Book Review: "The Liberation of Alice Love" by Abby McDonald

Summary from the publisher: Alice Love keeps her life (and job, and family) running in perfect order, so when her bank card is declined, she thinks it’s just a mistake. Sadly, someone has emptied her bank account, spending her savings on glamorous trips, sexy lingerie, and a to-die-for wardrobe—and leaving Alice with lots of debt. As a dashing fraud investigator helps her unravel the intriguing paper trail, Alice discovers that the thief is closer to home than she ever imagined. What’s more, it seems like her alter ego’s reckless, extravagant lifestyle is the one Alice should have been leading all along. As the little white lies begin to stack up, how far will Alice go to find the truth?

And whose life, exactly, is she fighting for?

Identity theft is a scary thing. Our identity is the most precious thing we can have and when someone takes that away from us, what really do we have left? Alice discovers that someone close to her has been using her identity, taking everything that was precious and dear to her and using it for their own good. When she investigates further into why the person did it, instead of having her questions answered she begins to wonder if the life she was leading was the best life for her or if there was another road she should have taken instead.

The part I liked best about the book was Alice's evolving relationship with her sister. They hadn't been close for most of their lives but due to events in this book they finally became the family that they should. I really found their scenes to be enjoyable to read and I wish more of the book had been focused on them. Alice's relationship with the men in this book is a bit of a roller coaster ride as she tries to discover who she really is and who she wants to be. There's quite a bit of humor and lot of British sayings and wit to be found as well.

While I enjoyed McDonald's writing and the overall story, there were some bits that did bother me. One is the obvious character of the identity thief. I absolutely hated the flippant way that they treated the entire situation and how they were so proud of what they did. They had no real remorse and deemed it an inconvenience that they were caught. Then they tried to spin it off that they were really just helping out Alice. I'm not the morality police or anything but it just made me feel very uncomfortable that there are people who just don't care about anything. The second is that I felt that Alice just let things go too easily. Once she realizes who it is, it's almost as if she gave them a freebie pass because she knew who they were. Then what she does after that just wasn't really normal in my opinion. I just got a bit annoyed with her for just accepting everything and using her situation as an excuse to better her life.

Overall though it is an engaging story. The situation that Abby finds herself in is a very real situation that could happen to any of us at any time. It made me want to be more cautious about my privacy and be on the lookout the best I can to prevent this from happening. If you enjoy chick lit, you will probably enjoy this book. I've read and enjoyed McDonald's YA books and I am looking forward to reading more of her books soon.

The Liberation of Alice Love by Abby McDonald is published by Sourcebooks Landmark (2011)

This ARC was provided by the publisher