Alice Love is living the perfect, if uneventful, life. She has a large savings account built up, perfect credit, a decent job, and a life that is drama (and adventure) free. That all changes when she meets Ella at a yoga class. The two become friends fast, like they’d known each other for years. Then Ella leaves without a word and Alice discovers her perfect life has started to fall apart around her. Her credit is ruined, her savings gone, and her life just got a lot more complicated. In an attempt to figure out what went wrong, Alice takes on the persona of the woman who ruined her life and finds out that while she’s been planning for her life she’s forgotten to live it.
If there’s one thing McDonald does well in this book, it’s craft a main character. Alice isn’t always likable, there are points in this book where I couldn’t stand her, but she comes across as a real person. Alice is full of faults, insecurities, and untapped potential. As you read this book you will feel for her problems, cringe at her mistakes, and applaud for her when she stands up for herself. The plot itself brings something unique to a sort of “chick-lit-lite” book. While the story of a woman going through a life altering crisis to find herself isn’t new, I like the twist McDonald throws at you. Identity theft is a real worry and seeing it as the pivotal point in the text creates an interesting dynamic. The other characters, however, aren’t quite as dynamic as Alice and come across a little flat. Even the antagonist Ella doesn’t seem quite as developed as she should be.
I found “The Liberation of Alice Love” to be an entertaining read, but not as original as I would have liked. McDonald brings a unique twist to her story line, of identity theft forcing her main character to come to terms with her identity, but other than that it feels like a lot of the same old thing you’ll find in any other “chick-lit” book. While the side characters in this book feel flat, the dynamic Alice Love will keep you reading and you will want to find out how it all ends once you start. I’d keep this book on hand for a rainy day.
