devinelybookish's review against another edition
5.0
A truly dark and submersive retelling of Alice in Wonderland, drawing on themes of feminism and corruption of society.
Alice has been in the asylum for ten years. She doesn't remember why, save for the Rabbit. Her only friend for eight years is her cell mate, Hatcher. The asylum burns and Alice and Hatcher escape. But something else has escaped with it, and Alice and Hatcher are the only ones that can stop it before it's too late.
I really enjoyed this book. I'm only sad I waited so long to read it. Alice is not like the other Alice's from other re-tellings, nor are any of the characters for that matter. The story uses the characters from the original stories and brings a whole new meaning and life to them. The characters and story are original in their own way.
I'd definitely recommend this for those who like horror with a blend of NA and Fantasy.
Potential trigger warnings: rape, SA, mental health, asylum, slavery, trafficking, cannibalism, drug abuse, gore, prostitution.
Enter at your own risk.
Alice has been in the asylum for ten years. She doesn't remember why, save for the Rabbit. Her only friend for eight years is her cell mate, Hatcher. The asylum burns and Alice and Hatcher escape. But something else has escaped with it, and Alice and Hatcher are the only ones that can stop it before it's too late.
I really enjoyed this book. I'm only sad I waited so long to read it. Alice is not like the other Alice's from other re-tellings, nor are any of the characters for that matter. The story uses the characters from the original stories and brings a whole new meaning and life to them. The characters and story are original in their own way.
I'd definitely recommend this for those who like horror with a blend of NA and Fantasy.
Potential trigger warnings: rape, SA, mental health, asylum, slavery, trafficking, cannibalism, drug abuse, gore, prostitution.
Enter at your own risk.
rhubarbguru's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this, although it was absolutely nothing like I expected which was a little bit of a letdown. Like most Christina Henry books she struggled on nailing the finale, but it doesn’t change that I liked this. A fast read too.
Looking forward to reading the next one in the series
Looking forward to reading the next one in the series
laviskrg's review against another edition
1.0
Disclaimer: This review will be passionate and angry and disgusted and it will probably be interpreted as personal by the more sensitive sort here on Goodreads, but I assure you, I have nothing against the author personally, but I do despise the piece of literature that she decided to send out into the literary world, so that is what I will critique.
Alice by Christina Henry is by far the worst book I have ever read in my entire life. It is not only a pathetic attempt at retelling a splendid, classic work of art, but it insults on a literary level as well. It is a failure and to be honest, if I stop and pause a bit, I am more saddened than enraged that this has burdened shelves somewhere in the world. This kind of trash demands some form of money back system for books, it is THAT terrible.
This novel reads like fanfiction, and bad fanfiction to be exact. Not that I believe that such a thing as good fanfiction exists, because, while I can appreciate passion and imagination, I think that most fanfiction is just an obsessive manifestation meant for the pure, selfish satisfaction of fans, but that is truly beside the point. I think there is a place for fanfiction and that is definitely NOT paid publication.
In my opinion, a good, or at least decent retelling is one where the characters are taken apart, their essence analyzed, their features known, and then all of these aspects should be given MORE facets, should be shown through a different point of view, either a modern one or even an antithetic one, but the pure essence, the spine if you will, of the character should NEVER be destroyed. This is exactly what the author has done with each and every character in this novel: she took their names and...not much more. She gave them a sparse physical description and then completely annihilated their identities in the worst possible way.
This book is marketed towards adults, but in truth, it is, from a writing and style point of view, barely on an 8th grade level. My own vocabulary at 14 years of age encompassed this entire book, and I am not even a native English speaker. As far as style and technique go...oh my god. Does anyone remember that old saying "Show, don't tell"? This author is an expert at TELLING. That is all that happens. She tells the poor reader, and she doesn't even do a half-decent job because the action is bad, the dialogue is abysmal, the description is minimal and the characters are more shallow than a half-dried spit.
Why is this book for adults, then, since it would bore most 18+ year olds, provided they are slightly more intellectual than the mentally challenged morons who read Twilight and crap of that ilk? Because it has...wait for it...RAPE. That is literally the giant "twist". Every single villain is a rapist (one of them is also a cannibal, yum!), every single woman in this piece of shit has either been raped or is at constant risk of being raped. Wow. Just...wow.
I have read plenty of books with insanely violent scenes of abuse, sexual, physical, psychological, the works. I do not shy away from them, I appreciate authors who are capable of writing strong, graphic material and I consider that if you choose to go in that direction, you should first of all have the balls to follow through and, most importantly, have a point. In "Alice" there is absolutely no point in turning Rabbit, Walrus and Caterpillar in rapists and pimps other than a disgraceful cry for attention. There is absolutely no reason to turn the Mad Hatter into a hack and slash multi-tool with a heart of gold when it comes to women in distress unless to prove that you and quality literature are on paths that will never, EVER intersect. Lastly, there is no reason to turn Alice into a pathetic Mary-sue that "evolves" from helpless, raped crazy girl to helpless raped sane girl, to helpless raped angry unreliable narrator to epic shiny saviour beloved and worshiped by all (still raped, tho) in a matter of DAYS. I insist on the "raped" element because it is literally brought up every other page or so.
Never before in my life have I read something as shallow, repetitive, lazy, insulting, cheap and non-intellectual. I thought my eye was keen enough to avoid such drivel, but alas, this crap was smartly packaged, nicely tied to one of my childhood favourites and supported by more than a few glowing reviews (this absolutely boggles my mind!).
I recommend this book to no one, unless they feel like driving a knife through their head. It is stupid to the point where one actually starts to wonder about the publisher, the editor, the fans, the state of the literary world today. Is it really so dank and gross and sad? Can the standards drop so fucking low? Yes. Yes they can, yet it is possible. The elites are for the most part, gone. Forgotten. Alice is mainstream, Twilight gave birth to an entire genre of garbage and young adult cancer, people are competing on Goodreads in how many "books" they read, not in WHAT they read. Quantity matters, quality is something one needs to fight for, one needs to swim in shit-infested waters to find. People forsake cultural, different, experimental, difficult books in favour of easy, pandering, quick reads that hold your hand and kiss you on the head. And shit on everything that is actually of some value.
Alice by Christina Henry is by far the worst book I have ever read in my entire life. It is not only a pathetic attempt at retelling a splendid, classic work of art, but it insults on a literary level as well. It is a failure and to be honest, if I stop and pause a bit, I am more saddened than enraged that this has burdened shelves somewhere in the world. This kind of trash demands some form of money back system for books, it is THAT terrible.
This novel reads like fanfiction, and bad fanfiction to be exact. Not that I believe that such a thing as good fanfiction exists, because, while I can appreciate passion and imagination, I think that most fanfiction is just an obsessive manifestation meant for the pure, selfish satisfaction of fans, but that is truly beside the point. I think there is a place for fanfiction and that is definitely NOT paid publication.
In my opinion, a good, or at least decent retelling is one where the characters are taken apart, their essence analyzed, their features known, and then all of these aspects should be given MORE facets, should be shown through a different point of view, either a modern one or even an antithetic one, but the pure essence, the spine if you will, of the character should NEVER be destroyed. This is exactly what the author has done with each and every character in this novel: she took their names and...not much more. She gave them a sparse physical description and then completely annihilated their identities in the worst possible way.
This book is marketed towards adults, but in truth, it is, from a writing and style point of view, barely on an 8th grade level. My own vocabulary at 14 years of age encompassed this entire book, and I am not even a native English speaker. As far as style and technique go...oh my god. Does anyone remember that old saying "Show, don't tell"? This author is an expert at TELLING. That is all that happens. She tells the poor reader, and she doesn't even do a half-decent job because the action is bad, the dialogue is abysmal, the description is minimal and the characters are more shallow than a half-dried spit.
Why is this book for adults, then, since it would bore most 18+ year olds, provided they are slightly more intellectual than the mentally challenged morons who read Twilight and crap of that ilk? Because it has...wait for it...RAPE. That is literally the giant "twist". Every single villain is a rapist (one of them is also a cannibal, yum!), every single woman in this piece of shit has either been raped or is at constant risk of being raped. Wow. Just...wow.
I have read plenty of books with insanely violent scenes of abuse, sexual, physical, psychological, the works. I do not shy away from them, I appreciate authors who are capable of writing strong, graphic material and I consider that if you choose to go in that direction, you should first of all have the balls to follow through and, most importantly, have a point. In "Alice" there is absolutely no point in turning Rabbit, Walrus and Caterpillar in rapists and pimps other than a disgraceful cry for attention. There is absolutely no reason to turn the Mad Hatter into a hack and slash multi-tool with a heart of gold when it comes to women in distress unless to prove that you and quality literature are on paths that will never, EVER intersect. Lastly, there is no reason to turn Alice into a pathetic Mary-sue that "evolves" from helpless, raped crazy girl to helpless raped sane girl, to helpless raped angry unreliable narrator to epic shiny saviour beloved and worshiped by all (still raped, tho) in a matter of DAYS. I insist on the "raped" element because it is literally brought up every other page or so.
Never before in my life have I read something as shallow, repetitive, lazy, insulting, cheap and non-intellectual. I thought my eye was keen enough to avoid such drivel, but alas, this crap was smartly packaged, nicely tied to one of my childhood favourites and supported by more than a few glowing reviews (this absolutely boggles my mind!).
I recommend this book to no one, unless they feel like driving a knife through their head. It is stupid to the point where one actually starts to wonder about the publisher, the editor, the fans, the state of the literary world today. Is it really so dank and gross and sad? Can the standards drop so fucking low? Yes. Yes they can, yet it is possible. The elites are for the most part, gone. Forgotten. Alice is mainstream, Twilight gave birth to an entire genre of garbage and young adult cancer, people are competing on Goodreads in how many "books" they read, not in WHAT they read. Quantity matters, quality is something one needs to fight for, one needs to swim in shit-infested waters to find. People forsake cultural, different, experimental, difficult books in favour of easy, pandering, quick reads that hold your hand and kiss you on the head. And shit on everything that is actually of some value.
ktxx22's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not a fan of the original source work soo I can say this was a much more enjoyable reading experience. I genuinely enjoyed how the story played out, but ooof the writing isn’t great, and the severe violence against women is rough. I do think I’ll read book two at some point. Rating is more close to a 3.5 rounded down for how rushed the ending is. It was not satisfying at all.
joy_haruna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
pietan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gwens's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm not disappointed.
Also, there's a giant fluffy rabbit. Just saying.
Also, there's a giant fluffy rabbit. Just saying.
merlinwinter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
lissadances's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0