Alice in Everville by S.C. Langgle

Synopsis:
A poem can seem like a labyrinth, a maze of words you can lose yourself in. The key is to find a thread to hold on to, to guide you in your reading, to lead you into and out of a labyrinth of words… 

Alice Little thinks she’s read every word the world-famous poet Sylvie Plate published before her untimely death…until she discovers a coded message hidden in Sylvie’s final collection of poems--a message that may explain the poet’s mysterious demise. 

All she has to do is decipher the code and she knows she can convince her beloved English teacher, Miss A, that Sylvie’s message is real. Unfortunately, she only has one manic day at Everville Mall to do it. And between keeping track of her fountain-splashing, havoc-wreaking sister, finding a new copy of Sylvie’s poems, and…oh yeah…dealing with the blue-eyed, guitar-playing, majorly swoon-worthy Jaden Briar, who keeps popping up everywhere she goes, Alice wonders if she will ever finish deciphering in time.

My Thoughts:

I’m not exactly sure how to pinpoint what I didn’t like about this book. I didn’t really care for the book. It felt too rushed. I’m assuming that Alice’s mother's depression is from having Jillie turn out the way she did, but it’s never explained very well. Actually, the book never comes out and says she has depression. From hearing her symptoms, I’m assuming she does. Also, the book is never clear about what is wrong with Jillie. I’m not sure if she was an overly hyper child, had ADHD, some form of mental illness, or something completely different. The thing that bothered me the most were the knock-off pop culture references. Sylvia Platt was Sylvie Plate. Forever 21 was Never 22. There were a lot of things throughout the book like that. I’m not sure if the author did it for legal purposes or not, but it annoyed me. The only thing I liked about the book was Sylvie’s message at the end. The message was powerful and struck a chord with me. I probably won’t be picking up any of the author’s future works. 

I give Alice in Everville: 2/5.

Want to know more about the author?
Blog: http://www.sclanggle.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sc.langgle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SCLanggle
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5872495.S_C_Langgle

I received this ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.