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charisanorris's review
4.0
Great conclusion to the series. I gave it four stars because I was kind of wishing that there was going to be a final huge battle between Alyss and Redd...and there wasn't. But other than that it was very good, I enjoyed it very much. It kept me captivated for the whole day when I was supposed to be studying for my midterm >w<. Props to Frank Beddor for real.
jlynnelseauthor's review
2.0
PLOT:
The Heart Crystal's power has been depleted and Imagination along with it. King Arch leads an all-out assault on the capital of Wonderland, while Alyss and Redd remain powerless without the use of their imaginations. So they must do the unthinkable, join forces to save Imagination for their world and ours.
REVIEW:
I love Beddor's take on Alice in Wonderland. I think it is extremely creative the way he weaves our world and Wonderland together. I think I suffered a little with this reading as it has been a long time since finishing up the second one. I could not remember any of the side villains that showed up in the other books.
I think the main problem with this book is that it reads like a screenplay. The plot seems extremely disjointed and jumpy. Segways are abrupt. The usual transition is a noise that Beddor spells out. You're not sure what the noise is, only that it spells trouble. It's hard to follow things in your head because you cannot picture who says what and who is where. I often had to re-read a section to put the pieces together. I still cannot picture what the chessmen look like or General DoppleGanger or Milliner equipment because so little time is spent on establishing the characters. It's like a movie with too much CGI in it.
I've never felt much of a connection to Alyss. Her "romance" with Dodge is pretty much nothing in this book and when mentioned, feels contrived. She seems a little under whelming and under emotional. It's Redd who's been the draw for me. Redd is a fantastic villain, but her prominence in this story was not as much as the other books. She was underused, and her fate at the end was too quick. She had some good lines though!
I think too much time was spent on Molly's ability to solve problems. It went on too long because the result of it was a very quick discovery. It felt unsatisfying because of the small amount of time spent on the solution and its implications. Plus her character is overly whiney and gives us nothing of what she was before. She becomes uninteresting.
I think the revelation of the Everqueen was a smart ending, but the name really did not make sense. Everqueen is more of an essence than a person, and the name implies a person. The final revelation was kind of like, "huh?" And after so much build up, it all happens so fast. Did the author just give up? After three books, he had enough?
The end coda keeps me wondering and feeling unsettled. It ends with a mention that King Arch will be "as well known to Americans as he is to Alyss Heart." WHO IS THAT??? Just give it to me!!!!
The use and lack of imagination drove me a little nuts. It's strange that it could be turned on and off as easily as flipping a switch. I don't know, but that part of the plot just did not work for me. Keep Imagination around and have Redd's and Alyss's joined forces become the main tension in the story. SO much underused potential there!
Overall, I enjoy the world. The characters are kind of blah in this one, the transitions are confusing, but everything gets tied up (albeit a little quickly for a three-book climax). I would love to read more! Confusing? I guess I'd say it was worth the read, but it's not on my favorites list (too much needless strategies since the caterpillars can see it all anyways). I love the world though and would like a little more!
The Heart Crystal's power has been depleted and Imagination along with it. King Arch leads an all-out assault on the capital of Wonderland, while Alyss and Redd remain powerless without the use of their imaginations. So they must do the unthinkable, join forces to save Imagination for their world and ours.
REVIEW:
I love Beddor's take on Alice in Wonderland. I think it is extremely creative the way he weaves our world and Wonderland together. I think I suffered a little with this reading as it has been a long time since finishing up the second one. I could not remember any of the side villains that showed up in the other books.
I think the main problem with this book is that it reads like a screenplay. The plot seems extremely disjointed and jumpy. Segways are abrupt. The usual transition is a noise that Beddor spells out. You're not sure what the noise is, only that it spells trouble. It's hard to follow things in your head because you cannot picture who says what and who is where. I often had to re-read a section to put the pieces together. I still cannot picture what the chessmen look like or General DoppleGanger or Milliner equipment because so little time is spent on establishing the characters. It's like a movie with too much CGI in it.
I've never felt much of a connection to Alyss. Her "romance" with Dodge is pretty much nothing in this book and when mentioned, feels contrived. She seems a little under whelming and under emotional. It's Redd who's been the draw for me. Redd is a fantastic villain, but her prominence in this story was not as much as the other books. She was underused, and her fate at the end was too quick. She had some good lines though!
I think too much time was spent on Molly's ability to solve problems. It went on too long because the result of it was a very quick discovery. It felt unsatisfying because of the small amount of time spent on the solution and its implications. Plus her character is overly whiney and gives us nothing of what she was before. She becomes uninteresting.
I think the revelation of the Everqueen was a smart ending, but the name really did not make sense. Everqueen is more of an essence than a person, and the name implies a person. The final revelation was kind of like, "huh?" And after so much build up, it all happens so fast. Did the author just give up? After three books, he had enough?
The end coda keeps me wondering and feeling unsettled. It ends with a mention that King Arch will be "as well known to Americans as he is to Alyss Heart." WHO IS THAT??? Just give it to me!!!!
The use and lack of imagination drove me a little nuts. It's strange that it could be turned on and off as easily as flipping a switch. I don't know, but that part of the plot just did not work for me. Keep Imagination around and have Redd's and Alyss's joined forces become the main tension in the story. SO much underused potential there!
Overall, I enjoy the world. The characters are kind of blah in this one, the transitions are confusing, but everything gets tied up (albeit a little quickly for a three-book climax). I would love to read more! Confusing? I guess I'd say it was worth the read, but it's not on my favorites list (too much needless strategies since the caterpillars can see it all anyways). I love the world though and would like a little more!
lberestecki's review against another edition
4.0
Not quite as good as the previous installments, but entertaining and a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
arya_bloodheart's review
It just wasn't as good as the first 2 books in the series and it just didn't have the same appeal
briana84's review against another edition
3.0
This was a pretty satisfying conclusion to this trilogy. Many of the problems from the first two books were still there, but I did enjoy the overall plot. I do have to say that I was pretty disappointed in Redd's character development. She was FINALLY turned into more than a one-dimensional villain and that added dimension was being played by and then moping about a man. SO far beneath Redd. I enjoyed that she became more calculating as the book went on though. Arch was actually a pretty satisfying villain. I liked how he was always thinking ahead. Alyss and Dodge's story was COMPLETELY undeveloped and disappointing though. I literally just had to look up Dodge's name that is how unimportant he is to this entire book (and really trilogy). I get that this wasn't about their love story, but if you're going to include a love story, give the characters some sort of chemistry and purpose.
So as I said with the first book, characters are not Beddor's strong point, but the plot makes up for it. Sort of.
So as I said with the first book, characters are not Beddor's strong point, but the plot makes up for it. Sort of.
jljaina's review against another edition
3.0
In this series, The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor his given us an intricate, highly imaginative world. He took the world of Wonderland to a new level, giving it more depth, creativity and action. This final book takes what the first two books created to give us an action-packed ending.
While I love the series concept, I felt this one fell short of what the first two books set-up. The imagination was starting to feel a bit flat in this book. A few new ideas but mostly just a long wrap-up of the past couple books. The character story was especially lacking. We jump all over the place, every couple pages we are seeing things from another perspective. No real depth or character growth. A little with Molly and Charles Dodgson but that is about it. Alyss seemed to lose all personality, Redd was much milder than past books. Arch luckily was still a smart, wicked tyrant.
This book was full of action! While lacking in some areas, it didn't lack here. Yet with how much was happening I feel it would have made a better movie than book. In fact, if this series were turned into movies, I would assuredly go see them. It might even make this book make more sense. The constant jumping and scene changing keeps you glued to what is happening but we never seem to get much resolution to what was happening in the last scene. It needed more details and time to really explain what was going on at times. I think Mr. Beddor's mind was likely visualizing some amazing battles but his mind must have been so much faster than his pen could keep up with.
This series is still worth reading. The first two books are amazing and you need to read this to finish the story arc. However, this conclusion leaves space for improvement for filling in some blanks. I hate when authors start a series and don't finish and I always said "Any ending is better than no ending." Well this wasn't much better than that concept. It does wrap things up but I felt empty as I read a lot of this final book. The action was fun but I felt detached from the characters which I don't like.
While I love the series concept, I felt this one fell short of what the first two books set-up. The imagination was starting to feel a bit flat in this book. A few new ideas but mostly just a long wrap-up of the past couple books. The character story was especially lacking. We jump all over the place, every couple pages we are seeing things from another perspective. No real depth or character growth. A little with Molly and Charles Dodgson but that is about it. Alyss seemed to lose all personality, Redd was much milder than past books. Arch luckily was still a smart, wicked tyrant.
This book was full of action! While lacking in some areas, it didn't lack here. Yet with how much was happening I feel it would have made a better movie than book. In fact, if this series were turned into movies, I would assuredly go see them. It might even make this book make more sense. The constant jumping and scene changing keeps you glued to what is happening but we never seem to get much resolution to what was happening in the last scene. It needed more details and time to really explain what was going on at times. I think Mr. Beddor's mind was likely visualizing some amazing battles but his mind must have been so much faster than his pen could keep up with.
This series is still worth reading. The first two books are amazing and you need to read this to finish the story arc. However, this conclusion leaves space for improvement for filling in some blanks. I hate when authors start a series and don't finish and I always said "Any ending is better than no ending." Well this wasn't much better than that concept. It does wrap things up but I felt empty as I read a lot of this final book. The action was fun but I felt detached from the characters which I don't like.
nerfherder86's review
4.0
I'm sorry to see this trilogy end. Although this installment still had a little more 'wars' and not enough romance for my personal taste, I did enjoy it a lot. Clever devices and great characters; I just want to hug Bibwit Hare sometimes. ;-) Recommend this series for fantasy lovers who like action and intrigue.
nica2006's review
4.0
Re-read in 2019
Rating dropped from 5 stars to 4 stars
Fast paced and well done ending to the trilogy.
Rating dropped from 5 stars to 4 stars
Fast paced and well done ending to the trilogy.
directorpurry's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
capriqueen's review against another edition
4.0
Unlike the previous two, I had not read this one before, which was why I was motivated to reread the first two.
Arch becoming pretty much the main villain was such an unexpected delight at the end of book two that I was quite excited for book three, and I was not disappointed.
The thing I really appreciate about this series is the balance it strikes between the typical outlandish-ness and oddities one would expect from a story set in Wonderland and the science and logic behind the magic and technology. It’s done very well, and I think it was not easy to do.
There were a lot of twists, and a lot of questions about who was playing who, and it was very satisfying in the end. I greatly recommend this series.
Arch becoming pretty much the main villain was such an unexpected delight at the end of book two that I was quite excited for book three, and I was not disappointed.
The thing I really appreciate about this series is the balance it strikes between the typical outlandish-ness and oddities one would expect from a story set in Wonderland and the science and logic behind the magic and technology. It’s done very well, and I think it was not easy to do.
There were a lot of twists, and a lot of questions about who was playing who, and it was very satisfying in the end. I greatly recommend this series.