Reviews with content warning for Violence - Alice

This was quite a page-turner, and definitely the darkest and most twisted take on Alice in Wonderland that I’ve ever read. Uncomfortable to read at times, no doubt intended to be that way, I still feel like the story would’ve been just fine without so much detailed sexual assault.

The nods to Carroll’s original story are well done without being a carbon copy. With that said, it’s nearly impossible to accurately capture Carroll’s writing style, so some more direct references — especially in such a dark setting — feel out of place. And I may be in the minority but I absolutely despise Alice x Hatter romance in Wonderland retellings. The charm of the original story was its nonsensical nature, and shoehorning a romantic relationship between two of the few human characters in the original story is just so unnecessary.

A solid 3 stars for its engaging story, full of great twists and turns and definitely offering a dark and horrific take on the original story of Alice, though its more graphic violence and cringey romantic thread both detracted from its strengths.

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hookerkitty's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Warning: this book mentions rape a LOT. Sometimes more descriptive/graphic than others, but parts of the act and her feelings (and flashbacks) about it are referenced WAY more than I would’ve liked, (it’s brought up within the first two chapters, and then many times after, including involving other characters), and I almost had to quit reading because of it. So keep that in mind.

I mostly enjoyed this book (obv minus when the above kept getting brought up). I don’t remember if I ever actually read the original book, and it’s been a long time since I’ve even seen the movies, so that may be a factor in why I enjoyed it more lol. I say “mostly” though, because I thought the end was rather anti-climactic, which was hella disappointing. I don’t know if the author ran out of steam and time before the deadline, but I was hoping for much more than there was.

However I really enjoyed how they showed Alice learning to find herself again after a deeply traumatic event. I’ve been through a lot of similar events that Alice went through, and found that the representation of being deeply scarred and the struggles of trying break out of that cocoon you placed yourself in to be rather accurate. I would’ve been annoyed if they instantly made her a girlboss™️ once she escaped the institution. I find it incredibly frustrating when stories (books/movies/anything) force toxic positivity down our throats like that actually solves all our problems, so this was a refreshing (albeit triggering) change.

Anyway, hopefully this makes sense. I not only have a migraine, but even rehashing this stuff is taxing mentally and emotionally. So keep your furry friends (or stuffed animals) nearby to help you through those portions if it’s triggering (and it’s totally okay to skip this book for now, or ever, if you don’t want to encounter those parts of the storyline), and check in with your body to see if you need a break. I’m now curious to read the original book(s) to compare different aspects of the storylines.

Content Warnings