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Review by Georgia

Alice in Time by Penelope Bush is a thoroughly enjoyable book. The storyline was exciting and fast-paced. I have to say I found it extremely hard to put down. I also believe everyone can relate to the main character Alice Watkins.

Alice Watkins is a fourteen year old girl and is just about fed up with her life already. After her mum threw her dad out when she was seven, things have gradually gone downhill. Now Alice utterly hates her mother because she won’t let her have a mobile. But she also has some more important problems to deal with. Problem Number One: her little brother Rory wants to go to their father’s re-marriage as Spider-Man, and Alice has to wear a flouncy pink monstrosity that would be more appropreate on a four-year-old. Problem Two: she’s starting to wonder whether her best friend Imogen is actually a right choice of friend for her. Problem Three: dreamy sixth-former Seth has asked her to go out with him but she’s double-booked with Imogen. And finally Problem Four: the most popular, yet bitchiest girl in the school would rather eat her own arm than be nice to Alice. With all these problems, how can Alice not explode? After a heated argument with her mother and best friend, Alice runs to the nearby park. But when she goes on the roundabout, everything changes. Suddenly she’s seven years old again, but seeing her life through fourteen-year-old eyes. Perfect. Now she can put everything that has gone wrong in her life right. But can she do it in time?

I absolutely loved this book. It’s an exciting page turner that 99% of teenage girls will love. The domestic arguments her family have are extremely life-like, and not cliché, as so many books are. Her school life is so realistic too. It talks about the three groups of teenage schoolgirls: the popular ones; the normal, do the work wear the right uniform, but have their own life ones; and the completely geeky ones.

I also love the way she travels back to being half her age, when she realizes that she could change so much. If I had a chance to go back in time and change some of the things that happened, I sure would. Wouldn’t everyone? I’d love to see what I was like aged seven.

Alice in Time is cleverly written and definitely a book I would recommend to my teenage friends. This book sure deserves a lot of praise.

The one small issue I had was that some phrases are repeated fairly frequently. Which is fine, until you begin to notice it. And then it can be extremely irritating. For example ‘I wish the floor would open up and swallow me’ and ‘I go cold then hot’. But other than that this book is great. I would give it 4 stars.

Overall an AMAZING book.