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Lovely

Allison Liddelle

Why we're reading this: This book is so confusing and disturbing that I think I should share it with you guys. Not sure what you …more
[close] This book is so confusing and disturbing that I think I should share it with you guys. Not sure what you would make of it. But it's really sort so maybe you could make an afternoon of it.

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Jun 25, 2013 Turtle rated it did not like it

Shelves: young-adult, free-to-read, hated

Lovely by Allison Liddelle is actually anything but. The first half of the book is disjointed and confusing. It reads like some mopey teenager's journal as she angrily writes out her revenge via suicide. But in truth, the effect is melodramatic. Alice dies so many times that I don't feel the loss. In fact, some of the deaths are so heavily over dramatic that they just don't seem real. In way, they aren't. As they are all supposed to be some weird psychedelic dream sequence.

Smashing mirrors, sta Lovely by Allison Liddelle is actually anything but. The first half of the book is disjointed and confusing. It reads like some mopey teenager's journal as she angrily writes out her revenge via suicide. But in truth, the effect is melodramatic. Alice dies so many times that I don't feel the loss. In fact, some of the deaths are so heavily over dramatic that they just don't seem real. In way, they aren't. As they are all supposed to be some weird psychedelic dream sequence.

Smashing mirrors, stabbing yourself in the heart, bleeding in front of a cross... I mean all of these read out like the author was a huge fan of both Linkin Park and Evanescence. Not trying to be mean but Tourniquet could totally work as music for this book's trailer.

But my biggest problem with the book isn't even all the suicide attempts, melodramatic though they were. It was the disconnection with every single other person in the story. Krista and Eric... I have no idea who they were other than friendly bystanders. There's even a random priest who hugs Alice and then walks away, effectively letting Alice kill herself in the church. Other than their names, I get no real sense of who they were.

Alice's parents were a real conundrum as well. I know that there's rarely a good reason for child abuse. Actually, I misspoke. There simply aren't any good reasons for child abuse. But there typically are some underlying reasons that they themselves use to justify the horrid act in their minds. These parents are lacking one. They shouldn't do it for the sake of being evil (though apparently that's their only motivation in this story). Their reason may not be logical (in fact, it definitely wouldn't be) but simply that they hate Alice makes no sense. What could have made sense was maybe the Dad goes into drug fueled panic attacks? Or Alice's Dad had sexual feelings for his own daughter (disgusting as that might be) and he blamed her for them. Perhaps then the mother was jealous of Alice for taking her father's attention away from her. But simply they beat her because they can isn't a good enough reason.

Alice is like a dream child; speaks several languages, plays piano, is an actress and a writer. I mean, what parent would want to beat her? The effect of this just makes Alice's character into nothing more than a stereotypical cardboard cutout of a victim. She's nothing anything more than that. And that in turn makes this a very boring and hard book to swallow.

I honestly can't bring myself to recommend this book to anyone. I'm worried about the woman who wrote it. And I'm worried about those people who read and enjoy it. It's a heavily depressing and melodramatic mess. If you can read Alice's inner monologue without cringing, then good on you. I couldn't. It was seriously like reading a 16 year old girl's livejournal.

Abuse and suicide aren't issues you tackle lightly. And I think these issues were perhaps just too much for this young author to take on just yet. ...more

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