(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
Alice in Wonderland has always intrigued me, partly because it’s generated so many spin-offs. And also because of the other-world plot.
I found this book to be a really entertaining read, though I still really don’t like the constant switching between two different first person characters. It wasn’t as bad as some books (I was able to tell who was who), but it’s a style choice I struggle with reading.
I felt this was a really good twist on the usual Alice in Wonderland story. The usually recognisable characters were darker than normal and a bit more… mad, I suppose. The flashbacks were a bit interesting, but I felt they might have worked better if the book was in two parts/had a prologue.
I felt a lot of the main characters were well-developed, though very few of them were likable. I was a bit disappointed to see Chez as a villain, but that’s probably because I really love cats.
I’m not sure what it says about me that I was actually able to understand a lot of the madness running rampant in this book. Love and hate being upside down came across really well, but I felt that Wonderland seemed more like a dream world than a truly parallel one – at least at times.
I would have liked to know a bit more about the Mad Hatter. The Joker was a really sadistic character who made me shudder every time he appeared.
The candies angle was quite an interesting one. I found this book to be really well-written, though I think I need to take a bit of a break from insanity now. I would be interested in reading more books by this author in the future, though.
Ink of Blood 