Alice (The Chronicles of Alice)
From the national bestselling author of Ghost Tree comes a mind-bending novel inspired by the twisted and wondrous works of Lewis Carroll...
In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.
In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood...
Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.
Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful. And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.
In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.
In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood...
Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.
Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful. And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.
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Community Reviews
Horrifyingly Excellent | Review of ‘[b:Alice|23398606|Alice (The Chronicles of Alice, #1)|Christina Henry|https:d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1416530621s/23398606.jpg|42955198]’ (The Chronicles of Alice #1)
A dark and gritty retelling that combines the madness of wonderland with the reality of Alice[...]
Read more of this post at Cyn's Workshop
A dark and gritty retelling that combines the madness of wonderland with the reality of Alice[...]
Read more of this post at Cyn's Workshop
Favorite book would be an understatement.
This absolute masterpiece is Christina Henrys insane take on Alices adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll.)
A mind-bending story about revenge, manipulation of the mind, finding your truth, and all that in darkfantasy form with a pinch of romance and a spoonful of horror.
To me, its pure ecstasy reading this book. Every page takes you further into twisted minds of the characters, all of them wonderfully written.
Simply brilliant.
Enjoyed it more than I thought I would and want to continue through the series. It was an interesting and bloody twist on Alice in Wonderland. Didn't really love the ending.
**This book has trigger warnings!**
Unrealistic Love
Maybe I missed something at the beginning of the story, but the author kept pushing a love between Alice and Hatcher that was more than just platonic or strangers thrown into similar situations together. Rather, there was a romantic love. Or at least, the author intended for there to be romantic love, but it didn’t feel real from my point of view. Their love had no basis in my mind and felt completely out in left field throughout the entire book. It kept… disconnecting me from the reading every time it was brought up.
A little too Convenient
I understand this book has magic and strange happenings, but everything worked just a little too well. Things popped up at just the right times. Everything fell into place just right for the characters and it took away the sense of suspense, the sense that the characters might not make it. Honestly, it felt like they didn’t even really have to try.
Drag through the Mud
The beginning was so slow that it felt like the reader was being dragged through the mud. The first chapter was an explosion… and then it dropped off… a cliff. -.- There were little explanations here and there and the characters had a goal, but they went nowhere for chapters and chapters. Sure, it tied together in the end, but, looking back, it wasn’t strong enough to be necessary.
Mad Dash for the End
And the biggest mistake after having a slow beginning is the mad dash for the end. The story took forever to build and then suddenly everything speeds up and all compiles on each other and all the important scenes happen back to back. Not only was this bad, but the ending after all this was extremely anticlimactic and unsatisfying.
Unrealistic Love
Maybe I missed something at the beginning of the story, but the author kept pushing a love between Alice and Hatcher that was more than just platonic or strangers thrown into similar situations together. Rather, there was a romantic love. Or at least, the author intended for there to be romantic love, but it didn’t feel real from my point of view. Their love had no basis in my mind and felt completely out in left field throughout the entire book. It kept… disconnecting me from the reading every time it was brought up.
A little too Convenient
I understand this book has magic and strange happenings, but everything worked just a little too well. Things popped up at just the right times. Everything fell into place just right for the characters and it took away the sense of suspense, the sense that the characters might not make it. Honestly, it felt like they didn’t even really have to try.
Drag through the Mud
The beginning was so slow that it felt like the reader was being dragged through the mud. The first chapter was an explosion… and then it dropped off… a cliff. -.- There were little explanations here and there and the characters had a goal, but they went nowhere for chapters and chapters. Sure, it tied together in the end, but, looking back, it wasn’t strong enough to be necessary.
Mad Dash for the End
And the biggest mistake after having a slow beginning is the mad dash for the end. The story took forever to build and then suddenly everything speeds up and all compiles on each other and all the important scenes happen back to back. Not only was this bad, but the ending after all this was extremely anticlimactic and unsatisfying.
I was curious abt Alice's experience in an asylum when Alice shares Wonderland w/others. Since the world cannot handle creativity, it makes sense they were convinced Alice had lost her mind & was better off locked up.
Instead the story takes on a different path.
The comparisons were interesting even among the characters. I did like the author's creation of the Old City & the New City as Lewis Carroll begins w/his regimented world on what is proper & polite etiquette for the British & then turns it all upside down in another world he decides to call Wonderland.
As the story progressed, a part that dug into me was when Alice throws the 🔪 & the blue-green 👁 into the river, as if the river could just take the memory along & never be faced w/again since the flow of the river is irreversible. I imagine this is what Alice carried in her heart as she released the 🔪 & the blue-green 👁. How easy it sounds, if only we cld get rid of unwanted experiences so cleanly & quickly.
My fav quote from this book, "This broken, shrunken creature was her nightmare?"
Why do we give our monsters power to grow strong?
However this book was not for me. I cldn't handle all the rape content.
This book is perverted & offensive!!!
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