3.5 stars
Alice is a girl who died as a teenager. Some years later, her brother and best friend are getting married, so her family and friends are reunited for the occasion. The tragedy of Alice's death is still very much on everyone's mind, even at this event that should be joyous. The book takes place in the present, with flashbacks that help explain the people and their actions. This is a very character driven book and will likely not appeal to readers who are looking for more action. I think I would have liked it more if I had liked the characters more.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

After Alice has the same flavor of stories like The Most Fun We Ever Had and Hello Beautiful.

Benji and Morgan are getting married and Benji was Alice’s sister and Morgan’s best friend. Alice died twelve years ago and how that impacts Benji and Morgan but also both of their families is explored in this story.

I saw a good amount of reviews that weren’t fans of this story largely due to the subject matter but I really enjoyed it. I love character driven stories that explore family dynamics and relationships and this story does that very, very well. I really found myself enamored with so many of the characters, especially Linnie. While there is a strong undertone of grief and loss, I looked forward to reading this and was very invested in the future of these characters.

This is a slower paced story and one I really recommend if you are a fan of Ann Napolitano or Claire Lombardo.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel. Unfortunately, the premise did not draw me as expected and I did not ended up finishing it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: This is a debut novel and it's a solid debut. The novel takes place 12 years after Alice's suicide at the wedding of her brother to her former best friend. As the families gather, they revisit the history that led up to Alice's death and they make new history. I found the story dragged a bit and also got somewhat confusing in the first half but the latter part of the book brought the many threads together beautifully. Even with revisiting the past, some aspects remain a mystery and some truths are revealed. The epilogue was very touching. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

This book was a joy to read. I enjoyed the way the story flowed and I had a few moments that kind of made me question a few things. The characters were very interesting and I had smile quite a few times. This author really knows how to tell a story that will captivate you from the very beginning. I highly recommend this book and this author.

Over a decade after her death, Alice's brother and best friend are gearing up for their wedding. This wedding will bring together their families, who were torn apart by Alice's passing and can barely stand to be in the same room. The wedding weekend interweaves with flashbacks to the weeks leading up to Alice's death to paint a full picture.

I thought this book was beautifully written. It covers some incredibly complex family dynamics and does so with such depth and clarity. It is told though multiple POV's, all connected by Alice. Despite Alice not really being in the book, she still feels incredibly central to the story and you get a good sense of who she was through everyone else's eyes.

There are a lot of secrets revealed throughout the book and I think it paints an excellent picture of how grief impacts everyone around you.

I will say the writing was slow in some places and I think there were a couple of plot points that weren't fully addressed by the end of the book, but I would definitely recommend it still.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking for the ARC!

Nothing like an engagement that shocks two families and brings with it years of history and plenty of drama!

This book had the recipe for everything I love in a book. I usually enjoy melancholy, complicated, family sagas but I don’t think this one had enough depth to really pull me in.

It was often slow moving but the pace fit the mood of the book. We jump back and forth through many characters and it is easy to get lost. However having each of their stories and perspectives is vital to understanding the nuances to the situation. I found it to be moving and fascinating but also a bit dull.

Go into this prepared for a character driven novel with a a few “revelations” from the past that pull the story along. The characters are flawed and unlikable at times but the story does well to inspire compassion for the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

'The World After Alice' is an exploration of what happens after the classic tale of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This text follows a new narrative that follows Alice as she grapples with the aftermath of her fantastical journey. Blending elements of fantasy, mystery, and personal growth, 'The World After Alice' encourages readers to ponder the boundaries between dreams and waking life.

This was a very nice debut novel by Lauren Aliza Green. Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Group Viking and of course Lauren Aliza Green for the arc in return for an honest review.

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I tore through THE WORLD AFTER ALICE the weekend before last. This novel is a family saga that beautifully discusses heavy topics and is full of complicated characters so naturally, I couldn’t get enough.

Twelve years after the loss of Alice, who tragically dies by suicide as a teenager, her brother Benji is set to marry her best friend, Morgan, at a wedding in Maine.

I appreciate that THE WORLD AFTER ALICE centers on the lasting effects of grief and loss, a topic far less explored in literature than acute grief. The families gather in Maine to celebrate a new chapter, and their grief shows up alongside them. Green also impressively showcases how each character’s journey with grief is personal, and that the different ways of grieving can often clash.

The pacing of the story is also excellent; I was gripped from start to finish. Though the characters are what bring the novel to life, there is also a lot of plot: secrets and betrayals and questionable relationships. Reading it felt realistically like attending a family wedding in your hometown, where each of the relationships in the room is longstanding and complicated — and some are potentially explosive.

Last but certainly not least: the prose is beautiful. It is measured and simple in structure, but woven together, it much more intricate than visible at first glance. If I could’ve wished for something different, it would’ve been more descriptions of my beloved New England (what else is new?).

Have you read THE WORLD AFTER ALICE? If you are a fellow fan of HELLO BEAUTIFUL, THE MOST FUN I EVER HAD, BLACK CAKE, or ASK AGAIN, YES, this is for you.

This story had so many characters and layers that were all affected the day died. The family gathers together for a wedding they didn't know was happening--for a couple they didn't know existed. Lots of family drama and dealing with their trauma.

[3.5 stars]

This book had all the puzzle pieces to make a great debut, but they just didn’t come together super smoothly.
I love that the story was centered around a wedding - I love books centered around a big event because each character is generally bringing their own struggles or baggage to the event and part of the suspense is seeing how all these are going to settle after the author shakes the snow globe.
The dynamics that these families are dealing with are messy and fascinating. They’re driven by a very real tragedy, so they feel authentic, not like orchestrated drama.
The story flips back and forth in time…from the wedding weekend to the past where we learn about Alice, how her death impacted each of these characters, how Benji and Morgan got together, and what happened to Alice’s parent’s marriage after her death. All this is meaty material.
My issues:
The execution is uneven. I was completely engrossed in the story at times, but found my mind wandering during some unnecessary tangents.
The writing is sometimes excellent, but overwritten at times. It seemed like she occasionally fell into the trap of “let me make sure I’m showing off my MFA in this book,” rather than just focusing on telling a good story.
Though the publisher compared this to Seating Arrangements and The Most Fun We Ever Had, I think it more closely resembles Ask Again, Yes. But, AAY executed this concept better.
I think Lauren Aliza Green has a lot of promise and I look forward to trying her next books once she becomes a little surer in her execution.

A family drama at its core. Lots and lots of drama. Families gather for a wedding that is a big surprise to everyone in attendance. Morgan and Benji kept their romance a secret as they didn’t want the scrutiny of their family, who are years later, still so very broken. Their collective worlds blew up when Alice committed suicide and there are still so many questions. She was Morgan's BFF and Benji’s sister and they rather than let the loss destroy them found their forever in each other. Its an emotional read that involves love, loss, suicide, divorce, healthy and unhealthy relationships, grief and so much more. An interesting and emotional, but not easy read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This is Green's debut novel. The World After Alice, tells the story of the Weil family members after the tragic death of sixteen-year-old Alice. It'a a family drama tat pulls at your heart strings.

This book kept me from really getting into the characters since it had a third person point of view. There was very little dialogue and felt very slow.

I greatly enjoyed this book. Having personal experience with two familial suicides, the characters' guilty feelings about their involvement/cause of the suicide at the heart of this story rung very true. Humans and their relationships are complicated and this book demonstrates that well. Characters are well-developed and complex.

In case you missed it, it’s lit fic girl summer over here. Sure, I’ll be tossing in fast-paced rom-coms and thrillers here and there, but lately, my tastes have gravitated towards character-driven dramas and novels full of observational details and thoughtful commentary.

My latest lit fic obsession? THE WORLD AFTER ALICE, the debut novel by Lauren Aliza Green.

Twelve years after the unthinkable death of Alice, a teenage girl, her best friend Morgan and her younger brother Benji announce that they’re getting married, a move that shocks everyone in their orbit. In the wake of the nuptials at Benji’s family’s summer home in Maine, the two families join together for a weekend that stirs up old feelings: Peter, Morgan’s father, does not want the wedding to proceed, while Linnie, Benji’s mother, brings a new boyfriend with a dark past. Meanwhile Nick, Benji’s father, is keeping the fact that he lost his job a secret from his mistress-turned-wife. Even the couple themselves are at a crossroads ahead of the big day, as deep secrets threaten to jeopardize their happily ever after.

THIS is a book that checked all of my boxes, right down to the stunning cover. I love a family drama, I love a novel with multiple POVs, I love a wedding weekend, I love rich people problems, I love alternating timelines complete with flashbacks. To top it all off: the writing is excellent. There are plenty of family dramas out there, but this one truly feels elevated thanks to Green’s sharp style.

For those of you that like character-driven novels—and especially ones where the characters make frustrating decisions and have flaws and feel deeply human—this will likely really work for you. There are a lot of characters and it does take a minute to keep track of them all, but once you do, this book soars. While I’ve been sharing a lot of beach books and breezy reads, this one is a deeper and more emotional July release. It’s deeply felt and explores the way grief manifests, even years after the tragedy occurs.

This one really worked for me, and I’d strongly recommend to anyone who also loves a novel with deeply drawn characters.

It has been twelve years since Alice died. Shockingly, Alice jumped off the bridge and the domino effect still was reverberating through the two families. Much to the two families surprise, Morgan (Alice's best friend) and Benji (Alice's brother) announce their engagement.

The pair decides to get married in Maine and this is the first time the two families have been together since Alice's funeral.

I didn't find drawn to any of the characters. I found the story to be painful and not enjoyable.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Possible trigger: suicide

This novel is about sixteen-year-old Alice’s suicide, a broken marriage, secret relationships and crushes, and a wedding. The characters are flawed, some selfish and self-absorbed, and most unlikeable. We learn about them and their connection to Alice when they are forced to share air space at the wedding between Alice’s brother and best childhood friend. Mostly estranged or hiding something that will certainly bubble up, the characters are still expected to behave themselves and— their deep wounds can heal a bit through tough love or forced togetherness—to become better people.

This book has weighty themes and well-developed characters, but the pacing slogs much of the time which has the odd effect of feeling tortured to be stuck at the wedding with so many awful people! Perhaps that’s the point.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Viking and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

don’t know how to feel about this book. None of the characters were likable or memorable. Alice’s mother seemed that she cared but didn’t all the same. It seems as though she wasn’t ever happy with Nick. She lived to be the perfect wife and have the perfect family to make up for her failed ballerina career. Nick, I don’t even know what he was. He was just an olde man who was ever confused as conflicted, and almost a coward. He looked for the easy way out and so did Lenny. I didn’t even feel the love between Benny and Morgan.