Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Alice by Christina Henry

59 reviews

faehistory's review

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A really good dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland.

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keraashley's review against another edition

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0.25

Absolutely the fuck NOT. 
This is the most disturbing and horrific book I’ve ever read. 
This is 300 pages of someone’s r*pe fantasy. Every woman in this book has been assaulted in some way, and is still under constant threat of being snatched and abused by any man walking by on the street. And nearly every woman besides Alice is characterized as nothing more than “sad sex slave”. Alice admits herself that she hasn’t mentally aged past 16 (she’s 26) when she got put in the mental hospital and then starts dating an axe murderer man who is almost 40. Who is almost overcome by lust to assault her multiple times. Even tho he knows she’s already been r*ped. And so was his wife!! Which sent him into a murderous rage and got him put in the hospital. One of the villains is so disgusting that I dnf’ed immediately, skipped to the end to see how it wraps up and even missing most of the book, it is the dumbest and most unsatisfying ending to Alice’s “revenge” against the man that assaulted her and mutilated her face as a way to “claim her”. The writing and plot/character development is bad and nearly nonexistent. Please explain how a girl locked up for 10 years with no skills could murder the worst mob bosses in the city simply by “catching them by surprise”?? But nothing can make up for the plot and constant violence against women. 

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kathinotkaaati's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75


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tenjusahari's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

TW: Sexuelle Inhalte, sexueller Missbrauch uä.

Ich habe sehr gemischte Gefühle zu diesem Buch. An sich hat es mir gefallen, auch wenn es sehr brutal ist, in der Beschreibung und in jedem Kapitel wird das Thema Vergew*ltigung oä. mindestens einmal erwähnt. Ist nichts für jeden, was es auch nicht sein muss.
Die Idee Alice im Wundeland als eine düstere Geschichte zu schreiben, ist sehr interessant und cool, das gefiel mir von Anfang an und auch, dass Leser*innen nicht direkt wissen, was es mit der Anstalt und der Vergangenheit von der Protagonistin auf sich hat, aber der Storyverlauf war etwas merkwürdig finde ich. 
An sich ist es cool, dass die Geschichte einem gewissen roten Faden gefolgt ist, aber die „Kämpfe“ mit den Anführern der Viertel waren immer sehr kurz und irgendwie hat es sich angefühlt, als wären sie noch schnell reingeqäuscht worden, um schnell zum nächsten großen Gegner über zu gehen, sobald alle Infos abgefrüstückt waren. Fand ich irgendwie schade. 
Alice hat sich gut entwickelt in der Geschichte, wie ich finde. Sie wurde immer stärker, besonders mental. 
Hatcher mochte ich nicht so gern, wie vielleicht von der Autorin gewollt war. Er ist ungünstig aufgewachsen und alles gut und schön, aber er hat gesagt, er würde Alice umbringen, bevor sie an Männer ausgeliefert werden kann. Excuse me, hast du sie gefragt, ob sie das möchte? Sie hat nicht einmal zugesagt und auch wenn das ein besseres Schicksal ist, ich hab das Gefühl durch seine physische Überlegenheit, drängt er Alice in eine Rolle, in der er über sie die Kontrolle hat. Er ist offensichtlich ein Mann, der Kontrolle (pber fast alles) braucht, aber das hat mich sehr stark genervt. Klar ist Alice körperlich schwächer, aber er maßt sich ebenso an, in dem er sie eigenhändig töten wollte für den Fall, dass etwas passiert, über ihren Körper und Willen hinweg zu entscheiden. Find ich schwierig. 
Auch dass Hatcher im Haus der Raupe so auf die Frauen geschielt hat. Wow, du hattest ewig nichts Körperliches, gut ist doof, aber auch nur der Gedanke daran, gefangene und gezwungene Frauen anzuhimmeln und das damit zu entschuldigen, dass er ein Mann ist-unangebracht, muss nicht sein. Ich find Frauen auch attraktiv, hätte in dem Moment aber nicht in Mindesten daran gedacht, eine davon für meine Triebe zu benutzen. Das ist widerlich (auch wenn er es nicht getan hat).
Auch dass Hatcher Alice einmal mit seiner Tochter verwechselt hat, als er verwirrt war. Okay, du hattest eine schwere Vergangenheit, aber wtf. Das war sehr unangenehm im Nachhinein betrachtet.
Er hat gute Momente, aber er ist auch sehr kritisch, wie ich finde. 
Grinser hingegen fand ich gut geschrieben. Alice hat am Ende gedacht, dass er kein Held ist, aber das hat Grinser auch nie behauptet oder sein wollen. Er ist nicht der beste Mensch, aber er war immerhin hilfreich und hat einen vielfältigen Charakter. Ich mag ihn irgenwie. 
An sich ist das Buch gut, mit ein paar sehr anstrengenden Momenten und kurzen spannenden Momenten. Aber dennoch interessant. Sollte man nur lesen, wenn der Gemütszustand mit solchen schweren und brutalen Themen zurechtkommt :) 

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allieraj's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? N/A

4.5

As someone who loves Alice in Wonderland in all forms this book hit everything it needed to and then some. The details of the characters and alices change throughout the book was chefs kiss. It can be a hard read for some as it does touch on a few gruesome and touchy subjects. Please read till at least chapter 4 before you DNF

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dmiller1's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25


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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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jabioks55's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

4.0

Rough! 

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kwdubz's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No

3.0

What a.... honestly disappointing read. I've had this for so long and I was highly anticipating it because I loved the Lost Boys book. Maybe I overhyped it in my head, because it has been a very long time since I read that, but this was just not as good as I was expecting.

The writing was fine, just a little too... idk... straight forward? There were too many liberties taken with the plot that it felt too convenient and fast paced for the way the characters were acting and thinking. Not to mention the gratuitous use of sexual assault and violence against women as a plot point and narrative device. There's only so much I can handle.

The characters were not very developed. It felt like a lot of telling was happening rather than showing. All in all they read very YA but boy howdy were the descriptions graphic.

Very bingeable, probably only took me a few hours in total to get through this. I'm not sure if I'll continue though. 

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