alice". All of Moriarty's characters in this book reflect on their lives, and how they got to where they are, and all of them grow by the end.
This is not a perfect book of course, thus four stars. I didn't really buy into the "Gina plot" much; there was not much bonding with that character so I was a bit unsatisfied with the effect it had on Alice. Also, this is petty, but why in the world was Alice on a run instead of at the hospital when Francesca was born? Are you kidding me?
All in all, I thought it was a great book with solid character development, a page turning plot, and a story that inspires self-reflection. It is chick-lit but still, I am excited to read more of Liane Moriarty's work.
fast-paced
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes