madisoncarrasco 's review for:

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

2.0

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The writing is great, the story is compelling, but there are several ideas that are expressed about womanhood and motherhood that are harmful and I just can’t get over. One of the big themes is balancing life and not getting caught up in being busy, but in the end the MC’s sister gets caught up in that same busy cycle and is portrayed as being a successful mother who got her happy ending, making me wonder if I totally misunderstood the theme altogether. The biggest issue I had is the idea that body shape is so linked to success. Throughout the book the MC discusses her weight, other women’s weight, her children’s weight, her sister’s weight, etc, and it’s very clear that thin is the only acceptable weight. Even when the MC is “older and wiser” in the epilogue she still mentions that oh thank goodness her sister started exercising and is thin as a rail now. All of the attention on thinness is truly bothersome.