Audiobook Review: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
What Alice Forgot
Author: Liane Moriarty
Narrator: Tamara Lovatt Smith
Published: May 1, 2010
Audiobook: 13 hours 32 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: March 15-23, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over…
Jessica’s Review:
Imagine this: You wake up in the hospital. Other than being unsure why you are there, you are thinking you are 29, have a happy marriage, and newly expecting your first child. And it is 1998. Then you are told it is actually 2008, you are 39 (No Way!?!?! That’s middle age!!!) with three children (Wait a minute..not one but three kids!?!?!), estranged from your sister, and in the middle of a divorce (WHAT!?!?). That’s what happens to Alice after she has a fall in the gym.
This is the basic premise of What Alice Forgot. The reader/listener goes on the journey with Alice to try and figure out the who, what, when, and whys over the forgotten last ten years. There are many mini mysteries that Alice must figure out, or does she even want to? This is a book about family misunderstandings, forgiveness, second chances, and love.
Can you imagine missing the last ten years of your life?!?! This was a book club read and called for a lot of discussions. The ten years that Alice forgot a lot happened in the world: She doesn’t even remember 9/11. And then all of the technological changes over that time including Y2K! Even going back from now in 2026 to back to 2016, I have gone through so many changes! It’s scary to think about.
I did have some issued with the narration. At times it was hard to distinguish differences in characters journals/homework, etc. I had to go back in my audiobook at the beginning of most chapters to figure out who or when the chapter was occurring. Maybe a second narrator or even just a change in her tone would have been helpful.
Other than the narration issues, I did enjoy this one!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK