What Alice Forgot: A Close-Up Review (Adult)

"Remember the woman you used to be ...

Alice is twenty-nine. She is whimsical, optimistic and adores sleep, chocolate, her ramshackle new house and her wonderful husband Nick. What's more, she's looking forward to the birth of the 'Sultana' - her first baby.

But now Alice has slipped and hit her head in her step-aerobics class and everyone's telling her she's misplaced the last ten years of her life.

In fact, it would seem that Alice is actually thirty-nine and now she loves schedules, expensive lingerie, caffeine and manicures. She has three children and the honeymoon is well and truly over for her and Nick. In fact, he looks at her like she's his worst enemy. What's more, her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her either. And who is this 'Gina' everyone is so carefully trying not to mention?

Alice isn't sure that she likes life ten years on. Every photo is another memory she doesn't have and nothing makes sense. Just how much can happen in a decade? Has she really lost her lovely husband forever?" (from Goodreads)

 
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Characters:

Alice: In a way, there are sort of three different Alices in this story. There's the Alice who's just hit her head and lost 10 years of memories, and is seeing the world through the eyes of her 29-year-old self. There's glimpses of the 39-year-old Alice that she's become in those 10 years. And then there's the "new" Alice we see at the end of the story.

I loved the 29-year-old version of Alice. She was such a fantastic character, with a wry sense of humour that, frankly, was uncannily similar to mine at times. This made for quite a funny first third of the book or so, as she reacts to all of this "new" information she's learning that she doesn't remember. And this younger version of Alice is introverted, so we had that in common as well. Even the slightly snarky, internal running commentary of her thoughts as she observes people throughout the day felt familiar — so yeah, I definitely connected with her.

In stark contrast, I strongly disliked the glimpses we're shown of the 39-year-old that Alice was before the accident. She's a sanctimonious, bitter, jaded, snooty, type-A sort of personality. To put it bluntly: she's just plain mean. I was really worried at one point that the book was going to end with Alice transformed once more into this horrible person, and I was going, "if that happens, I am going to hate the ending." I was feeling really sad and missing the younger, slightly clueless but innocent, sweet, and well-meaning 29-year-old Alice. Thankfully, though, Liane Moriarty came through for me and I actually liked how it ended. I do wish we'd been shown more of Alice becoming this final, third version of herself. Major spoilers, highlight to read: I had a little bit of difficulty seeing the two Alices merge to become one, so to speak. The Alice at the very end isn't the same as the younger Alice — she's more serious and doesn't seem to have the same sense of humor, which is a shame — but she obviously loves her kids and Nick very much. I was relieved that she and Nick end up together; their marriage is a constant work in progress but they didn't give up on each other. And it sounds like she's started to patch things up with her sister as well.

Elisabeth: Alice's sister's story is really sad because of her depressing situation of repeatedly miscarrying and not being able to carry a baby to term. It didn't make me cry or anything, but I understood how it could have contributed to a strain between the sisters; Alice has three beautiful kids and Elisabeth just wants one child, and she's despairing and beginning to lose hope. The little excerpts we're given of Elisabeth's perspective help to flesh out her nuanced thoughts and feelings on this please-let-me-have-a-baby situation, which has pretty much taken over her life.

Premise:

The premise is fantastic as a way to showcase how people and their lives can change in ways they wouldn't have expected when they were younger. In Alice's case, nothing that she thought her life would be like is actually how it is ten years down the road. This is demonstrated by placing these two different versions of Alice (the 29-again Alice and the 39-year-old Alice that she discovers she's become) in stark contrast. It's a simple and yet effective way of showing that your life can turn out to be something you didn't expect, and also that you can change in ways you thought you might never change. Alice herself is quite shocked at what her life's become, now that she's looking at it through new eyes.

Stories that play with memory can either be done really well or really poorly, so I was pleased to see that What Alice Forgot falls into the first category. Moriarty seems to have a pretty strong grasp of how memory works and she uses it to great effect here. Of course, the retrograde amnesia Alice experiences is quite sweeping and severe (she can't remember anything from the past 10 years), and I'm not sure how realistic a consequence that is for the nature of Alice's injury, but that's something the reader will have to accept in order to go along with the general premise. The idea of odors evoking memories is strongly based in research and certainly rings true for me. So does the fact that Alice's body remembers to do some things that she can't retrieve from her explicit memory. 

The way Alice gets her memories back at first just in bits and pieces is also very believable. Everyone expects her to get her memory back instantaneously, but anyone who's studied some psychology will know that memory is a complex, messy matter. People seem to keep blaming her because she can't remember stuff, and think that if they just talk about it a little longer she'll remember. (Nope.) I'm a little dubious about the resolution of this storyline (spoiler: many of Alice's memories flood back with a particular trigger) but I suppose it's possible — memory can't be pinned down easily and varies a lot between individuals.

Plot:

I preferred the first third to the latter 2/3rds for the simple fact that I found it more humorous. As Alice starts to figure out that her life is pretty crappy — a terrible relationship with her estranged husband Nick, a strained relationship with her sister, difficulties with her daughter Madison, and friendships that have fallen apart — things got really depressing and the humor died down. Add to that the storyline involving Elisabeth, and the whole thing was feeling bleak for a while there. Thankfully, Alice manages to repair her relationships to some extent, and the mood does pick up towards the end (although the earlier humor of just-been-hit-on-the-head-Alice never resurfaces, sadly).

I would have liked a deeper examination of the sister relationship, as we don't get much discussion between them about why they drifted apart. I wish we'd seen more of them reconnecting, and not just because of how the sub-plot involving Elisabeth is resolved (spoiler: the miracle baby — which I thought was a little too HEA, but I was still glad for Elisabeth and I liked that she ended up adopting as well), but because it was an important step in their relationship. I also didn't really care much about the storyline involving Frannie. Generally, though, I really enjoyed the family dynamics and psychology that What Alice Forgot delves into.

Writing style:

I don't have anything specific to say about the writing style — just that through both humorous sections and depressing ones, the quality of writing is consistently excellent.

Final verdict: 4.5 shooting stars. It's unusual for me to connect with a book about a 39-year-old, but in the case of What Alice Forgot, I could! I didn't have too much trouble even in the latter stages where she takes on the more mature role of actually being a 39-year-old. I feel like the author really understands human nature and how relationships can deteriorate. In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reminded me of the TV shows Samantha Who? and, in a more abstract, conceptual way, Being Erica (most of my readers probably won't be familiar with that one, but it was an awesome Canadian TV series!)

This book counts toward my goal for the TBR Pile reading challenge.

Raw Blue: A Close-Up Review

"Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing … and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago at schoolies week.

And then Carly meets Ryan, a local at the break, fresh out of jail. When Ryan learns the truth, Carly has to decide. Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy?" (from Goodreads)

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Note: there may be some mild, general spoilers in this review for those readers completely unfamiliar with what this book's about.

Characters:


The realistic characterization is one of the most solid aspects of Raw Blue. Kirsty Eagar has a way of capturing individuals very distinctly, so that the reader is really able to visualize them within a first impression. Her characters are flawed and troubled, each carrying his/her own baggage. However, I felt the varied cast of characters was a drawback in a way, because there are so many of them that we don't get to know any of them that well, excepting the main character Carly (and I had some trouble remembering who was who). There are some introduced at the beginning, like Kylie and Georgina, who simply seem to disappear partway through, once the relationship storyline as well as Carly's psychological progress take precedence.

Carly herself feels like a very real person. She's tough on the outside but very vulnerable, guarded but scared, and mentally and emotionally damaged from her experiences. She views herself negatively and the world cynically, mistrustful of others and relying only on herself. Throughout a large part of the book she blames herself for what happened, and I think in a way she believes that she deserved it. I think deep down she's afraid to hope for the future, and seeing herself as a "bad person" helps her avoid this. Carly's reactions didn't always seem that rational to me, but we're very different in some ways. At one point I felt like shaking some sense into her and making her realize that she was shutting Ryan out when he could help her.

I wasn't as thrilled with Ryan as a character. I know some readers swoon over him, but I feel like we don't really get to know him all that well — and neither does Carly. Their relationship's uneven progression left me going, "What? Did I miss something?" because it felt like the reader gets left out of a very crucial scene, one where emotional declarations or disclosures are made. Instead we are propelled from an uncertain kind-of-friends stage to a new level of intimacy, completely passing by all the stepping-stones in the middle that I really enjoy reading about in a burgeoning romance. (We don't even get to see their first kiss! I felt totally cheated.) And he and Carly don't actually talk about much at all besides surfing and work, at least until towards the end.

The friendship between Carly and Danny is rare in a YA novel, and I think other authors could take a cue from that in breaking out of the stereotypical friendships we see permeating the genre. Danny himself is a unique character — a 15-year-old mixed-race boy with synesthesia — and the age gap and lack of any romantic interest from either of them makes their relationship stand out.

Plot/premise:

The first half of the book at least has a noticeable lack of direction — it's more the detailings of the ins and outs of Carly's daily life rather than a decisive plot. The momentum of an actual story — at least beyond the horrible memories Carly struggles with — is missing. I knew ahead of time that this book involved rape, so the "mystery" of her past at the beginning wasn't a mystery for me (although I didn't know the details). Even when she and Ryan start hanging out, there isn't a real push in terms of plot. It's only when their relationship becomes very serious, and Carly's past begins to interfere with her present chance at happiness with Ryan, that things start to pick up.

As mentioned before, there are several characters that are introduced but then never play an important role in the story. It feels like there are subplots that get left hanging, or are just forgotten about when the Carly-and-Ryan plot takes over.

Also, most of the book is quite dark. It's never stated that Carly has depression, but some of the signs are most certainly there, and things take a decided turn for the worse partway through. While Carly's emotional state is understandable and empathy-deserving, it does make for a bleak read. Through most of the book I felt apprehensive, dreading what was to come. It seems like she just keeps getting dealt one bad hand after another, and you start to wonder if things will ever get better for her. Of course, Carly does have control over some of the events that happen, and her own power to make choices proves to be, in large part, what will determine her future. We also are shown how important support is, and how friends can kind of become family without you realizing it. The ending is hopeful and feels right.

While I felt like Raw Blue doesn't really bring anything new to the table in terms of its approach to the subject of rape, it illustrates well one girl's emotional response to such an experience, and makes clear that the reaction needs to be understood and taken seriously, not made light of. Carly demonstrates how devastating and damaging that experience can be, and how long it can take for someone to start to heal emotionally. Personally I thought her realization at the end comes a little out of the blue, her psychological progression happening a bit too quickly and conveniently. She doesn't acknowledge the cognitive distortions she'd held for so long surrounding her experience, and I wanted to see more of her thought process as she began to view things more positively.

A large number of the scenes in this book take place at the beach. There's a lot of surfing lingo used and frankly I found it difficult to visualize what was actually happening. I don't surf, personally, and it wasn't often described in such a way that I felt myself experiencing the activity along with Carly. Although sometimes the conversations that happened in between were interesting, and it's made clear that surfing satisfies an important emotional need for Carly, the actual surfing usually bored me. I wish there'd been less surfing and more scenes set in the restaurant.


Writing style:

I am not generally a fan of 1st-person present tense, as it tends to feel more choppy and stilted to me, and I find it more difficult to ease into. I think it also has the tendency to make things feel like they're moving more slowly, because you're experiencing everything in the moment with that character. Raw Blue really didn't need to feel any slower, because the pacing was quite sluggish already due to the lack of action.

The Aussie flavour of the book was both a pro and a con for me. Naturally, it grounds the book in a setting, providing an authentic cultural backdrop, but on the other hand the terms were sometimes unfamiliar to me and not always clear in context.

Kirsty Eagar's ability to capture a concept, thought or emotion in a succinct moment is something to be noted. She has a wonderful knack for crystallizing an idea with a short, poetic description that is often symbolic or metaphorical in some way. These little gems are scattered throughout the novel and cause one to sit back and reflect for a minute before moving on.

The "new adult" aspect: I thought that Carly's voice matched her age, embodying that "just starting out in adulthood" kind of vibe. Content-wise, it's definitely more mature than most YA. It would have been neat to have seen a few more flashbacks/memories of her college experience, but that wasn't really the point of this book.

Final verdict: 3 shooting stars. Excellent characterization and interesting in terms of psychology, but the slow-moving pace, lack of direction, and uneven romantic storyline bumped this one down for me. While there's a lot of substance here to analyze, in terms of personal enjoyment it fell short.

This book counts for my "New Adult" Challenge, the TBR Pile Challenge, and the Just Contemporary Challenge.

Note: there is mature, explicit sexual content and coarse language in this one. I wouldn't recommend it for early/mid-teen readers.

A Few More 2012 Challenges

In addition to the "New Adult" reading challenge I'm hosting, and the Debut Author Challenge hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren, I'm joining a few more challenges for 2012! Last year's end results for my challenges were pretty pitiful, so I'm hoping to make a better showing this year.

Below are some more 2012 challenges I'm signing up for and books I think I may read for them:

Sophomore Reading Challenge:

This challenge, hosted by Shanyn of Chick Loves Lit, is to read 10 second (sophomore) YA or MG books by authors, released in 2012. They can be either in a series or a standalone, and Shanyn has created a Goodreads list with plenty of suggestions for the challenge. I think there are quite a few second YA novels being published in 2012 that I'd be reading anyway, so why not complete a challenge at the same time?!

Books I'm considering:

- Insurgent by Veronica Roth
- Enshadowed by Kelly Creagh
- Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
- In Honor by Jessi Kirby
- Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
- The Torn Wing by Kiki Hamilton
- Never Enough by Denise Jaden
- Outpost by Ann Aguirre
- The Forgetting Curve by Angie Smibert
- Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer Hubbard
- Ferocity Summer by Alissa Grosso
- First Comes Love by Katie Kacvinsky


All the information and sign-ups are here.

TBR Pile Reading Challenge:

Let's face it, I keep buying, winning or receiving books as gifts and then they sit on my shelf and collect dust...this needs to change! I'm hoping to make inroads on the nice finished copies that have been languishing on my shelves. Hence why I'm signing up for this challenge! It's hosted by several different bloggers, and there are mini-challenges and giveaways involved along the way :) You can read all the details and sign up here.

These are the challenge guidelines, taken directly from Evie's blog Bookish:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
2. As we would like to see quality reviews linked up to our monthly wrap-ups, only bloggers can enter. Sorry about that!
3. Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2011 and earlier! NO ARCs and 2012 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
   
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2012 TBR PILE Reading Challenge (You need to include the info + host list + challenge button. You can also grab the button code and add it to your sidebar!)
   
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
8. At the end of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. For participating in the mini-challenge you will get +1 entry.
   
9. If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)
10. December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - 12 books, 12 winners, INTERNATIONAL. 
11. You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!

Here is the host list:

Evie from Bookish - http://www.evie-bookish.blogspot.com @SeoEvie
Nicole from All I Ever Read - http://www.nicoleabouttown.com/ @Nicoleabouttown
Bonnie from Hands and Home - http://www.handsandhome.ca/ @HandsHomeBlog
Donna from Book Passion For Life - http://bookpassionforlife.blogspot.com/ @BookPforLife
Caitlin from WatchYA Reading - http://whatchyareading.net @caitlingss
Rie from Mission To Read - http://missiontoread.com/ @missiontoread
Vicky from Books, Biscuits & Tea -http://booksbiscuitsandtea.blogspot.com/ @alouetteuette
Christa from Hooked On Books - http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.com @ChristasBooks
Jenna from Fans Of Fiction - http://fansoffiction.blogspot.com/ @fansoffiction
Angel from Mermaids Vision - http://mermaidvision.wordpress.com @mermaidvisions

And these are the levels:

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

I'm signing up for the easiest level (A Firm Handshake, 1-10 books), but we'll see how it goes.

Books I'm considering:

- Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton
- Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar
- Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe
- What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
- Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott
- Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
- Tortall and Other Lands by Tamora Pierce
- The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
- Ingo by Helen Dunmore
- Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

Just Contemporary Reading Challenge:

 

Ashley from Books from Bleh to Basically Amazing co-hosted the Just Contemporary event last year, and this year she's hosting a challenge, too! I'm going with the first option (just generally reading more contemporary, versus the "mix it up" option) since contemporary isn't my favourite genre, but I really should read it more often. After all, a couple of my top books read in 2011 (Anna and the French Kiss and Forbidden) are contemporary :)

Books I'm considering:

- The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
- The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg
- Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
- Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
- Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

A bunch from my lists for the Sophomore and TBR Pile challenges would count for this one, too. *points up* Details and sign-ups are here.
 

Have you signed up for any of these challenges?