Reviews

Descending Into Madness by Stacey Marie Brown

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raven168's review against another edition

3.0

So here's the thing. This book was such an interesting and creative mix of Alice in wonderland and most things Christmas. The author did a great job fleshing out this world and characters. It was at times disturbing and cruel, but had a haunting beauty. I really liked all that she did here. Unfortunately, I just didn't get all that into the story and I have no idea why.

Alice is down on her luck. She has made some questionable life choices and had to move back home with her parents. She works as a slutty elf in a Santa's workshop, but dreams of being a hat designer. Is that really I thing? I mean, I know somebody has to come up with the ideas for hats, but it kind of seemed really silly to me. Anyway...on a particularly slow night working she sees this super hot shirtless dude walking around outside and of course follows. See. Questionable life choices. She never does manage to catch up to him, instead she ends up falling down a long dark hole until she float lands in a gingerbread house. Barely escaping the collapse of the house, she ends up stumbling across a not-party. It's there she meets her soon to be new friends and the beyond hot (but scary) Scrooge.

I liked Scrooge. He has many demons to deal with and his horrid past has shaped him into a gruff and harsh man. But he's not without a heart. And that comes out the most when those close to him are in danger. When Alice shows up in front of him, he's immediately suspicious of her. Especially because of how she's dressed. But when the queen's guards show up and attack, he fights to protect her and his friends.

From there it's this ragtag group of friends constantly fighting for their lives against everything in Winterland that is out to get them. And there's a lot out to get them. I was constantly amazed at how long Alice was able to keep going considering everything that she suffers thru there. And during this whole time the attraction between Alice and Scrooge burns super hot. So it really ticked me off when they were interrupted EVERY SINGLE TIME. While it seems like everything in this land is indeed out to kill them, it's the queen that they need to worry about the most. The twist of who she really was was really neat and actually quite believable. But because of her suffering, she's out to make everyone else suffer as well. And there's only one person who could raise enough support for an army to try and fight back. So Scrooge makes the decision to risk much in his attempt to save everyone. Which in turn has Alice risking the same to save him.

I'm not sure how I feel about the end. I didn't really like how Alice acted and how she kept saying that she's changed so much even though she doesn't remember why. The big "shocker" at the end was unexpected but also didn't make sense based on what we were told earlier.

Spoiler

We were told that only Santa had the ability to allow anyone from that world to go to Earth whenever they wanted. An ability he only gave to Rudolph. So how in the world were both the queen and Scrooge there at the end? Scrooge I can actually accept because he's originally from there anyway. But it just didn't seem quite believable.

Maybe it's explained in the next book.

I guess it is sort of a cliff hanger end, but I don't plan on jumping right into the next book. Like I said, I just wasn't that into it. But if the next book ever goes on sale I'll definitely get it and read it some day. After all, I do want to see Scrooge and Alice finally get together.

pinkrose89's review against another edition

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3.0

I wanted to give this more stars, but there are some pretty serious grammar/editing issues that were too distracting. The premise is really cool, the worldbuilding was fun, and I generally like the characters, so I'm hopeful that in the sequels there will be some more stringent editing. I'm really interested to see where the series goes, and can't wait for the next one in November!

books_and_chocolat3's review against another edition

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5.0

Dark, twist, wonderfully weird and absolutely brillant ⭐️

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tcrnn's review against another edition

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Dnf at 50%
I dunno why but it’s now working for me
Not gonna rate it yet, might pick up again later

abbys_booknook's review against another edition

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4.0

This wild & wacky book was just riddled with madness and I was so here for it. This modern day retelling of Alice In Wonderland with a holiday twist was deliciously addictive. I suspended my reality and just let the story take me for a ride.

Alice slips into Winterland where she meets a fantastic cast of characters. Just like all of Stacey Marie Brown’s books, the side characters bring the funny! Endearing & sweet, funny and a dash of sexy. I will definitely be reading the next book to see how this merry band of misfits get their HEA’s

thebookkeepers's review against another edition

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3.0

Perfect for fans of Alice in Wonderland. I enjoyed this holiday read, but wasn’t head over heels in love with it. Some of the MC’s dialog was a bit Christmas cheesy for me and took me out of the adult mindset of the novel. I was also disappointed with the level of spice. We had excellent sexual tension very early on, and things got hot but never followed through which left me disappointed based on what I expected going in.