Alice

i like a retellings, i like a dark retellings. i like gritty harsh grimdark retellings. but i have one hard and fast rule with retellings, and it's 'there has to be something new done with the source material' and i don't think this book did that. let us put aside the gratuitous violence towards women (must she always infantilize them?) because honestly it was meh, going for shock value and generally falling flat. i want to focus on how the main characters didn't actually struggle all that much, there was never a moment where i thought they might actually not get their goal. i wasn't rooting for them because there was little character built. and i don't know whether the author knew what type of story they wanted to tell. is alice someone stronger then she seems? does she need protection? i don't know because the author doesn't know. and there's this weird thing where magic is both a known thing but also unknown, like come on. do people know that magic exists or is alice just that dumb? TLDR: read something better, this does nothing of interest. read that one peter pan book where hook was one of the first lost boys because that at least did something.

The book is an interesting take on Alice and Wonderland. The book is fast paced and keeps you on your toes. however the ending was underwelming.

I love the use of Wonderland characters in this book. It's very dark with difficult subject matter, but the details don't hit excessive. There is a sensitivity still used when discussing those topics. It does not glorify them and I appreciate that. I couldn't put it down and highly recommend to fans of dark fantasy, horror, and Alice in Wonderland!