Title: The Truth About Alice
Author: Jennifer Mathieu
Series: None
Edition: Hardcover
Blurb: 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.
In 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.
This is one of the books that I got for my Secret Santa present this year through The Broke and the Bookish. It’s been on my TBR for a while, although I don’t remember where I heard about it. I was wanting to read something that was quick and not a huge series investment. It’s not a long book – I was able to read it in one sitting – but it still packs a pretty strong impact in few pages.
This book, to be honest, is terrifying for someone who has a daughter who will sooner than I think become a teenager (my daughter is 11 and seems like she’s getting older and older by the hour). The author uses different characters to give first person accounts of what happened to their classmate, Alice. We hear from Elaine, the popular girl who threw the infamous party; Kelsie, Alice’s former best friend who has recently learned what it’s like to be popular and never wants to go back; Josh, the best friend and teammate of Brandon; and Kurt, the weirdo genius outcast who has secretly harbored a crush for Alice and is the only one who is there to support her.
This story is brutal in the way it shows how a series of stories, which we never know whether or not they are actually true until the end, can completely and totally destroy someone’s reputation. Alice goes from being one of the most popular girls in school to being a complete pariah in a matter of days. The other students are also dealing with their own issues as the school year goes on.
This felt like a very realistic story. All of the characters are deeply flawed, which made me both sympathize with them and want to smack them upside their heads. It was very well written and a compelling glimpse into the difficulties that modern teenagers face.
GoodReads Rating: 5 Stars
Categories: Books I've Read
Life With No Plot 
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