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Feb 20, 2012

Ashley rated it:

From the very beginning, this book had me hooked. I loved the time-line feature, if you will. The dates for each “chapter” that way the we can see how the time has elapsed. The prologue takes place in August while the rest of the book takes places from January to June. It made it that much more real for me as I read the book, seeing how drastically life can change in such a short amount of time.

Alice is such a wonderful character and I really was able to relate to her. Though she is More...

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Jul 30, 2011

Nance rated it:

What can I say about this book that I simply devoured in the last 24 hours. I cried, I laughed, and I was deeply touched from this novel that destroyed a family's happiness and closeness. Matt Bliss is a father and a husband that feels that it is his duty to serve his country in Iraq via the National Guard. He was always one to get the most out of life, and serving his country would allow this. His family, wife Angie and daughters Alice and Ellie, don't understand why he has to go to Iraq. While More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Laura rated it:

Alice Bliss is a 15-year-old girl who is trying to deal with her father's deployment to Iraq. She picks up all the slack when her mom can't handle things at home, while at the same time she is missing her father terribly. This book is written so honestly and so emotionally that it seems like a true life story, not fiction. I could easily sympathize with both Alice and her mother all the way through the story. As I was finishing this book, I saw the story in the news about the recent helicopt More...

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Jan 18, 2012

Alison rated it:

I ADORED this book. It was so engaging from the first page, and I'm not afraid to admit that I cried on and off (mostly on) for the whole second half of the book. It was so well written and believable. All of the characters were well fleshed out, and they each bought their own emotions to the story. At times I wanted to shake Alice (or her mother), or scream at Henry (or John), and on and on. My only real complaint about the book is that at times the dialogue felt a little to mature and sop More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Tricia rated it:

Read this for the book club. it is a wonderful story and I really enjoyed it. the first half was really slow moving and hard for me to get into but the second half was really good. make sure you have a box of tissues while reading this book.

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2012

Debbie rated it:

SPOILER ALERT!

There are many Alice Blisses out there...struggling with not only being a teenager, but also dealing with things as their dad/mom goes off to fight in the war. Alice's dad is a member of the National Guard and gets called up...leaving his wife and two daughter's behind to deal with his departure. They do quite well, juggling things around and trying to keep things as normal as possible...while daily missing their dad. That is until the military arrives on the doorstep More...

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Dec 07, 2011

Sarah rated it:

Oh, Alice Bliss. If only I’d known ahead of time . . . or maybe not. This isn’t a story one can prepare for, and it’s not one from which a person can turn away. ALICE BLISS is a slice of life—a timely American classic from the day the words first hit the page. A story that is not only “now,” but also ageless. One of life and love and letting go, of moving on and healing and reaching for life through those hours that seem the darkest and equally those of blinding sun.

It’s amazing.

More...

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Oct 28, 2011

Trish rated it:

2.5 stars/Fiction

I had a hard time with this book. I wanted to like it more than I really did. I cannot put my finger on it, but something was missing.

I deeply respect Matt's decision to serve, as do I of all our enlisted. What I couldn't get past is the fact that though he and Angie have a 15 year old together, Angie somehow was caught unaware that Matt might actually be called up? Um, hello? Wouldn't that have made them together long enough to have actually have had thi More...

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Oct 20, 2011

Karen rated it:

Alice Bliss is a superbly written story about a young girl - a teenager - dealing with her father joining the Army reserves and then being activated and sent to Iraq. It’s about a tightly knit and happy family – mom Angie, dad Matt, Alice, and her younger sister Ellie. We’re given insight into how Matt prepares his family for his leaving. He makes lists of things that need to be done. Of people to call and how to plant the garden. He writes letters for them to read on certain occasions shoul More...

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Aug 21, 2011

Mary rated it:

ALICE BLISS by Laura Harrington
06/11 - Publisher: Penguin Group - Hardcover, 320 pages

Ask yourself every day - what can I do to support the military and their family?

When Matt Bliss made good choices to support his country as well as his family he never imagined the impact it would have on any of them. Joining the Army National Guard provided extra income, which everyone saw as a plus until the reality of war came knocking and Matt was called up to serve because they de More...

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Jun 08, 2011

Marlyn rated it:

Alice Bliss has a complicated relationship with her mother, as do many girls of fifteen. Alice and her father, Matt, are very close. They both love to garden, and she enjoys helping him build things.

So Alice is understandably devastated when her father's National Guard unit is deployed to Iraq. Of course it's stressful for her mother, Angie and her eight-year-old sister Ellie, but it can't possibly be as hard for either of them as for Alice. Yes, Alice is self-centered, as many teens a More...

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Jun 07, 2011

McGuffy Ann rated it:

Alice Bliss is a teen-aged girl. She is also a “Daddy’s Girl”. When her Reservist father is shipped out to Iraq, she is heartbroken. Finding one of his shirts in the clothes hamper and begins to wear it, much to the dismay of her mother and embarrassment of her sister.

In her grief, she searches for a ways to fill the void he leaves behind. Alice joins the track team, much to her own surprise. Growing into a young woman in her father’s absence, she also attends her first dance, and fa More...

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Jun 02, 2011

Fran rated it:

Alice Bliss
Author: Laura Harrington
Reviewed by Fran Lewis

Alice Bliss adored her father. She enjoyed nothing more than having him as a dance partner, someone to confide in and just being around him. Alice Bliss could see, feel, hear and smell the scent of her father just thinking about him. Images stay sharp when people are close by.

Matt Bliss had a vision for his life one that differed from his wife Angie. Angie enjoyed going out to dinner, the finer things in life More...

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May 24, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

When Alice was fourteen. Her father, Matt Bliss left for war. He left her, her sister, Ellie and their mom, Angie to care for themselves. Every day after that, Alice would wear her father’s blue shirt as it smelled like him. Their mother dropped out of touch with reality, causing Alice to care for her sister. At first Alice wanted to do things that their father did with them like eat backwards dinner. This was dessert first or send pictures of her and him together in his care packages. Though, t More...

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Feb 17, 2012

Jeanie rated it:

I liked the book because it had great insight to military families and what they go thru. This book with it's characters helps you put a "face" to those families and the sacrifices that are made. A story of family of 4, 2 girls and their father is called up to Iraq. He has a special relationship with each one. His wife, who very dependant on him. His youngest daughter, who tries to find something to replace her father after he is gone. She does that by learning new words and read More...

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Jan 04, 2012

Sarah rated it:

Alice Bliss broke my heart.

(I've been trying, but I can't separate my review of the book from my personal response to it, which necessitates a spoiler. Be forewarned.)

I could write at length about the floodgates of emotions that the book brought to the surface, but it would be rather more than I am comfortable sharing in a public review. Suffice to say, the book hit very close to home for me.

Matt Bliss, an Army reservist, gets called up and deployed to I More...

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Aug 07, 2011

Diane rated it:

Matt Bliss and his family live in upstate New York. He is totally devoted to his wife Angie, and daughters Ellie and Alice (the apple of Matt's eye). He is also in the National Guard, and he feels a strong sense of duty to his country. When his unit is called out for active duty and deployed to Iraq, Matt is torn. His wife is upset and angry that he is leaving his family and putting his family in a stressful situation, and himself in a dangerous situation as well.

His oldest daughter More...

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Aug 18, 2011

bookczuk rated it:

Alice Bliss broke my heart. The story is a simple one: Alice Bliss is the elder of two daughters in a close family. Her beloved father is sent to Iraq when his National Guard unit is called to active duty. What follows is the story of how the family he left behind learns to cope with his absence. Laura Harrington allows the reader to enter into the minds of Alice, her family and some friends. The love is palpable, though individual emotions are not always understood or recognized by those More...

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Jul 14, 2011

Jo rated it:

Matt Bliss is a reservist in the American army, and when he is called to fight in Iraq, he tries to prepare his family for the possibility of life without him. Alice Bliss is fifteen; she idolises her father, loves dancing with him, and plans their garden with him, and with great awareness she tries to keep from imagining a life without him. With wisdom beyond her years, Alice tries to keep her family together without the presence of the father she adores.
The story begins rather slowly, we More...

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Jul 25, 2011

Siggy rated it:

I love the humanity of good young adult fiction. It's not trying to be cool but just sharing an insight about what it means to be a person living on this planet with other people. As debates continue about military involvement iin Afghanistan and the Middle East, this book contributes a very personal discussion. Matt Bliss is a carpenter, gardener and loving father. He also longs to see a little more of the world than his home town and feels responsible for mentoring a younger generation of sold More...

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Jul 07, 2011

Anne rated it:

Claire from Pan Macmillan was kind enough to send me a pre-publication of Alice Bliss for review.
I've been online and read some of the existing reviews of the book and these range from 'outstanding, wonderful, life-changing' to 'boring and uninspiring', although, to be fair, the majority of reviewers have really raved about the story.
I'm finding myself in the middle of these reviews, I neither loved it, or hated it.
Alice herself is a great character; a teenage girl whose belo More...

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Jun 19, 2011

Donna rated it:

What more is there to say? Even though I knew the ending from the very beginning, the ride taking me there was well worth the price of the ticket. I inhaled this book in less than twenty-four hours while observing a fifteen year old girl (and her family, but mostly just Alice) on their journey before grief and all the following stages once grief hits them all smack in the face. Harrington does an amazing job attributing the gamut of emotion to her characters, I can actually see them in my min More...

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Mar 13, 2011

Leah rated it:

Fifteen-year-old Alice Bliss faces all the challenges that most adolescents face; finding a place to fit in at school, falling for a boy, learning to drive. But she's facing all these things without her father. He's been deployed to Iraq, and Alice is struggling to cope without him. She has her younger sister, mother, uncle, and grandmother, but it's not the same.

She wears one of her dad's shirts every day, fights frequently with her mom, and is ever-anxious for a letter or phone cal More...

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Oct 15, 2011

Julie rated it:

Alice Bliss is about what happens to Alice Bliss and her family (her father, mother, and younger sister) when her father, a member of the Reserves, is called up and sent to serve in Iraq. Alice is in high school. Her sister is much younger; second grade maybe. I thought all of the characters were well-drawn, particularly some of the more minor characters. They all rang true to me, which is to say that sometimes, they were annoying, and then a few pages later, I found myself feeling tender to More...

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Nov 08, 2011

Jaime rated it:

I loved that this book spoke of the bond between father and daughter. Not often do you find a book that speaks of the true relationship. Often it’s a mother-daughter, father-son, etc.

In Alice Bliss, Alice is a girl that is clearly much closer to her father than her mother. That bond is only strengthened when Matt Bliss (Alice’s dad) is deployed to Iraq. The book examines how difficult it is when your primary support system is overseas, and you have little or no relationship with you More...

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May 28, 2011

Nikki rated it:

A truly moving story of Alice Bliss – a teenager with all the vulnerabilities that age brings – and her family as they try to function whilst Alice’s Dad is away fighting in Iraq.

All the characters in the story are believable and their individual qualities and coping mechanisms range from quirky to heartbreaking – taking the reader on an emotional ride.

If it weren’t for the reference to Iraq, I would not have easily placed the time setting of the story as Alice seemed to More...

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Dec 14, 2011

Crysta rated it:

It's been ages since I devoured an entire book in a single evening. But I loved this book and inhaled it. It's the story of what happens when a family's nucleus and glue is suddenly not there anymore. How do the relationships shift? How do family members have to change to understand each other?

Alice is a 15 year old girl in upstate New York, right on the cusp of growing up. Her father's National Guard Reserve unit is shipped to Iraq, leaving her family flailing to move forward. She's More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Serena rated it:

Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington is a coming of age story about a teen girl growing into adulthood at a time when her father, Matt, is sent to Iraq and her mother, Angie, is not dealing with his absence as well as Alice thinks she should. The blissful life her family has had up until this point is turned around and twisted as Alice takes on more of her mother’s duties — making dinner, washing clothes, getting her sister’s (Ellie) lunch ready, and getting her sister to school. She’s constantly w More...

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Sep 20, 2011

Amy rated it:

Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington

Book Summary: When Alice learns that her father, Matt Bliss, is being deployed to Iraq she’s heartbroken. Alice idolizes her dad, working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. After Matt ships out, her mother begins to crumble under the pressure of suddenly being a single parent and Alice struggles to fill the void as she balances the drama of adolescence with the effort of keeping her family More...

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Oct 30, 2011

Tim rated it:

Alice Bliss may belong to the category of coming-of-age novel, but is far more of a "coming-to-grips" novel as the main character, Alice, adjusts to life when her father is posted to Iraq with the military. While the novel follows the innocently precocious 15-year-old Alice, the deeper perspective is the wisdom and love of the persona (the narrative voice/author) who treats childhood as though she could perfectly remember it as a child and yet understand what life will slowly reveal to More...

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