The Truth about Alice

By: Jennifer Mathieu

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld, Graham Halstead, Ali Ahn, Michael Bakkensen, Elizabeth Morton

Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party. When Healy High star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car crash, it was because he was sexting with Alice. Ask anybody. Rumor has it Alice Franklin is a slut. It's written all over the "slut stall" in the girls' bathroom: "Alice had sex in exchange for math test answers" and "Alice got an abortion last semester." After Brandon dies, the rumors start to spiral out of control. In this remarkable debut novel, four Healy High students tell all they "know" about Alice - and in doing so reveal their own secrets and motivations, painting a raw look at the realities of teen life. But in this novel from Jennifer Mathieu, exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there's only one person to ask: Alice herself.

©2014 Jennifer Mathieu (P)2014 Recorded Books

Surprised but I liked it!

I took this book knowing it was probably targeted for young adults but I wanted something light for a change from my usual thrillers. This book kept me interested. Good story with great narrators - I especially enjoyed how it kept changing characters telling the story from their perspectives.

Excellent use of multiple narrators

Thoughtful if somewhat "Lite" look at the viciousness of teenage gossip. The use of multiple narrators was excellent.

the ending could've been better

I really like the story and all, very catchy and interesting but the ending was quite disappointing. the story ended and nobody found out the truth, Alice's name wasn't cleared from all the falseness.i feel like everyone should have found the truth and the others should have suffered consequences.

A truthful look at how rumors get out of control!

I thought this book was amazing. I am appalled at the way even the adults treated Alice. It really makes you think and even though it is fiction there are stories like this in every high school in America.

Not so bad

I read this because of all the banning and contesting of books. I’m not sure what the problem with this book is as it was no worse than the old after school specials on tv. It addresses a lot of the real life behaviors and issues that teens deal with, the only difference is that this book talks about them instead of covering them up.

I was an Alice.

May be too old for this story but it was a very accurate depiction of rumors, bullying and slut-shaming. I never thought a male friend of mine in my early teen yrs would turn around & create such a miserable hell for me. The locker slurs, the gossiping. The hatefulness…all based on a lie. I don’t know how ppl live with themselves after breaking someone down with no remorse. It’s a dark place to be and I couldn’t wait for weekends or holidays to avoid being in that damn school. Kids are cruel as hell!

good

narration was good, story was fun too. it wasn't the best book, but it was okay.

liked it

It hit all the stereotypes on the head dealing with their inner skeletons and their outward faces. petfect. liked it.

One of the best YA books ever written

An infinity of stars of 5 stars

Alice is a slut. The biggest slut in school. Maybe even the biggest slut in all of Texas. Probably not the biggest slut in the country, but you never know. Alice's sluttiness is even written all over a bathroom stall. That would never happen if it wasn't true. Everyone knows in her small town knows she slept with 2 guys at Elaine's party. Now everyone knows it's Alice's fault one of those guys, Brandon, a popular football player, is dead. If she hadn't been sexting him, he'd still be alive. Alice's former friends, Brandon's friends, and even the nerd who has a crush on Alice have stories to tell, reputations to maintain, and gossip to repeat. Finally, in the last chapter, Alice speaks.

I added THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE (TTAA) to my Amazon Wish List several months before publication. The plot seemed predictable, yet important. At $9.99 and barely over 200 pages, I wanted to wait for the price to come down. While I waited for the price drop ALICE topped more and more Bests List, and my will started to break. I have a finite amount of money to spend on books, and I wanted to stretch those dollars. Then last month a friend gave me an Amazon gift card and I used it to buy books I really wanted, that priced more than I wanted to spend. If I knew how profoundly TTAA would impact me, I would have given up 3 books for ALICE.

Enough about me. TTAA grabbed me from the first word in the first chapter. I wanted to grab hold of my Kindle read all the way through, but I wanted to extend the pleasure of reading experience. Jennifer Mathieu created half a dozen, realistic voices to tell the story of Alice's rise to slutdom. Her peers initially seem like immature, backstabbers, more concerned with their social standings than the truth. The unique voices are people we've know, "friends", bullies, the kids we wanted to be, the kids we feared. Slowly, before I realized, their vulnerabilities snuck into their words and they became multilayered, sometimes sympathetic, despite their horrid behavior. While many of the narrators were unreliable in their words, most of their unreliability was lost on their own insights, not the readers. Though we only know Alice through others until the last chapter, we know she's much more than a slut or a victim or a martyr.

Covering themes of friendship, bullying, cliques, gossip, communication, religion, abortion, honesty, alcohol, drinking and driving, consent and assault,
THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE should be required reading for middle and high school students and their parents. TTAA is as pertinent to adult relations and communications as it is to tween and teens. ALICE is an important read for both boys and girls.

If THE TRUTH ABOUT ALICE isn't the best book I've ever read, it's surely in the top 5. I feel sorry for the next book I read and review, ALICE is a very hard act to follow. Jennifer Mathieu is on the small list of writers who I'd read anything, including their grocery lists.

Slow

It was ok. That’s best way to describe it. It was cool to hear from all different characters and listen to what hard ships they have.