“Making Friends with Alice Dyson”
Written by Poppy Nwosu
Reviewed by Diana Iozzia
As a nostalgic fan of teen / young adult romance
novels, I felt excited to begin reading Making Friends with Alice Dyson.
I have long enjoyed these types of novels, and I was hoping to find them
similar to those I read when I was in my teens. However, I have learned in my
twenties, that teen fiction does not always hold my interest anymore, with new
slang, technology, and pop culture references. To my surprise and pleasure, I
found that Alice Dyson held my interest and entertained me in many different
ways.
To continue, Nwosu impressed me, with witty yet realistic
dialogue, appealing characters, and a very handsome love interest. Alice Dyson
is reserved, shy, and intelligent, while her best friend, May, has become obsessed
with dating and popularity. Alice has become tentative friends with Teddy, a
mysterious new kid who is rumored to have been violent towards teachers and
students at his previous school. The plot centers around Alice’s friendship
with May, changing for the worse, as May becomes cruel and uncaring towards her
friend. Alice also is consumed by her budding interesting in Teddy, about whom
she learns and realizes that he is not the dangerous bully people say he is.
In all honesty, this story is fresh and sweet, but it
does not feel incredibly unique. The plot does not feel very complex, when I
would have hoped it to be a bit stronger. The themes of first love and loss of
friendship are important, but I felt that Nwosu could have dug deeper and made
them more meaningful. Also, I felt that some scenes were memorable, but many of
them feel similar to any other book from this age and genre. I wish that this
book would stand out a little more, but it felt very basic.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this story, but I felt
it could have been more elaborate, with more details and better scenes. If Nwosu
continues Alice’s story, I’d happily continue reading it in a series. I also
plan to read Nwosu’s book Taking Down Evelyn Trait shortly. I recommend Alice
Dyson to those who enjoy the work of Jenny Han, John Green, David Levithan,
and Gayle Forman.
I received a complimentary copy to read and review,
from Walker Books US. Thank you for the opportunity.
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