Publication Date: June 3, 2014
Published: Roaring Brook Press - Macmillan
Source: eARC from Netgalley
My Rating:
Everyone has a lot to say about Alice Franklin, and it’s stopped mattering whether it’s true. The rumors started at a party when Alice supposedly had sex with two guys in one night. When school starts everyone almost forgets about Alice until one of those guys, super-popular Brandon, dies in a car wreck that was allegedly all Alice’s fault. Now the only friend she has is a boy who may be the only other person who knows the truth, but is too afraid to admit it. Told from the perspectives of popular girl Elaine, football star Josh, former outcast Kelsie, and shy genius Kurt, we see how everyone has a motive to bring – and keep – Alice down.
I wasn't expecting to like this book at all. After reading the synopsis I was a little worried. I wasn’t in the mood to read a Mean Girls type of situation. What originally drew me to request the book was the cover. It reminded me of an episode of One Tree Hill where Brooke had all of these words that describe her on her. Anyway, I went in with very low expectations of liking this.
However, from the beginning I knew that this was something different than I ever read before. Seeing that 90% of the book was in the view of someone other than the title character was my first ‘oh’ moment. Having four different points of view were actually not a hindrance on my reading experience. Yes, I got a little frustrated having not actually hearing from Alice till the very end, but it gave me a more rounded view of the world that they came from. You have the popular girl, the wannabe, the jock and the nerd all talking about Alice, the supposedly slut and killer of the golden boy. I will admit, at times I found myself becoming very angry at the characters; Kelsie (the wannabe) in particular. Each character in my mind had their hand in the outcome of what happened to both Alice and Brandon but Kelsie felt like the biggest offender having been Alice’s friend.
What also blew me away the most was these characters sounded like teenagers and acted in ways that felt believable. Each had their own distinct voice and it felt authentic. It didn’t feel like I was watching teenagers pretend to be older than they were or doing things that felt so out of character for them. None of these characters were full villains or pure saints. It is easy to say that these kids were horrible people or their actions were excusable because kids will be kids, but they knew that what they were doing were wrong.
This book showed insight to what bullying can do and what it can’t do. It also showed the way rumors could spread like wild fire if left alone. What surprised me was the air of mystery throughout. I found myself putting clues together here and there trying to figure out the truth. In the end I felt once the truth was spoken that it should have been told to everyone and that there should be some grand happy ending where all wrongs would be righted. But what Jennifer did wasn't that. She gave this story and ‘Alice’ the ending that was right and true for her. This is a story of fiction but to me, it spoke more volumes than that.
Until Next Time
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