Monday, August 17, 2015

Now I'll Tell You Everything By: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

(CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT!!)
Now I'll Tell You Everything (Alice #25)
Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: September 2014
Format: Paperback
Pages: 544
Rating: 4.5/5
Summary:
It's Alice-for the rest of her life! Yes, the very last Alice book, and it reveals every last bit you'd want to know about Alice, including whether she spends the rest of her life with Patrick! "This is the book where Alice, every girl;s girl, turns into every lady's lady" (VOYA).

Alice McKinley is going to college! And everything, from her room to her classes to her friends, is about to change. Stoically, nervously, Alice puts her best foot forward...and steps into the rest of her life.


Will Alice's dream of becoming a psychologist come true? Are she and her BFFs destined to remain BFF? And with so many miles between them, will Alice and Patrick stay together...or break up for good? Will there be baby Alice's in her future? As Alice well knows, life isn't always so predictable, and there are more than a few curveballs waiting to be thrown her way.


This is it. The grand finale. Everything you've ever wanted to know about Alice McKinley will be revealed!


Review:
Let me first start of by saying that Phyllis Reynolds Naylor started this series in 1985, planning to only write one novel about a girl who has to face life without a mother at a very young age. The fact that fans were so compelled to this story back then, it caused Phyllis to continue the story for her readers to follow as Alice grows up into a little girl, teenager, young adult, and now in her late 60's having created a life for herself and has the pleasure of watching her children and grandchildren grow up into amazing people. She planned on writing 28 books but stopped at a mere 25! This is the last book which was originally published in 2013. How crazy is it that an entire lifetime was spent creating a lifetime of a character...

I would have to say that this last Alice book in the series was the best by far! I really wished that it was longer, because I do feel that most of the story was rushed right after college. There were some things that caught you off guard like when Alice met Patrick in the Airport randomly passing by, which turned into her not even getting on the plane. At first i was always rooting for the relationship to fail, because so many things happened to Alice where I was thinking "Just break up! he's no good for you!" But as I soon began to realize throughout the series, is that there was always a connection between the two, and it started when Alice was trying on pants at the store, and accidentally walked into Patrick's change room instead.


While reading this book, a lot of things went through my mind. some main points I couldn't believe would have to be when Alice got sexually assaulted, Patrick breaking up with her in a letter, messy roommate who had sex in Alice's bed, AND left the CONDOM UNDER THE SHEETS!!


For a while Alice was with a guy named Dave, and I was definitely rooting for her to be with him, but I could tell that she was not 100% into the relationship, so when they first has sex with him, then got engaged, I could tell it wasn't going to last. In her heart it was always Patrick. I didn't understand why she kept Dave strolling along, when she wasn't really into the relationship at all...


When it came time for Alice to come home, and clean out the attic, she found her mother;s wedding dress, but decided to leave it alone, when she was with Dave. Also soon as Patrick proposed, she grabbed the box and opened it up to see how the dress stood after all the years... I think what got me the most, other than the fact that the dress was left for Alice by her birth mother, still in tact, not damage; was the note saying "I'm sure I would have loved him" OH THE FEELS!!!


After that part I found that the rest of the story, jumped very fast; I mean she was pregnant and had the baby all in one chapter...I understand that it was time to move on and see what happens with Alice and Patrick, and let me tell you it all!


They have stayed married all these years, had to face the death of their family members constantly, Alice had a cancer scare, but also saw the great moments of their children growing up and becoming a family of their own, as well of course Lester having triplets as somewhat of an older age!


Also the time capsule that they had dug up once they turned sixty, was probably the greatest reunion anyone could have! So many memories, and sharing of their own stories at that time.


Overall I really enjoyed the book and the fact that I felt like I was growing up with Alice. I had many moments when I was reading that made me feel happiness, excitement, sadness, loss, joy, and shock. Alice went through so many different aspects of her life, which does get shown when they talk about the time capsule.


This series represented a girl who has lived a life with multiple ups and downs, and has found a way to be happy with everything she has and so much more!!



So until then, Keep Reading
Your Graduated Bookworm :)

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