mnemosyne139's review
I don't have any idea what happened, but this book just didn't intrigue me. I think part of it was the obvious setup for a love triangle, but I think it's mostly that I just wasn't in the mood for YA.
adrienned28's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.75
missprint_'s review
3.0
This was a little more horror than I expected or wanted in the Wonderland aspects and it hit the ground running so hard that I was hard to catch up after that prologue. I think it’s great and I can’t wait for it to sell all the copies and get handed to all the teens but I don’t think it’s a me book.
A lot going on and not a lot of resolution at the end although I think this is going to do well enough that no one has to worry about a lack of sequels.
A lot going on and not a lot of resolution at the end although I think this is going to do well enough that no one has to worry about a lack of sequels.
stuff's review against another edition
2.0
I wasn't going to finish this book because I found it so unbearable in the beginning, but I gave it a chance and kept reading. I am glad that I did, because I really liked it during the middle section, where the story actually got going, unfortunately that took around 200 pages. The end wasn't the best, but it ended on a cool cliffhanger. It's also not the best written book, it feel like not much actually happens, and it is just the prelude to another book. The characters were not given many likeable personality traits, or anything to make them special, so that the readers will feel the need to care for them. Also I really didn't like the way the dialogue was written.
Spoiler
That is also why I don't care about Chess "dying"ten2030's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
itseeveesworld's review
3.0
I only gave this 3 stars because the beginning didn’t pull me in. I almost gave up on this book but glad I didn’t. The second half pulled me in. I just have questions that didn’t get answered and your basically thrown into the story with no knowledge of why with a lot.
However this was a good read, and I’m surprised I’ll be reading the second at some point.
Beginning of book is 2 stars second half is closer to 5 and that’s how I reached 3.
The writing also changes in the book and I appreciated the second half writing better as well.
However this was a good read, and I’m surprised I’ll be reading the second at some point.
Beginning of book is 2 stars second half is closer to 5 and that’s how I reached 3.
The writing also changes in the book and I appreciated the second half writing better as well.
lunamoon62's review
2.0
Ummm...?? Okay... That was certainly an experience. First of all, I rarely write rant reviews and so if this is your favorite book, I apologize in advance. My opinion is just that; an opinion, and if you liked this book... that's great! But um... I didn't. I rarely give two-star reviews so... you know the book is bad when I do rarely give them. Also, I suck at arguing points because I hate conflict so this isn't going to be a very good review, per se, but I'm just gonna share all my angry feelings lol.
Where do I even start with this book? Reading the summary, this book was pitched as a dark Alice in Wonderland Retelling with a BIPOC lead. I love retellings and I love Alice in Wonderland... how could I say no? I had pretty high expectations for this. But oh boy, do I wish I'd just DNF-ed it. I would've been so much happier in the long run, because this book took up SO MUCH of my time. More than a week, if I'm not mistaken. I could've read so many good books, but instead I was slogging through this. But I wanted to push through, for some reason or another, because I rarely DNF books. But oh, I definitely should have.
This book is... loosely based on Alice, and I say that because I'm not sure how much research this author did. They kinda just threw in names that sounded sorta like the original characters, vaguely nonsensical words at times when it was convenient to the plot, and then decided to twist it into something entirely unrelated. And it's not even very dark. There are things that could have been explored, themes in Alice that could be made darker, but it just... didn't feel like a very true retelling. Which is okay. That's not even the main problem with this book.
Let's start with the plot. It made no sense. I was constantly confused because things es could've been done in a much easier way if the characters had only thought about it a little bit, or were wrapped up way too quickly and easily. There were so many clichés. This is all the bad elements of your average YA fantasy with none of the good. And the parts that were supposed to be exciting stirred vague interest, but nothing more. The plot felt like a bit of a rip-off of Harry Potter, for no specific reason, but that's just the vibes I got.
The writing. It read exactly like a terrible Fan Fiction. (I love Fan Fiction, but you know what I mean.) At one point, somebody's eyes were described as "icy blue orbs." Not it for me. And the writing style was overly casual, in a way that felt like it was trying to be something but didn't quite get there. There was just random slang and pop culture references thrown in and it was all-in-all just very clumsy.
Last, the characters! They were all one-dimensional stereotypes! The main character, Alice, was... terrible. Rude and, frankly, dumb, she never thought things through and was just very annoying to read about. I had more written about her but Microsoft Word shut down and I don't even have the energy to rant anymore about this awful character. Needless to say, she was whiny and pretty much was constantly making stupid decisions; I felt like screaming at her the whole time.
Like I said, I had closing thoughts and all, but apparently they were too much for my Word processor because it literally deleted them. This book was not worth the time I gave it and I am not continuing with the series. I'm ready to move on to something much better. Here's to hoping I find my favorite book for my next read. :) If you're considering this book, just know... it's a slow one. And it doesn't improve. But that's okay. There's a book for everyone and this one was not for me.
Where do I even start with this book? Reading the summary, this book was pitched as a dark Alice in Wonderland Retelling with a BIPOC lead. I love retellings and I love Alice in Wonderland... how could I say no? I had pretty high expectations for this. But oh boy, do I wish I'd just DNF-ed it. I would've been so much happier in the long run, because this book took up SO MUCH of my time. More than a week, if I'm not mistaken. I could've read so many good books, but instead I was slogging through this. But I wanted to push through, for some reason or another, because I rarely DNF books. But oh, I definitely should have.
This book is... loosely based on Alice, and I say that because I'm not sure how much research this author did. They kinda just threw in names that sounded sorta like the original characters, vaguely nonsensical words at times when it was convenient to the plot, and then decided to twist it into something entirely unrelated. And it's not even very dark. There are things that could have been explored, themes in Alice that could be made darker, but it just... didn't feel like a very true retelling. Which is okay. That's not even the main problem with this book.
Let's start with the plot. It made no sense. I was constantly confused because things es could've been done in a much easier way if the characters had only thought about it a little bit, or were wrapped up way too quickly and easily. There were so many clichés. This is all the bad elements of your average YA fantasy with none of the good. And the parts that were supposed to be exciting stirred vague interest, but nothing more. The plot felt like a bit of a rip-off of Harry Potter, for no specific reason, but that's just the vibes I got.
The writing. It read exactly like a terrible Fan Fiction. (I love Fan Fiction, but you know what I mean.) At one point, somebody's eyes were described as "icy blue orbs." Not it for me. And the writing style was overly casual, in a way that felt like it was trying to be something but didn't quite get there. There was just random slang and pop culture references thrown in and it was all-in-all just very clumsy.
Last, the characters! They were all one-dimensional stereotypes! The main character, Alice, was... terrible. Rude and, frankly, dumb, she never thought things through and was just very annoying to read about. I had more written about her but Microsoft Word shut down and I don't even have the energy to rant anymore about this awful character. Needless to say, she was whiny and pretty much was constantly making stupid decisions; I felt like screaming at her the whole time.
Like I said, I had closing thoughts and all, but apparently they were too much for my Word processor because it literally deleted them. This book was not worth the time I gave it and I am not continuing with the series. I'm ready to move on to something much better. Here's to hoping I find my favorite book for my next read. :) If you're considering this book, just know... it's a slow one. And it doesn't improve. But that's okay. There's a book for everyone and this one was not for me.
bosco29's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Disappointing. Flat characters, too much "3 months later", "1 year later" with no character backstories. Didnt get attached to any characters, even the lead because you basically know nothing about them. It was hard to keep characters straight because they were so unremarkable. I feel like a lot of opportunities for character growth was missed with the time jumping that just comes off as lazy storytelling. The main character shows zero growth or intelligence increasing and acts more like a 12 year old than a 17 year old, even in how she relates to people she's attracted to. It's like the author is a little out of touch with or doesn't remember being a 17yo. Author also seemed to try too hard to get into the modern teen mind, which made a lot of the slang/etc cringey. It read like an adult trying to be a cool teenager. It was odd.
I was really looking forward to a Black Alice in this retelling and I was very surprised to see this author having only 2 Black characters (Alice and her mom). The rest are white, including Alice's best friends, and I didn't even figure out her best friend was white until halfway through the book - the characters are that underdeveloped in this book, you really don't get to know them at all.
This book was also weirdly similar to A. G. Howard's Splintered series (which is far superior) in a lot of ways and that bothered me.
I was really looking forward to a Black Alice in this retelling and I was very surprised to see this author having only 2 Black characters (Alice and her mom). The rest are white, including Alice's best friends, and I didn't even figure out her best friend was white until halfway through the book - the characters are that underdeveloped in this book, you really don't get to know them at all.
This book was also weirdly similar to A. G. Howard's Splintered series (which is far superior) in a lot of ways and that bothered me.
tillielynn16's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0