Hollywood is not all glitter and gold. As her brother lies in a coma after a near-fatal car accident, twenty-one-year-old Grace Brighton climbs the Hollywood Sign to make a desperate wish for his recovery. She loses her footing and plummets to the ground below―only there is no impact. Instead, she finds herself the center of attention at a film studio . . . in 1953 Hollywood. Everyone believes she's Alice Montgomery, a rising star she bears an eerie resemblance to, who disappeared just days earlier. Grace has no choice but to step into Alice’s shoes, meeting Alice’s entourage and noticing not everyone is happy that she has returned. Grace begins to suspect that something terrible has happened to the young actress. Afraid Alice’s miraculous return has now made her a target, Grace must find out who wants to harm Alice to have a chance to return to her own time. When she discovers one of the missing starlet's deepest, darkest secrets, Grace finds herself in grave danger―she may die long before she’s even been born.
Title: When I Was Alice
Author: Jennifer Murgia
Publisher: CamCat
Expected Publication Date: June 25, 2024
Review:
I want to thank BookSirens and Jennifer Murgia for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
What happens when a young lady climbs the Hollywood sign to make a wish and gets thrown into the past? She becomes a rising starlet, or at least looks just like her. And she finds herself embroiled in a mystery of who done it while filming a movie with the one and only James Dean. Grace just wants to get home to her family but she also wants to know what happened to Alice, the starlet whose place she seems to have taken. Will Grace solve the mystery? Who will help her along the way? And most of all, will she get back to her own time and see if her wish was granted?
Many years ago, I was a publicist for an author Name Jennifer Murgia. At the time, she would send me snippets and pieces of books she was working on. I remember reading a story about a young lady who traveled back in time. Who knew years later, I'd be reading the actual book as it's being published!
This was a fun book. I would say it's a mystery with some magical realism thrown in. I love the time travel idea but I also got an almost Wizard of Oz feeling with how the main character, Grace Brighton, was thrown back in time.
This book gives a look into how movies of the past had some shadiness behind them. How women were truly treated as objects and really had no say about the parts they would get or what they might need to do to actually get them.
I really enjoyed the twists and turns and mystery in this book. I loved that I really couldn't figure out the villains at first, though I had my thoughts. Murgia really knows how to make the characters seem suspect even when they may not even be! It was refreshing to have a who done it without knowing who did it until the end!
I enjoyed getting to know Grace. She was a bit naive but determined to really become self sufficient. Her experiences in the past help her become more confident and help her realize she needs to take charge of her own life and not worry about what others think she should be doing with her life. I would have liked to see a bit more interaction between her and her parents to really feel what she felt, rather than her telling us. Her interactions with Dalton were sweet. I liked the budding romance, as well.
Overall this was a fun read. What's not to like about a time travel mystery? The premise, the mystery, the starlets, the movies, the 1950s, all so much fun! If you're looking for a sweet quick time travel mystery read, open this one up and see what Murgia has created!
Author:
Jennifer Murgia writes moody fiction for teens – especially with a little mystery.
Her books have been published in the USA, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and The Netherlands.
She is a 2014 Moonbeam Children’s Literature Award Winner.
Jennifer is also a freelance editor for YA, MG, and Adult fiction.
She resides in Maryland.
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