This is a story of family secrets and follows the marriage of Morgan and Benji who kept their relationship a secret from both families but they hope the wedding will bring the families together following the loss of Alice 12 years ago who was Benji's sister and Morgan's best friend.
Loved Morgan and Benji as they tried to get the families together and put aside any resentment or secrets so they can have a peaceful wedding, but deep resentments come out as well as love affairs that threaten the wedding.
The story does keep jumping from flashbacks to Alice and then to the present day but overall a good story of family traits.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a book showing the grief the family experiences after death, and how it affects each person individually.

The writing is very dry and found it hard to get through at times and it is most definitely a character study, rather than a plot focused book.

It begins with Alice’s brother Benji announcing their wedding, and follows each family member as they get ready for the wedding and how they feel following Alice’s death.

The timeline jumped around a lot to before Alice, and after which could be a little jarring at times as it would happen mid paragraph sometimes.

All in all I feel it really represented grief in a profound way, and showed the complexities of family relationships. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

It's an interesting idea for a story - two families who have been affected by the death of the titular Alice are brought together again through the wedding of her best friend and her brother years later.

All the characters have been affected to a greater or lesser extent by her death and most carry secrets and burdens that the wedding brings to the surface.

It did take me a while to get into and though the main story of the wedding takes place over a weekend, the rest of the story and history is revealed through flashbacks. This was occasionally a bit confusing and sometimes felt a bit disjointed. This led to the pace of the story being a bit off for me. I wasn't really too bothered about most of the characters either. Overall though I did enjoy the writing style.

A good read but unfortunately not a great one for me.

A lovely and literary exploration of a family that's still grieving, 12 years after the death of daughter Alice.

Now her younger brother is getting married to her old frenemy, after hiding their relationship from both sets of parents. Gathering everyone in the same place again brings conflict and memories to the surface. Benji's parents have split up and found new partners since the loss of his sister. Morgan barely speaks to hers. All they can be sure of is the affection they have for one another.

There are multiple viewpoint characters, as we spend time with parents and grown children alike. We cross multiple points of time in the telling, too. Much of the book is preoccupied by Alice's funeral, for example (occasionally slowing down the plot, a little too my frustration), and certainly just as much at the wedding. But we see glimpses of other moments too - time Alice spends with Morgen, her brother, or with the lecturer who's now dating her mother.

I found myself caring about all of these characters almost immediately, despite their myriad flaws, and that was enough to pull me through the book, eager to find out more, despite it not being really in any way at all a page-turner. Yes, it's told in a very literary style and I did have to look up a few words now and then - but it worked for me in this story. I was carried away, past and present, keen to see their developing future.

This is the author's debut, and I'd like to come back to see what she does with her second book.

The disappearance of Alice, then accepting her death. The ripples from this event have had far reaching consequences.
The wedding of Alice's brother and her friend. A romance kept secret from both families because of the shared history.
Meeting again for the wedding the dynamics and repercussions.
A multi layered story about love and loss.

When Morgan and Benji surprise their families with a wedding invitation to Maine, they're aware that the news of their clandestine relationship will come as a shock. Twelve years have passed with the stunning loss of sixteen-year-old Alice, Benji's sister, and Alice's best friend, and no one is quite the same. But the young couple decide to plunge headlong into matrimony, marking the first time their fractured families will reunite since Alice's funeral. As the arriving guests descend upon the tranquil coastal town, they bring with them not only skepticism about impromptu nuptials, but also deep-seated secrets and agendas of their own.

This story takes place over a weekend. It's told in the present day, but we get flashbacks telling us what happened in the past. We learn of Alice's death twelve years ago. This character-driven story is filled with secrets and regrets. I felt the pace was a bit on the slow side. There are a few twists along the way. The epilogue is quite emotional.

Published 1st August 2024

I would like to thank #NetGalley #MichaelJoseph #PenguinRandomHouse and the author #LaurenAlizaGreen for my ARC of #TheWorldAfterAlice in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this was the best book i read in June. I couldn't put it down and it played on my mind even when i wasn't reading it. Loved the characters and the story for them.

A very emotional storyline, beautifully written, brought tears to my eyes in several sections. Lovely characters, a realistic storyline. Look forward to more from this author

This is a exquisitely written debut from Lauren Aliza Green that explores a set of flawed characters and the emotional impact and rippling repercussions of the tragic death of 16 year old Alice 12 years previously. Benji Weil is Alice's younger brother, and Morgan Helmsley was her best friend, who have been in a below the radar relationship and have sprung their surprise wedding in Maine on their families. In a story that goes back and forth in time, the mystery of Alice's death and what happened leading up to it, is untangled, along with followed afterwards.

Distraught, and haunted by the pain of grief, guilt, and loss that is inescapable, damaged by the past, there are secrets, bitterness, spite, and other agendas that simmer beneath the surface of what should be a celebratory occasion, but over which Alice's ghost hangs so heavily. Alice's parents, Nicholas and Linnie, went on to separate and get divorced, with Nicholas going on to marry the woman he had been having an affair with. Linnie is in a relationship with a younger man, Ezra, a man with his own connections with Alice. Will the darkness of the past blight Benji and Morgan's wedding?

The author does a wonderfully skilful job in the creation of the wide range of characters and their developments, at the heart of this emotional drama, and provides a fascinating insightful glimpse into what happened when sadly, Alice died. There are shards of light in what otherwise would have been a bleak and dark novel. This will likely appeal to all those readers drawn to complex, chaotic, character driven novels. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

My first book from this author. An interesting storyline but at times a bit muddled. Alice’s closest family and friends come together at different times and not necessarily in order but if you can get through that then it’s a good book. Thanks to Lauren and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

The story is of Benji and Morgan who have decided to get married 12 years after Benji’s sister (and Morgan’s best friend) Alice took her own life. It jumps between just before the suicide and to the present but not in a particularly coherent way. The switching between timelines is very confusing and happens randomly with no real relevance to the “present” story. Despite the random time line switches I found the book very slow and the majority of the characters were dull and forgettable.

One of the most irritating things in his book is the authors use of incredibly obscure words. I consider myself fairly well read but had no idea what some of the words she used meant and had to keep checking. Most of the time there was a more common word that could have been used with no loss of integrity to the book and it came across as trying too hard.

This was an incredibly emotional book with a brilliant storyline which will stay with me for a long time.

Definitely keen to read more from this author

I probably wasn't in the right mindset to fully enjoy this book. I found it quite descriptive, which took me away from the storyline. An emotional read

This story was moving and rather sad. As a reader I came away with a new perspective on grief and a better understanding of the long lasting effects suicide can bring to those left behind.

I didn’t enjoy this book as it was far too long winded.
I felt that the author was showing how clever she is by stringing long words together instead of wondering if the reader was engaging with the book.
Far too much waffle and too disjointed.

This is the story of two families coming back together after a death, the death of Alice. Unfortunately this one just didn't do it for me at all. A great idea for a story but I just couldn't get into it.

This is a tedious tale in which the flowery language and use of obscure words and turns of phrase killed off any interest in the characters.

Opening with the devastating premature ending of sixteen year old talented violinist Alice’s life, this novel slowly unravels the knots of the tangled relationships between her family members and friends and describes what led to this tragic event.

Twelve years later, Alice’s brother, Benji, issues invitations for his wedding to Morgan, formerly Alice’s best friend, hoping that past resentments and hostility will finally be laid aside. They’d kept their relationship secret for years to avoid bad reactions from their families, now they want to celebrate their union in peace.

The weekend of the wedding arrives and so do the guests, who are all carrying heavy emotional baggage. Each person’s perspective is described by the author as the narrative jumps backwards and forwards between them and examines their thoughts, actions and feelings during the period leading up to Alice’s untimely death.

There are several thoughtful insights about grief and its impactful, lingering effects, which I appreciated, and each character is fully fleshed out as the all too human, flawed individuals they are, capable of both duplicity and love. The prologue is excellent for the pathos it evokes.

The book is undeniably beautifully written in places, but I think Green goes a bit overboard with the verbosity of her prose, as if she’s aiming for the least used word and oddest metaphor, and is seeking to impress. A creditable debut novel. Grateful thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

The vocabulary in this was outstanding!! I liked the juxtaposition of the Jewish religion and some German phrases. A fantastic read with an unusual ending