Monday, July 9, 2012

Review: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Publisher: Amy  Einhorn Books/ Putnam
Publishing Date: June 2nd, 2011
Genre: Adult Contemporary
Pages: 423 pgs
ISBN: 9780399157189
Source: Borrowed from my local library

Rating: 5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:
What would happen if you were visited by your younger self, and got a chance for a do-over?

Alice Love is twenty-nine years old, madly in love with her husband, and pregnant with their first child. So imagine her surprise when, after a fall, she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! she HATES the gym!) and discovers that she's actually thirty-nine, has three children, and is in the midst of an acrimonious divorce.

A knock on the head has misplaced ten years of her life, and Alice isn't sure she likes who she's become. It turns out, though, that forgetting might be the most memorable thing that has ever happened to Alice.



My Review: 

I think that I will read anything about someone losing their memory. I love this type of book because it is just so interesting to think of what may happen if you lose a whole chunk of your memory.  This book is about a woman named Alice Love who wakes up in a gym and believes that she is 29 years old.  She is, in reality, 39 years old and has lost 10 years of her life to amnesia.  10 years is a lot of years to lose. I think back to when I was 19 and I am definitely not the same person anymore at the age of 29.  Since the age of 19 I've lost friends, I've gained friends, I've dating many people, then settled down and married my husband, I've lived in Ottawa, then moved to Toronto, then moved back to Ottawa.  I can't imagine not remembering any of these key things in my life.  Well, this is essentially what happens in this novel.  It is about Alice trying to navigate through a completely different life from the one she remembers. 

I just loved the characters in this book.  The book isn't just told from the point of view of Alice but also in the point of view of her sister.  I really liked getting a different angle in the point of view of Alice's sister and it was great trying to piece together everything that had happened in the 10 lost years.  

The writing style is just great.  It flows really well and it makes you want to know more and more.  You could easily sit down with this novel and not put it down until you are finished with it.  I also think that this book has a cross-over appeal.  It is not about teens but I can see teens being interesting in reading this book.  It does have some heavy parts but it is written in such a way that it doesn't deeply disturb you.  Don't get me wrong, it makes you think about things in a new way but I wasn't left with this deeply disturbed feeling.  

Overall I give this book 5 out of 5 stars because I couldn't put this book down.  It is a great read and I'm looking forward to any books by this author. 

1 comment:

  1. I read this book last year, and I really enjoyed it - I too found the writing style flowed so well I was completely immersed in the story.

    Great review - it's interesting to think about how much we have all changed in ten years!

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