Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Alice

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Alice by Christina Henry

15 reviews

chloeam3103's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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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.

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z0z's review

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dark informative mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Everyone knows of the typical plot diagram, right? Welp this author decided to make the climax of the book start within the first few chapters. The two monsters

Jabberwocky and The Rabbit

that were in nightmares had the worst final seen. I got kinda upset about

he was so weak from her stabbing him in the back & eye and just asked her to end him. Like what monster of dreams says that?! I was expecting her to go back to the comfort of her own ways. he would invite her to a tea party except the feeling of youthfulness joy were replaced with guilt & discussed. Then dwell on it for three chapters bc this is what the whole book has been alluding towards. Also a butterfly in a jar??

but it’s the author’s choice. Over all it was good.

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lexbox's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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kshertz's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This was a very scary Alice retelling. She’s scary, her love interest is terrifying, lots of people die in this! It’s more horror than I like in my stories but it was a great storytelling in that I could not put it down. Your familiar characters are all really evil. Definitely a good book if you like horror and fables.

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madireads326's review

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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couldbestephen's review

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1.25

Alice in Wonderland works as a piece of surrealist fantasy because it has grounding “in the real world.” We have a point of reference to why things are strange because Alice comes from a world like ours, with no talking rabbits, no size changing potions, and no croquet with flamingos and hedgehogs. Wonderland is separate from Here. In this novel, Wonderland and Here are one. The characters such as The Cheshire, The Rabbit (of which there were two), and The Walrus are name only versions of their Wonderland counterparts, and most of them are human trafficking rapists. The world of Alice has Magicians (who are supposedly gone. There is a twist that will leave you very unsurprised), potions, mermaids, but they’re all normal, except their not, but they are… it’s a mess. The writing is occasionally fun, Henry occasionally uses language that sounds like it could belong in Lewis Carroll’s work, but then the moment passes and you’re left with an empty feeling.
I think this books is mostly supposed to be dark romance. But Alice and “Hatcher” are just so bland, you don’t care. Hatcher is a broody killer with a tender heart, and Alice is a grown woman who is still “childlike.” It’s a problem. All in all, not worth the read.

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