I eagerly requested this book after reading that it was so highly anticipated to be great. I, however, found it to be just plain depressing. I did not like any of the characters enough to care about them or want to continue reading the book, so I abandoned it about a quarter of the way through.

This book was honestly very well written. It was amazing how so many characters could be developed at such depth within 320 pages. Sometimes, for me, the depth was a little too much and I had a hard time getting through the long paragraphs of backstory.

However, seeing the connection was so neat and you really felt like you got to know them on a personal level. You can’t convince me they aren’t real people with the way Lauren Aliza Green brings them to life!

Suicide is sometimes a hard topic for me to read about, but it was refreshing that instead of romanticizing it like a lot of books do, we got to see the impact Alice’s life and death had on those in her circle.

Overall this is a great, unique read by a very talented author. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the early copy in exchange for an honest review

This was DEBUT that read as if the author was a seasoned writer. The whole thing was beautiful and I can't wait for more!! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher!

i’m not crying. okay. i’m crying!!!! this read was so bittersweet and i absolutely loved it! i don’t think i have anything negative to say about it. it was all around a wonderful read.

This debut novel was an unexpected 5 star for me! The novel moves back & forth between 12 years ago, when a teenage girl, Alice, committed suicide, and the present, as the 2 families who were simultaneously torn apart and pulled together by the tragedy attempt to move forward as Alice’s brother and her best friend get married in Maine.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one, but it sucked me in & I loved all the different character perspectives. Her writing is also absolutely breathtaking, and she does a fantastic job of exploring deep themes (suicide and depression, loss and grief, infidelity and marriage) in a tasteful, beautiful way.

Obviously this novel has some upsetting content, particularly suicide & grief, but in my opinion it is tastefully done and the ending was gorgeous. I really loved this book and it’s one of those novels that I think I’ll continue to think about for days to come. 🤍

The World After Alice is a book about how the family and friends of a girl, Alice, deal with the loss of her after she jumps from a bridge. The book did a fantastic job of getting into the minds of the characters and I felt I really got to know them and feel what they were feeling. Although I felt at times the book had so much description and details that it started to get long for me, I’m glad I didn’t skip ahead. The ending was perfect and had me crying. I highly recommend this book about love, family, loss, and guilt.

“On days like today, each of us is Job, wondering why the Almighty has brought upon us this suffering.”

I found the characters living in “The World After Alice” to be a dreary and depressing group. It’s to be expected after the death of a beloved teenager. Life is never the same and the book slowly revealed events, conversations and interactions that led up the to the night Alice jumped off the George Washington bridge.

Sadly, every family member except for Benji was unlikable. Most of them were making bad choices before Alice died and continued to do stupid things as they dealt with their grief…or avoided dealing with it.

Some of the most interesting and wise words came from a Rabbi

The writing was beautiful but seemed overdone and excessive to me, with many rarely used words. It was very poetic and insightful, but a lot could be cut out to make the story move along better.

Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

Benji and Morgan kept their relationship secret because they knew their families would not approve; Morgan was best friends with Benji’s sister when she killed herself at sixteen. Now that they are getting married, they ask everyone to come together to celebrate even though there are affairs, divorces, hurt feelings, and secrets between them. The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green asks what happens when two families torn apart by a tragic death come together years later, and the answer is not much. Even with all of the flashbacks that attempt to fill in the story, Green leaves a lot to the imagination, and not always in a good way. There are a lot of characters taking up unnecessary space, and others just don’t get enough time to become believable. Green tells an interesting story, but it could have used some more editing.

Wow. What a book. A debut at that!! I rarely read a book like this….guess I’ll call it ‘Women’s fiction’. I usually prefer suspense, thrillers that draw me in & keep me in their grips. But this simple book about 2 families did so easily. The writing is superb, so well written you can’t help but picture the characters. All are so realistic & beautifully flawed. IDK what to say except I know you’ll enjoy this story as much as I did.

This book was deeper than I expected from the description. It held my interest well enough to earn 4 stars although I did have a couple issues with it. I found one of the story lines too coincidental. I also felt a couple smaller scenes didn’t work well for me. It’s funny that I chose to call them scenes as I could definitely envision this book as a play.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The writing style is heavily narrative, and purple prose abounds. While I don’t personally enjoy it (and stopped after chapter 1), the target market should be solidly 3-4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Morgan is both excited and nervous about getting married to Benji who she has known for years. They are getting married in Maine and hope there families can be civil to one another. I xant wait to read Lauren's next book

Normally, as soon as I've finished reading, I w rite and post my review so that I can remember. This time, I sat and waited for my tears to dry before beginning. This was not only because I was so moved by the novel, but because it brought back my own grief for loss of a child, though not, in my case, by suicide. The lovely ending was not the only time I cried, but the epilogue was stunning.

How did Lauren Aliza Green manage this tour de force in a first novel? Is she a therapist, a psychologist? (An English major for sure, as. I don't believe I have ever had to look up the meaning of so many words and used in such unusual ways.)

There are no minor characters here. Each deeply felt and skillfully drawn person is fully realized. Green gets us into the head of each one, showing what makes them behave the way they do. What caused Alice to jump off the bridge? Nearly everyone bears some of the blame. Or do they? Describing the interconnected intricacies of the plot would not do this book justice. It must be read without preconceptions. It must be experienced and internalized.

Many thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for this ARC to experience and review.

I had a difficult time choosing a genre for this book. The different stories of different time periods and characters were often confusing. Was this realistic fiction? Intrigue? Mystery? Love and romance? I settled on family fiction because although the characters were intriguing, I did not think they were truly realistic. Morgan and Benji...their story is unique...This is a difficult story to read and comprehend. That made it all the more intriguing. Thanks Netgalley

This book started out with planning to go to a wedding, so I expected a joyous read. Alas, this book was dark and somber, focusing on a family after their child, ALICE, had died by suicide. The reader joins the family at the Maine wedding site, but spends pages analyzing the death of Alice, her funeral service and ultimately, the death of the family.

I really didn’t like the characters. I was uncomfortable with each of them. The only characters that were likable were the bridal couple and the aged grandmother, on the cusp of total dementia. Least likable was a non-family member, Ezra who turns up as the escort of Alice’s mother. He is a manipulative villain in a nest of deceit and cruelty.

I rarely comment on writing style, but I found myself befuddled by the author’s continued use of words that diminished rather than enhanced her writing. In a random few pages she used proprioception, contravention, annihilative… I think her use of Uber-vocabulary was simply overkill and actually detracted from the smooth readability of the novel.

All this being said, there is much that is positive about the novel, but I found too much stereotyping and I really disliked the epilogue and its positive view of the afterlife of a suicide. I would hope that families in trouble would try to work with their teenager’s emotional issues rather than think after the swath of destruction that she’s in a better place.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this emotionally charged novel.

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. There are an alarming number of unlikeable characters in this story. Morgan and Benji were the only ones I actually liked at the end. The writing style for me was a little unsettling. There were so many unfamiliar words that seemed to be interjected that didn’t seem part of normal everyday intelligent conversation.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book but initially had some trouble getting into the myriad of characters who are all assembled at Morgan and Benji's wedding. The opening scene had me hooked as it has an unnamed girl with a violin case jumping off a bridge...but then we're at the wedding and get into the "backstory" of the couple, their parents, and oh so much drama as they all have secrets and relationships that we need to be aware of before they tie the knot! The devil is in the details of course and once I'd grasped the root of it, I liked unraveling the story as we know families have theatrics that not all are aware of and often come out when they gather!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I was excited for a chance to read “The World After Alice,” Laura Aliza Green’s first novel. My family has been affected by suicide so the novel’s topic tugged on a few heart strings for me. Warning: this may not be an easy read for some individuals but it is a well done one.

When Benji lost his sister, Alice, Morgan lost her best friend. Twelve years later, Benji and Morgan announce their engaged to their two astonished families. The two families will be together for the first time since Alice’s funeral. The novel brings us to the weekend of the wedding but also focuses on Alice’s death and its aftermath.

“The World After Alice” is both poignant and heart-breaking. Parts of it are also very painful because of the topic, which the author handles expertly as she does describing the dysfunctional dynamics of Alice’s family.

Four and a half stars.

I want to thank the publisher, NetGalley and Viking for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

I am not normally one for thrillers. I guess that's what this book is -- maybe a family drama with an element of mystery and secrets. This book was blurbed by a lot of authors i like, which prompted me to read it. It was pretty engrossing. IMPORTANT NOTE: The story starts and primarily focuses on the suicide of a high school girl and the impacts on her extended family. It's a tangled web of steps and exes, lots of people who have parts of the story that they don't tell others. It made me sad (of course), but also keep me interested in wanting to know more about if/how the characters would make their peace with the tragedy even these years later as they gather for a family wedding. Recommended.

It took me a while to get into this book. The characters were not likable at all, with the exception of Benji. The family was totally dysfunctional, especially Linnie and Nick. I did like the writing style and the way the story was laid out into parts between the past and the present.

The World After Alice is the story of the Weil family in the aftermath of the death of Alice. Linnie, her mother, is a former dancer who projects her failed career on Alice, who is a violinist. This causes trouble between them. Nick, the father, is having an affair with a young secretary who becomes his wife once his current marriage ends. Benji, the younger brother, is pretty much left adrift in the midst of all the turmoil.

The story centers on Benji, as an adult, marrying Alice’s friend, Morgan. The wedding celebration is filled with family drama on both sides until Benji sits everyone down and gives them an ultimatum-this weekend is about Morgan and me.

As I said, it took me a while to get into, but it was enjoyable. Sad, but enjoyable. I want to thank NetGalley and Viking for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.