Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu {REVIEW}

Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party. 

But did you know Alice was sexting Brandon when he crashed his car?

It's true. Ask ANYBODY.


Rumor has it that Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the bathroom stall at Healy High for everyone to see. And after star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, the rumors start to spiral out of control.
 Buy on AmazonIn this remarkable debut novel, four Healy High students—the girl who has the infamous party, the car accident survivor, the former best friend, and the boy next door—tell all they know.
But exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there's only one person to ask: Alice herself.


Book Title: The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Social Issues
Publication Date:  June 3rd 2014
                                by Roaring Brook Press

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review and Rant:

Firstly, I love this book. I'm not a serious person in general (I do have my moments but they are like dish-washing soap bubbles) but The Truth About Alice totally got me. For any new book I'm about to read, I tend to read the blurbs and scrutinize the cover on a scale of 1 to 10 on the basis of their ogling-ness, but for this one it was nothing like that. I happened to stumble upon it a few times on Instagram and decided that I have to read it (the many perks of being on different social sites:-D )


The Plot. The Narration.

Alice Franklin slept with two guys at Elaine's party. Touchwood. Everyone knows it. And everyone has something to contribute to that story. Even her only best friend Kelsie. And moreover, she's the one whom Brandon, one if the two guys, had been texting the night he died in a car accident. His best friend Josh is the live witness to that. Are there any missing parts? Holes in that story? Nope. Definitely not.


I loved how the author plotted it all. The book starts with Elaine's pov, the girl at whose house the aforementioned thing happened. The pov keeps shifting from her to Kelsie to Josh and after a point it moves to Kurt, the labeled nerdy outcast of Healy High and it's at the very last part we get to see the so (in)famous Alice. Books with perspective shifts are always my favorite, since it really helps me to understand each character on a personal level, to see what kind of person they are and how the same story can take very different shapes to each. While reading The Truth About Alice, one interesting thing happened. I could actually relate each of the characters to people I know in real life, except for Kurt. I personally love the book because I can relate myself to it. I can empathize with Alice. Even though I didn't have to go through all the shit similar to Alice it was life-altering enough for me. I have come across an Elaine, a Josh, a Kelsie too. Unfortunately enough, I didn't have enough good luck to get a Kurt at that time (how I wish I had!)

The basic message of this book isn't a heavy one. Rumors or scandals can pretty much destroy your life. A rumor could start because you actually have done it, or you haven't. But once it spreads, it spreads like wildfire. And then nobody bothers the least to find out the actual truth. Most of them would just go and heat up their hands if they're feeling too cold. But all it takes is just that one or two rumors to turn you from a pretty decent or cool girl to the ultimate social pariah. Skank or no skank, i believe nobody deserves that.

Overall, it's a pretty awesome book. If you like YA lit bearing a social message; you wouldn't want to miss it. I for one, would definitely buy this for anyone I know who loves to read.


BUY THE BOOK


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