A review by ashleighbeanxo
Alice by Christina Henry

5.0

This book is, as you would guess, a retelling of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, but it's very dark. Oh, so very dark. Maybe the darkest retelling I've ever read. At the beginning of the story, our titular 'heroine' is imprisoned in a 'hospital' (more like a prison/asylum) at the age of 16, where she stays for 10 years. Her only friend is the murderous man in the cell next door who has been nicknamed Hatcher. A fire spreads throughout the hospital one day, freeing Alice and Hatcher, where they find out the monstrous Jabberwock has also been released, and oops, they need to stop him. Now this isn't a straightforward boy and girl set out to save the day story.

As mentioned before, this is dark. The disturbing topics explored in this book include rape, sex slaves/slavery rings, murder, and cannibalism. I was shocked at how dark this book was. I just can't get over it.

Spoiler

Never have I read a retelling where the main character was actually raped, and was almost sold into slavery to a man who enjoys eating woman while he's raping them. Yepp that's a sentence I never thought I was type out

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For me, the ending was a little rushed, and I would like to have seen the final battle to be a little more.. exciting. Dramatic. Action-based. But it wasn't bad enough to make me mark the book down. Looking forward to picking up the next book.