Customer Reviews

Alice, I Think

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Anyone who wasn't satisfied with Alice, I Think should re-read it. I found it quite...odd at first, and would have given it 2 or 3 stars after the first read. However, after re-reading it twice, and reading its sequel, Miss Smithers, I enjoyed it far more. I think it is a book that you need to get used to. The author's style is really something that's an acquired taste.
However, I think that whoever thought the mention of Internet porn was awful...all I have to say is welcome to reality. I am a teenager, and my friend who is younger than I am has read this book without issue. I have seen much worse things in books, and it's simply ridiculous that it wouldn't be appropriate for 16 year olds. (Besides, it WASN'T in great detail!) And anyway, it's a _journal_. I'm aware Alice is fictional, but if that happened, you know, it happened. I keep a journal myself, and I'm sure it's extremely boring at times. I mean, please. This is hardly the height of inappropriate literature. I think this is a grossly misguided idea.
Anyway, sorry for snarkiness. This was a pretty good book.

I am a homeschooled teenager who will be going back to school next year so I am in somewhat the same situation as Alice though my family is not as disfunctional...I thought the book really showed a witty but VERY overly dramatized version of "the adventures of unsocialized teen trying to find her 'style'" and it was sort of a "what NOT to do" manual for anyone who's not in the 'cool' crowd. "Alice, I think" really made me laugh and was a refreshing light read. I think anyone who thinks they've got it bad socially should read this and will come out thinking "well, life's not so bad, at least people don't think I'm as weird as Alice..."

This book, although mildly humorous in a sarcastic way at times, is pretty bland. Being a slightly negative and sarcastic person myself, I am not against blunt people who "tell it like it is." However, Alice is too over the top in her negativity. When i finish a book, I like to get something more out of it than just "oh, here's a story about a naive and condescending girl who is constantly surrounded by hippy-idiots and everything about her life sucks." I like books with a slightly deeper meaning. I know that sounds corny, but it's true. Another thing that I didn't like about this book is how unfairly it portrays hippies. Come on, not all feminists who eat organic food and do spiritual stuff like yoga are that stupid and idiotic. Alice is a bit hard on her mother. I mean, her mother actually doesn't seem that bad, just a little wierd at times. Anyway, this is an OK book but it really isn't that great.

Alice, I think, tells the story of a home schooled sociopath teenager, Alice, who grows up amidst a family of bizarre-ites. A brother whose passion in life is breeding fish, an intense hippie mother and a mellow romance-novel-writing father.

I have no knowledge of or experience with home schooled children and teens but I know that this is considered offensive to them. I imagine that they simply have parents who would rather shield them from the harsh reality of the violent, depressing world around us. I am jealous of them; I mean they end up as smart without dealing with all the trouble of high and middle school.

I honestly despised Alice and her personality in all aspects. The book completely lacked a plot and plotline. Her boyfriend that she picked up was a sickening character. There was no rising action, climax, or falling action. It was honestly one long line of a book.

Nevertheless I didn't put the book down from beginning to end... I kept expecting something to happen but I was completely disappointed, and, at the end, I was angry at myself for wasting two and a half hours of my life.

Still, it was some form of entertainment and I would recommend it to those of you who are sick of the typical teenager book that tells the strory of girls who end up happy ever after with perfect friends and boyfriends which completely deviate from the truth of teenagerhood.

I picked up this book thinking it wouldn't be so good, but it is really good!

Alice is the daughter of crazy hippie parents and sister to MacGregor, a genius who breeds fish. Alice has been homeschooled all her life after a somewhat traumatic incident between some other girls in kindergarten. When Alice is 15, she decides to go back to public school.

Alice has a list of things that she wants to do in her life, which leads to her doing and saying things that made me laugh, even if I was in public. Alice's narrative of her day-to-day life is hilarious and perpetually interesting. Many of the things she says, I couldn't help quoting at times. This book is happy and would make for a good, light summer read. I would definitely recommend this book.

~Atalanta

I greatly enjoyed Susan Juby's debut novel "Alice, I Think". I did not put it down from start to finish. Having been home schooled myself by a relatable "hippie" mother for a short period during my elementary years; I found many of the issues to be whole and humorous truths. The plot line was not exactly firm, but as Juby was aiming to portray the diaried life of a teenage girl, we cannot entirely expect her to provide one. The form in which Alice scribed her life was hilarious; the dry humor could be lost on some. The characters were eclectic, and provided much spice to the story. I enjoyed Alice's attempts to become "alternative", trying the replicate her cousin franks hair cut (with disastrous-and then fufilling- consequences), "thrifting", and trying hard to become immune to pop culture, while inadvertently submitting herself to the worst form.
All in all, this was a well-rounded read, with laughs, life lessons, and much more. It is to be avoided if you lack the talent to pick up on dry humor, subtle sarcasm, and a strong sense of reading between the lines for humor not plainly stated. The book is a plain farce, and should be taken as so.

This book was okay. I read an excerpt from it and got really excited about it, but once I finished it was disappointed. For one thing, I believe the description of the book was slightly misleading, this book is NOT about her going back to high school. Altogether, it may have a chapter (if that much) of when she is actually in her highschool. And she doesn't go to a normal highschool, she goes to an "alternative" highschool which made me wonder about Alice. I did not feel like a connected with her at all, she seems to me to be one of those "I Am Depressed and I Hate Everything That the Public Likes and I Listen to Music No One Has Ever Heard of So Therefore I am Better Than You, So Ha" wanna-bes and is very whiny. There were times in the book where I wondered if Alice was actually sane or not. The ending was very poor, for it seems like the writer got bored of the story and was just trying to fill empty space. This aside, it was very funny, and if you are looking for some laughs I would suggest this book.

Although I had a hard time getting into this book, once I did, I ended up loving it. I thought it was really unique, funny, and surprising, with colorful characters, and an underlying earnestness and morality despite the bizarre goings-on on the surface. I think reading MISS SMITHERS (the sequel) helps (I read both books within a short time period), because you can get a better sense of this writer's style and intention. MISS SMITHERS also has more of a traditional plot, which makes it easier to get into. I really think this author has an original voice and is not afraid to touch on subjects that are topical and/or of interest to teenagers, even though some readers might be put off. I hope she writes more novels.

The whole time I was reading Susan Juby's Alice, I Think I was transported into a mind and life that was so compelling and funny I never wanted to stop. It was so true to my own experiences as a teenaged girl that I really identified with Alice, her screwy but lovable family, and the bizarre assortment of locals in Smithers, BC. I was so tired of reading all the usual books in the local and school libraries that I took a chance on this one, and I can't wait for more from Ms. Juby. I highly recommend this to readers of all ages as one of the funniest, most charming books you'll ever have the pleasure of experiencing.

This is a book you can't put down...it is pure hilarity from page one until the end. Susan Juby has made a wonderful "social critic." If I had more than two thumbs they would all be way up!