What Alice Forgot
Ratings136
Average rating3.7
A slow, but lovely look at relationships, memories, and family dynamics. Alice loses her memory of the last 10 years and realizes that she isn't living the life she thought she would. She must decide what is important to her and figure out what it was that she forgot.
I enjoyed the book, once I realized that this book isn't an exciting thriller (as I initially thought from the title and the mystery behind what happened to her marriage). I realized that the other is asking the reader, what would happen if you woke up one day and lost 10 years of memories? Is it more important to see the world how you once did or how life is now? What would happen to relationships and people if we stepped back from the situation, remembering that life is short and fragile and that most of the things don't actually matter?
I appreciated the look into the lives of those who struggle with infertility. It isn't something that is talked about much, even though it is fairly common, so it was nice to see.
These are the stories that make me love Moriarty. This is probably my favorite second to Big Little Lies. I'd just about given up on her to be honest. I was disappointed by her last few books I read. But I needed something available right away on Libby so I gave it a shot. And clearly ended up reading it within 2 days. Such a sweet, easy read. Not for everybody obv but I really enjoyed it.
Why did I keep reading this boring book? I was expecting some sort of twist or something to come about, but spoil alert! Nothing ever happens. What a waste of time.
Why did I keep reading this boring book? I was expecting some sort of twist or something to come about, but spoil alert! Nothing ever happens. What a waste of time.
3.5⭐️ i really liked this, but it was too long! also i was under the impression it was a thriller and it Simply wasn't
a book that was hard to put down because I was so eager to keep uncovering and revealing, bit by bit, what alice had forgot! i was very satisfied with the ending. there were definitely moments that were heart-wrenching, like finding out who Frannie had been writing to this whole time and learning that she had lost her love just a few days before her wedding. i really liked the characters and their developments. i liked how alice ended up not choosing to go with either her new or old self, but rather a mix of both. she was able to find that small piece of her old self that was enjoyable, but adapt to her new self which is more practical with the life that she has now. the last chapter recalling all of those memories she only had bits and pieces of throughout the book were very satisfying to finally know the whole story. The author was able to show us how relationships go south so easily, yet so complex, but I am sure readers who are or have been in relationships can relate very much to the arguments that were had between alice and nick. a fun and and relaxing read!
Outstanding!
I don't know how LM writes such believable characters! In this book, she does an amazing job of chronicling the changes one woman experiences as she moves through the seasons of her life. Other characters also experience revelations giving the book added depth. Like many of her books, there is a strong message about how women make flippant judgements about one another's lives without all the facts.
Really enjoyed this one. Reads like a mystery. Alice loses 10 years of memory after a fall and has to piece together what went wrong/right with her life. It's a fast breezy read. I raced to the finish. Really enjoyed the characters and the relationships they have with one another. Story is told from Alice's perspective, her sister's perspective, and their grandmother's perspective.
She always forgot how pain was so upsetting. Cruel. It hurt your feelings. You just wanted it to stop, please, right now.
Niceness doesn't cure anyone. Why don't you just bring me face-to-face with a few home truths?
Each memory, good and bad, was another invisible thread that bound them together, even when they were foolishly thinking they could lead separate lives.
“Mmmmm.” They would think she was savoring the taste (blueberries, cinnamon, cream—excellent), but she was actually savoring the whole morning, trying to catch it, pin it down, keep it safe before all those precious moments became yet another memory.
Definitely entertaining - read this in a day and a morning! Although, after reading Big Little Lies, I have to admit I liked that one better. What Alice Forgot pulled at all the right heartstrings for me - it really hits the theme of relationships changing with time head on. I wish Goodreads allowed half stars, because this one was more like a 3.5. I just couldn't help but compare it to Big Little Lies, which I found even more entertaining and so fraught with complex relationships. That's why I have to give this one 3.5. If you liked What Alice Forgot, definitely add Big Little Lies to your TBR!
3.5 starsI originally picked up the book because the plot reminded me of [b:Remember Me? 1358844 Remember Me? Sophie Kinsella https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1276963901s/1358844.jpg 2855627] By [a:Sophie Kinsella 6160 Sophie Kinsella https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1245821549p2/6160.jpg] (which I liked). I find the whole idea of amnesia intriguing (as fiction that is). What would I think of my life if I lost a big chunk of time, and didn't know how I got here? How would I navigate my life if someone told me that I lost 10 years of my life?I really liked the book to begin with. In fact I was totally ready to give it 4 stars. However I didn't really like the epilogue I didn't think she should have ended up with Nick. He was kind of an ass in my opinion.. Probably an unpopular opinion though, so you should read the book and make up your own mind. I should probably also mention that I'm 22. I might see the world differently when I reach 39..(I read the book in Norwegian, so I can't say much about the language the author used)
Thought provoking and addictive!
I enjoyed this book. It really made me wonder, “What if I hit my head and lost 10 years of my life?” It was difficult to put down and I loved the ending! I do hope a movie comes to fruition, because this is a great story with an even better message for those who like to see their glass ‘half empty' sometimes.
I hate unhappy endings and cliches - when they are badly intertwined, after all life is a series of cliches. And I was a bit hesitant about this book because I didn't love the previous Lianne Moriarty's books so much as to read a third one, and there are so many books in the world I feel I shouldn't be spending time on rereading less than great authors.
But I read good reviews and liked the plot... and by the end of the first chapter I was sooo rooting for Alice. She is such a flawed, lovable, girl next door simpleton character.
I'm glad I stuck with this one.
I picked this up because somebody at work asked about it and I picked it up to see...and couldn't put it down. I read it on lunch hours until my day off, when I splurged and bought it with lunch money and finished it at Sam's while waiting for a new battery to be put in my car.
The writing is great. Liane Moriarty is most definitely talented!
The main character, Alice, has gone from a pleasant woman who takes time for the people in her life to one who has everything and could care less about most people. She's taken scars in the battle of life. She's not the same anymore...and yet that person she used to be is still there, deep inside. It's fascinatingly psychological.
She does make a few moral choices that I could take issue with, but there's nothing graphic or nasty. There are a handful of four-letter words, but somehow not in a way that they bothered me as deeply as at other times in other books, and a bit of ball-point ink can fix that. (The instances of language will make me think twice about buying other books of Moriarty's, but I can swallow a few with the aid of marking them out in my copy...and still call this a really good read.)
I loved the message about the importance of the people in our lives.
This is an outstanding story about a woman who wakes up to find that she no longer recognizes herself, not even a little bit. She finds out that her husband hates her, she is mean to her children, and she isn't even friends with her sister. Out of all the books I have read in the past couple of months, this one ranks up there with the most outstanding character development... for everyone, not just Alice.
I loved the ending, I'm talking love love love. It boosted my rating to 4 stars instead of 3. It kept you guessing until the very end to what Alice would choose, and what would happen with Libby's situation, even tricked you throughout the book. .. YAY MARRIAGE!! I literally did a happy dance when you find out who the one she woke up next to in the last chapter was. I love how the book shows the struggles that there are in marriage, but that marriage can win when two people work at it and remember the reasons that made them fall in love. I hate when marriages just end because people are tired... Even though the ending was happy, I didn't feel it was cheesy at all.
The only complaint that I have about the story is that it seemed to drag out in some chapters, although not bad. It could have been just as great if it was shorter, though.
Overall, I loved this book. It left me with a satisfied joy that life can turn out the way you choose, and that it's never too late to change who you are. It really made me examine my life... If I woke up tomorrow and didn't remember the last 10 years of my life would I recognize myself, and would I actually like myself? Not a bad thing to ask yourself every now and then.
Sweet and engaging and compulsively readable. Perfect post-holiday read.
Started out very slow, but I'm glad I stuck it out. I love a book that can make me laugh AND cry!
It really makes you think about how you grow and change throughout your life, and whether those changes are for the better.