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Now I'll Tell You Everything Alice Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Books

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Now I'll Tell You Everything Alice Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Books

I've been reading the Alice books since I discovered "Alice in Rapture, Sort Of" when I was in the fourth grade. I didn't even know what the word "rapture" meant when I picked up the book (but I did by the end of it ). I'm 31 years old now, and having spent my childhood and young adulthood reading the books every year, I am sad to have finished the last one. I honestly don't know of another series in which the author has dedicated such a large chunk of time and energy, and I am grateful to have discovered these books. Mrs. Naylor, if you read reviews, thank you so much for sharing these characters with us for so long.

*Spoilers ahead*:
My overall assessment is that Naylor did an excellent job staying true to the characters, addressing any burning questions and tying up loose ends. I can tell that Naylor tried hard to carefully construct Alice's social experiences at college to be pretty realistic, complete with shady guys, new friends, and an awful roommate. The early years of marriage rang true as well. The author did spend more time on the college and post-college years than on the later years, and the more mature years were mostly summaries of how her kids were doing mixed with random anecdotes ( Lester on Rollerblades?). There weren't as many awkward moments or funny parts in the second half of the book, but I suppose Alice has grown up and she's less naive now. The ending was satisfying while still leaving a little up to the imagination, and I liked the way that the author referenced previous events in other books, making you reminisce about reading them as well. She made everything come full circle at the end, giving the entire series even greater purpose.

My one issue with the book, and it's small one, relating to the plot, is that I did not like the way that she nonchalantly glossed over Alice's breast cancer. Yes, it was Stage 1 and she ended up being fine, but chemo is much more difficult than she made it seem in the novel. Furthermore, once you have cancer, you think about it the rest of your life. It changes you. Alice would have at least thought about it down the line or celebrated her five or ten year cancer-free anniversary. My mom had thyroid cancer five years ago, and is currently battling Stage 1 breast cancer, and I know for a fact that this impacts her life in a much greater manner than Alice's cancer impacts hers. But anyway, this didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book--it was just a minor annoyance.


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Now I'll Tell You Everything Alice Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Books Reviews

I wasn't going to write my own review after reading several others and thinking "That is EXACTLY how I feel," but was easily persuaded to write one anyway. After all, if Mrs. Naylor was motivated to write 28 books that I've loved, one review on her last isn't too much to ask! (It's a long review. My apologies in advance.)

***Spoilers ahead - read with caution!***

I was disappointed in the last couple of Alice books, so I was afraid to get my hopes up too much for this one. Even before the last few books, I was afraid to get my hopes up because there's no way the final book could live up to what I wanted - or maybe needed - it to be. I've been reading the books since middle school, and I'm now a high school English teacher who adores sharing the series with my own students. I'm sad that this is the last time I'll have a new Alice book to read, because of all the authors whose new works I eagerly anticipate, this is always my most-anticipated new release every year.

What I didn't like, for starters, because that list is shorter
- I wish Alice's college years had been their own separate book. I felt like I didn't know Dave at all, and I fully admit that I might like him more on the re-reading of the book. My initial reaction to Dave was "No! Go away! You're not Patrick!" (I am not the "couple-shipping" type at all. Alice and Patrick are my major exception to that rule.) It all just seemed to happen too fast with him - we didn't hear about him at all, then suddenly the first year of college is over and Alice is saying, "Oh, yeah, I like Dave," to Liz and Pam and I'm asking, "Who is DAVE?!" I do like the rough sketch of the college friends and would like to have seen them fleshed out a little more.

- For some reason it bothered me that Lester got married so soon in the book. I wish I could even figure out why that bothers me. He spent 27 books as a bachelor, but was engaged almost right off the bat in this book. I did like Stacy, and of course his triplets, but the jump right into marriage for him bugged me for a reason I can't even really put my finger on.

- I'm also sort of sorry that Pamela got married. I liked the idea that not all of the original gang's "happily ever after" ended in marriage, then suddenly she was married too. I could have seen her being happy as a dating bachelorette for the rest of her life, and (as a non-married person in my 30s) I liked the idea that a happy ending didn't HAVE to mean marriage.

- Some of the language and situations took me out of the moment a little, as mentioned in previous books where Phyllis didn't quite have the handle on modern lingo. Pamela's "Cripes!" at one point made me say "REALLY?!" out loud.

- Like another review said, I wasn't looking for erotica in Alice's love scenes, but after her over-analyzing and obsessing about her first time for the past 20+ books, I wish there had been a little more to it. I know most things were very abbreviated in this particular book, but that was the kind of thing that had always been important to Alice and I would have liked for it to be explored a little more.

- I kind of wanted Ross to make another appearance in Liz's life, but I can live without that happening. I got Alice and Patrick, so I can live without Liz and Ross.

What I liked
- ALICE AND PATRICK GOT MARRIED. Deserving of all caps. So worth the wait.

- I cried and cried when Alice's dad died, so maybe I shouldn't say I liked that, but I thought it was so well-written and handled so well. Definitely one of the saddest deaths I've read about in fiction, though - probably because of my long-term attachment to the McKinley family.

- The scene in which Alice went into labor with Patricia was easily my favorite scene in the whole book. The Alice/Lester interactions were so classically Alice and Lester, and I loved it so much.

- The school counselor career. Alice's character was such a perfect fit for that career, and I loved her using her own teenage trials to help her connect to her students. The sex ed part was, again, so perfectly in character.

- The train journey and New Orleans hijinks weren't my favorite parts of the book, but they were also very in keeping with the characters I've known and loved for so long, and I loved that they still retained so much of that same brand of friendship. I could see echoes of their younger selves in those scenes and that made me happy.

- Mrs. Stedmeister throwing a shower for Alice. I love that she and her husband remained part of Alice's life, and I love what Phyllis did with their characters in the books after Mark's death.

- Although I wasn't happy about Alice and Patrick's breakup in college, I thought it was written absolutely perfectly. I've been the Alice reading the breakup letter before, and her thoughts and fears and the dread in her stomach as she read about Jessica in his blog hit home with me in a big way. (This would, however, be on the list of things I didn't like if it hadn't ended the way I wanted.)

- The note in the box with the wedding dress from Alice's mother. I cried. I cried a lot. So perfect.

- The time capsule scene, and the reminders throughout the book of things that had happened long ago. I had just been thinking at one point, "I guess Alice knows by now if she ever wound up with the tennis ball breasts that she wanted," and it made me smile so much to see that referenced in the last chapter.

Overall
I've read lots of series and seen lots of TV shows in which the writers paid too much attention to what the fans demanded, and the quality of the books/shows/etc. suffered for it because what the fans wanted wasn't what was best for the characters or the storyline. I know without even reading interviews that Phyllis must have had a lot of pressure from longtime readers to end the series with Alice and Patrick together, and whether that was her original plan many books ago or not, it worked. It worked so well. She made it beautiful, and I'm so grateful for that.

This is a five-star book that the casual reader would give only one or two stars too - and if not for my past with the series, I'd agree, because of the skimming and choppiness. But this isn't a bestseller kind of book; it's a love letter to the longtime fans, and this fan is so happy to have read it.
I was in my 20s, I think, when I first started reading the Alice series...but even though I preordered every single book I put this one off. I suppose towards the end of the series what was happening in my life made the books feel less relevant. But I’m at a point, crossroads, and I knew that the book covered Alice at my current age and beyond. Written by a woman whom I trust and love, hoping that the answer I need right now would be in the book, and it was. Alice and I are more different than alike. Very much so. But there is a universality in life, in people, and the biggest questions often have the smallest answers and are applicable to almost everyone. If you love Alice, I can’t imagine you’d skip this book or even bother with the reviews, but if you’re wondering, start at the beginning, and if you are new and this particular book caught your attention, read this and then go back and read the rest! And if you are looking for a little more of the advice Alice always goes out and tracks down, it’s in here. I gave the book 4 stars for a sort of unfair reason, it’s difficult to write a book like this, covering so many years, without it becoming a sort of summary.
I've been reading the Alice books since I discovered "Alice in Rapture, Sort Of" when I was in the fourth grade. I didn't even know what the word "rapture" meant when I picked up the book (but I did by the end of it ). I'm 31 years old now, and having spent my childhood and young adulthood reading the books every year, I am sad to have finished the last one. I honestly don't know of another series in which the author has dedicated such a large chunk of time and energy, and I am grateful to have discovered these books. Mrs. Naylor, if you read reviews, thank you so much for sharing these characters with us for so long.

*Spoilers ahead*
My overall assessment is that Naylor did an excellent job staying true to the characters, addressing any burning questions and tying up loose ends. I can tell that Naylor tried hard to carefully construct Alice's social experiences at college to be pretty realistic, complete with shady guys, new friends, and an awful roommate. The early years of marriage rang true as well. The author did spend more time on the college and post-college years than on the later years, and the more mature years were mostly summaries of how her kids were doing mixed with random anecdotes ( Lester on Rollerblades?). There weren't as many awkward moments or funny parts in the second half of the book, but I suppose Alice has grown up and she's less naive now. The ending was satisfying while still leaving a little up to the imagination, and I liked the way that the author referenced previous events in other books, making you reminisce about reading them as well. She made everything come full circle at the end, giving the entire series even greater purpose.

My one issue with the book, and it's small one, relating to the plot, is that I did not like the way that she nonchalantly glossed over Alice's breast cancer. Yes, it was Stage 1 and she ended up being fine, but chemo is much more difficult than she made it seem in the novel. Furthermore, once you have cancer, you think about it the rest of your life. It changes you. Alice would have at least thought about it down the line or celebrated her five or ten year cancer-free anniversary. My mom had thyroid cancer five years ago, and is currently battling Stage 1 breast cancer, and I know for a fact that this impacts her life in a much greater manner than Alice's cancer impacts hers. But anyway, this didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book--it was just a minor annoyance.