What Alice Forgot
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What Alice Forgot

FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HUSBAND'S SECRET AND BIG LITTLE LIES. A “cheerfully engaging”(Kirkus Reviews) novel for anyone who’s ever asked herself, “How did I get here?” Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over—she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over...
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Reviews

Photo of Jessy Tatum
Jessy Tatum@between_the_covers
4.5 stars
Feb 17, 2025

I loved this book. I felt like it made me think about my own life and evaluate how 10 year ago me would feel if I woke up in my current life. It was a great palette cleanser from heavier books and it reminded me to not take everything so seriously.

+2
Photo of Sarah Sammis
Sarah Sammis@pussreboots
4 stars
Apr 4, 2024

The main plot is Alice trying to figure out how she got to where she is while trying to live her current life with her out of date memories. Among those things she needs to figure out: who are her children and what are they like; what happened between her and her husband; how to be the active school volunteer she apparently is. This was the part of the book I loved. There are two side plots presented as ephemera. One is Alice's sister's diary entries. These reveal her own struggle to start a family as she suffers through numerous miscarriages while doing IVF. The third are letters that honestly didn't make any sort of impression on me. The truth is, these two side narratives can be easily skimmed or outright skipped as the same information is related through Alice's narrative. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2021/comm...

Photo of Hannah Alexander
Hannah Alexander @reviews_a_latte
4 stars
Mar 7, 2024

Amazing


+8
Photo of Melissa Olson
Melissa Olson@missao
4 stars
Sep 16, 2023

I really enjoyed this book. The story, characters and storytelling were fascinating and there were a lot of twists and turns making it less obvious how things would end. I also listened on audible and loved the narrator.

Photo of Jennifer Biedebach
Jennifer Biedebach@jennbied
4 stars
Jul 13, 2023

Easy read that puts priorities in perspective, reminds you to cherish moments while you’re in them, and love people while you’ve got them.

+2
Photo of Alexandria Ferley
Alexandria Ferley@agferley
4 stars
May 18, 2023

So, so beautiful.

Photo of Joana da Silva
Joana da Silva@julesdsilva
4 stars
Mar 5, 2023

Third book of my Covid-19 isolation. Everybody knows Liane Moriarty is one of my favourite authors. She made fall head over heels with Big Little Lies and has continued to keep me on my toes with bright narratives. I loved this one from the beginning but the wrap up didn't quite got its way with me. Alice is an amazing character and there are so many sensible notes on her personality and quirks. Although I really enjoyed it, I prefer my endings shocking and dramatic. Can you hear me, Liane? Give me drama and traumatic events that will make me cry like somebody just broke my heart.

Photo of Rachel Kanyid
Rachel Kanyid@mccallmekanyid
5 stars
Jan 15, 2023

Absolutely loved this!

Photo of bug
bug@bugspray
5 stars
Jan 6, 2023

i love second chance romance i love liane moriarty i love crying

Photo of Elisa Bieg
Elisa Bieg@bookishexpat
2 stars
Aug 26, 2022

Hmmm. I had been wanting to read this book for so long, and it was kind of... well, underwhelming I suppose. I won’t deny that there were a couple of poignant observations about relationships, but in 487 pages, with a decent premise, I expected more. This could have been much more tragicomic — Jennifer Wiener is pretty good at that, and Marian Keys also, albeit in a slightly darker, bitter humor. This just fell flat like a crèpe. There were so many parts that had great potential but were just so... blah. I know Liane Moriarty is popular these days, but this is the second book of hers that I read, and I don’t think her particular blend of chick lit and mystery does it for me. This was really very bland.

Photo of Dee B.
Dee B. @deeisreading
3 stars
Aug 19, 2022

After all of that...

Photo of More
More @more
3 stars
Aug 16, 2022

Esperaba más de la pareja principal pero estuvo entretenido todo

Photo of Kit
Kit@nightswimming
4 stars
Aug 14, 2022

No expectations opening this, was pleasantly surprised. Interesting developments, kept me glued. Food for thought too.

Photo of Lauren Tabor
Lauren Tabor@readingthroughwonderland10
2 stars
Aug 13, 2022

*2.5

Photo of Marge and Becca
Marge and Becca@thebookishpair
4.5 stars
Apr 13, 2022

✨ A Becca Review ✨ Marge is a BIG Liane Moriarty fan, and had been at me to read What Alice Forgot for AGES. I don't know why I resisted it for so long, but maaaaaan, am I glad I finally caved. I loved it. This book was well-written, well-paced, and thought-provoking, with a strong narrative and a very moving portrayal of how people (and relationships) change over time 🙌. . Synopsis: Alice wakes after an accident at the gym (the gym? What the heck was she doing there?) to find that she has lost all memory of the last ten years. Yesterday, she was 29, in love with her husband and newly pregnant; today, she is 39, getting a divorce, and the mother of 3 children she has no memory of birthing. The more she discovers about her new life, the less it makes sense. How did she end up here, and why does Nick hate her so much? . I would say I can't imagine how disorienting Alice's experience would be -- except Moriarty portrayed it very clearly, and it'd be HELLA disorienting. At every turn, Alice discovers things about her life and her current relationships that she just can't put into context; discovering them along with her, you can't NOT empathize with her shock, her bewilderment. As you learn more about Alice and her husband Nick's relationship, you understand both the depth of their initial attachment, and the weight of the issues that drove them apart. By the end, I wasn't quite sure what to root for -- but then, Moriarty delivered precisely what I wanted 🙏. Her writing was excellent, here -- I especially loved how Alice's narrative was intercut with journal entries by her sister and letters from her pseudo-grand-mother, so that you get to know her family and experience their point of view, as well. . I (well, in all truth, WE) absolutely recommend it. ❤️ Just don't expect a simple read. If you're anything like us, you'll be thinking about it for days after.

+4
Photo of Dana
Dana@midnightlibrarymouse
4 stars
Apr 6, 2022

I found it a little hard to get ìnto at first, but then something happened and I couldn't stop reading!

Photo of Katelyn Broad
Katelyn Broad@katelyneli
4 stars
Mar 21, 2022

I actually really enjoyed this book. I ordered it on audible this month and listening to it was a lot of fun. The plot was good, the story was as well, although it takes a while to really get into it, and I found the writing to be good as well. This book follows Alice-a 39 year old woman who loses her memory and has lost the last 10 years of her life. She's confused as to why she's getting a divorce and who these kids who are calling her mommy are. She finds out that the years have changed her and her relationships with her family and friends have changed. What happened to Alice in those ten years? I feel like the last half of this book is very satisfactory and satisfied my need for answers. The author did a good job with the ending and the epilogue was fantastic.

Photo of Marlee
Marlee@marleedarling
3 stars
Feb 24, 2022

I really liked the story and premise, I felt could be a bit drawn out at times. But, overall an enjoyable book to read and really made me take my own past and present into consideration.

Photo of Maxie Froelicher
Maxie Froelicher@colonelwinnant
3 stars
Feb 2, 2022

I’m not too sure how I feel about this book. I read this book for Week 2 of the 2019 Around the Year in 52 Books challenge - A book with one of the 5 W’s in the title. The first half seemed very slow to me, and I could not like Alice as a character until later on in the book. No spoilers, but the end was just a little to perfect and cookie cutter for my taste. But! It was interesting, and I did really like how we mostly learned things at the rate that Alice was learning them!

Photo of Caitlin Snyder
Caitlin Snyder@caitlinrose
3 stars
Jan 19, 2022

Not my favorite Moriarty book. It was alot slower than her other ones although the premise was interesting.

Photo of Samiha Tasnim
Samiha Tasnim@samihatasnim
4 stars
Jan 17, 2022

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.

Photo of Kirby Drake
Kirby Drake@kirbster
5 stars
Jan 10, 2022

Sweet story, and a fun listen for a middle aged mom of 4.

Photo of Tracey O’Rourke
Tracey O’Rourke@simiavus
5 stars
Jan 9, 2022

I thought this was an incredible read about how we change over time and about what happens when you wake up one day and don't recognize the person you've become. I was disappointed though in how it ended - not the plot but the story telling. Moriarty just wrapped it up in a bow too quickly and neatly for my liking.

Photo of Raluca Piteiu
Raluca Piteiu@butterflyralu
2 stars
Oct 25, 2021

While the story is interesting, I feel that this was just a “feel good, easy book”. The plot is predictable, but enjoyed reading it.

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