Alice Review - Becca In A Book

Summary

When Alice was sixteen, she went to a tea party with her friend in the Old City. Next thing she knew, she was home covered in blood and her friend was gone. Now she is stuck in a hospital screaming about the Rabbit that did her wrong. Will she ever find out what happened at that silly tea party?

My Thoughts

So Alice in Wonderland is probably one of my favorite books of all time and I am always a sucker for a retelling of it. I picked up this book on a whim while browsing the shelves at Barnes and Noble and I am so happy I did. I can’t believe I have never heard about this book because it was so good and so interesting. It definitely was like nothing I had ever read before.

If you really think about Alice in Wonderland, it is a very dark story and this retelling truly reflected that idea. I mean a young girl lost in an alternative universe with people that only value nonsense? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen and in Ms. Henry’s retelling, that world has a much darker and more sinister purview.

Instead of the loveable characters that I grew up with in the book and in the 1951 animated film, these characters have much darker and murderous personalities. Rabbit, Hatcher, Caterpillar, Walrus, and Carpenter are all mob bosses of a town of horrors and it was so amazing. I mean maybe it should make me a little nervous about myself in that fact that I liked that the author turned my favorite characters into terrorizing villains, but it was unique and I dug it!

We visited each character one by one and in the process the main characters start to unravel their deep secrets and become more developed and likeable in the process. It reminded me of a Greek myth with its back to back quests and defeating evil doers. I mean if the heroic journey was filled with terrible and perverted creeps with a fascination of exotic monstrosities. Oh this book was so good!

I loved Alice’s character so much. She started as a very similar character to her past counterparts, but as the story progressed she started to come into her own and wasn’t just a whiny girl lost in a crazy world. Even though Hatcher started as her protector, their roles reversed and she became such a badass! I also loved Hatcher. I think he was supposed to be similar to the Hatter in the original story, but instead of making hats he swung an axe. OH SO DARK. His storyline was also extremely interesting and I enjoyed the addition to the plot.

That ending was so good and I can’t wait to read the next one where my favorite character will finally be center stage! I can’t wait!!!