Scan barcode
cloudwings's review against another edition
4.0
The author did a really nice job of incorporating real facts and historical events into this book. It makes the story more understandable and overall a bettes read. The romantic side-story with Alyss and Dodge adds to the drama and greatness of the book.
goobdiddy's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this one, although I'm always up for a twist on a classic. I wouldn't recommend reading this unless you've read 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' since the whole premise of this book is based on those two childhood classics. (I had to quickly read them after getting a couple of chapters into this book and realizing that I was missing out on too much of the assumed universe of this story).
This has a bit of the demented flavor of the American McGee's 'Alice' video game, which I had fun playing ten years ago, which is probably another reason I liked it.
Alyss was a reasonably likable heroine, Hatter Madigan was cool, and the other twisty reflections of the characters from the Carroll books were fun as well. Sigh, yet another series I'll have to follow.
This has a bit of the demented flavor of the American McGee's 'Alice' video game, which I had fun playing ten years ago, which is probably another reason I liked it.
Alyss was a reasonably likable heroine, Hatter Madigan was cool, and the other twisty reflections of the characters from the Carroll books were fun as well. Sigh, yet another series I'll have to follow.
mehsi's review against another edition
1.0
Due to various things happening, I have decided to finish this horrendous piece of poo today. Thank Lord this is over.
I was quite looking forward to this book, sadly it was not meant to be. I normally love reading Alice in Wonderland retellings but this one is one I would never recommend to anyone.
This was for various reasons. The characters, the POVs, the story, the way they just turned Lewis Carroll in a dimwit and a horrendous man, the ending. There was just too much wrong with this.
Let's start with POVs and characters. We got quite a few characters and if they would get a bit more backstory it would have been fine, but no. The only one truly getting backstory is Alice/Alyss. The rest: Bibwit, Hatter, Cat, Redd, Dodge, Döppelganger were mostly just boring characters, cut-outs from paper and I had zero interest in them.
The POVs switch every chapter, however, sometimes they also like to change in one chapter which makes it all terribly confusing. I don't mind 3 or more POVs, but keep it per chapter, or let us know when the switch is. Not just add it willy-nilly.
Alyss is my favourite character from all of it. Even she had flaws and that is why I don't like her that much, but if I had to pick out of all the characters she is at the top (and that says a lot about the story and the book).
I liked her in Wonderland and also in London. I felt sorry for her, being ripped away from her home, ripped away from her parents and people she knows to be thrown into some weird country with people who never heard about Wonderland and think she is just imagining things.
I really liked how she got stronger when she got back to Wonderland, how she didn't just sit down and cried or was confused. No, instead she went ahead with what she had to do, no matter how bad it looked for her and her friends.
Then we have the story which was utterly boring and not something I would want to read again. I really had to struggle through the 4 chapters a day (and today, through the rest of the ~20 chapters). At times it picked up and it was interesting, but a lot of times I was just rolling my eyes and being bored. Maybe if the story had only focussed on one character, and her adventures, but now it was just boring and it had characters I couldn't give a damn about.
I also didn't like the portrayal of Lewis Carroll. He is portrayed as one who is a dimwit, a bad man who just uses Alyss' stories for his own, creating something that she thought would make everything better but is instead a total trainwreck and a total lie.
Then we have the ending, which I could have expected considering this is a series of books and not a standalone. Still I am very disappointed in it and I had hoped for something better.
I wouldn't recommend this to people. Are you looking for an Alice in Wonderland retelling? Pick up something else, there are quite a few good Alice in Wonderland retellings, and this one isn't one of them.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I was quite looking forward to this book, sadly it was not meant to be. I normally love reading Alice in Wonderland retellings but this one is one I would never recommend to anyone.
This was for various reasons. The characters, the POVs, the story, the way they just turned Lewis Carroll in a dimwit and a horrendous man, the ending. There was just too much wrong with this.
Let's start with POVs and characters. We got quite a few characters and if they would get a bit more backstory it would have been fine, but no. The only one truly getting backstory is Alice/Alyss. The rest: Bibwit, Hatter, Cat, Redd, Dodge, Döppelganger were mostly just boring characters, cut-outs from paper and I had zero interest in them.
The POVs switch every chapter, however, sometimes they also like to change in one chapter which makes it all terribly confusing. I don't mind 3 or more POVs, but keep it per chapter, or let us know when the switch is. Not just add it willy-nilly.
Alyss is my favourite character from all of it. Even she had flaws and that is why I don't like her that much, but if I had to pick out of all the characters she is at the top (and that says a lot about the story and the book).
I liked her in Wonderland and also in London. I felt sorry for her, being ripped away from her home, ripped away from her parents and people she knows to be thrown into some weird country with people who never heard about Wonderland and think she is just imagining things.
I really liked how she got stronger when she got back to Wonderland, how she didn't just sit down and cried or was confused. No, instead she went ahead with what she had to do, no matter how bad it looked for her and her friends.
Then we have the story which was utterly boring and not something I would want to read again. I really had to struggle through the 4 chapters a day (and today, through the rest of the ~20 chapters). At times it picked up and it was interesting, but a lot of times I was just rolling my eyes and being bored. Maybe if the story had only focussed on one character, and her adventures, but now it was just boring and it had characters I couldn't give a damn about.
I also didn't like the portrayal of Lewis Carroll. He is portrayed as one who is a dimwit, a bad man who just uses Alyss' stories for his own, creating something that she thought would make everything better but is instead a total trainwreck and a total lie.
Then we have the ending, which I could have expected considering this is a series of books and not a standalone. Still I am very disappointed in it and I had hoped for something better.
I wouldn't recommend this to people. Are you looking for an Alice in Wonderland retelling? Pick up something else, there are quite a few good Alice in Wonderland retellings, and this one isn't one of them.
Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
adhdemon's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Gore, War, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Classism, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Misogyny
rhianydd's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
harleyrae's review
4.0
I went into this book very hesitant. I had tried to read this book many many years ago and was not at all impressed. When I saw that the audio book version of this was on overdrive through my library I decided to go ahead and give this another try. I am so happy I did! It has been awhile since I was engaged and excited to listen to book. I loved the story, the narrator, and just everything about this book. I have a couple issues in the past with Alice in Wonderland retellings, but this blew all of that out of the water.
I interested in reading the second book sometime soon. I was quite pleased with how this book ended, but I'm interested in seeing how everything has change since the events of this book.
I interested in reading the second book sometime soon. I was quite pleased with how this book ended, but I'm interested in seeing how everything has change since the events of this book.
ols_dove's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book in a library as a child,
It felt to me like magic gone wild,
Reread it in a week now I'm older not new,
Still five feathers for the caterpillar that's blue.
It felt to me like magic gone wild,
Reread it in a week now I'm older not new,
Still five feathers for the caterpillar that's blue.
andiemags53's review against another edition
4.0
I really really really liked this book! I am not a big fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. So I was a bit skeptic of this book at first. But it definitely did not disappoint! I love spins on stories, especially when I did not like the original. There are 3 books in this series, so I will soon see how the next 2 are.
snakeboba's review
5.0
Before I start let me say Alice in Wonderland takes third place in my list of adored tales from childhood (behind The Little Mermaid and Rapunzel). I’ve basically loved so far every adaptation and twist to the story (however I am still on the fence about the live action movie if any wonder). So, when I was a couple of pages in The Looking Glass Wars I heard from those how much I would love it and indeed I was amazed without a doubt.
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor is such a brilliant idea. The story of Alice as what we know is not quite as it seems. Alice in Wonderland is a tale inspired by Alyss’ stories she told to the reverend who worked at the same college her adoptive father was dean of, which I cannot remember the same of, and used Lewis Carroll as a pseudonym. This makes Alyss angry as she believed someone would finally see her stories as truth and not fiction. He turns her stories of her home in such a way she finally gives up on trying to make anyone believe and she even pushes it deep within believing it is something she made all up.
In a way you feel her heartbreak within yourself when you know the truth. She is not Alice, a poor child who was found on the streets to those who assume she witness the death of her parents and put in an orphanage to later be adopted by the Liddells. Though she should be a proper lady, not a proper lady of London. She should be the Queen of Wonderland, the most powerful one of all, and use her White Imagination to overthrow Redd. Without Hatter, or anyone else, she becomes a normal lady who pretends all her stories with her dealing with her childhood and blends greatly into the world of which she lives in no matter if she is Princess Alyss for that is a long ago fairytale.
How did she end up in London? How did this all happen? Well, it is all simple and distressing. Alyass was taken from the Heart Palace to the Pool of Tears with Hatter Madigan as her guide and guard on her seventh birthday by the word of her mother, Queen Genevieve, when Redd’s army attacks the palace. Redd and her army battles Genevieve and White Chess pieces. The Cat is sent after Alyss to ensure there will be not Heart Family left to take Redd’s place. This is where Genevieve is slayed and the Queendom is taken over by Alyss’ aunt.
The Cat with several lives chases after the Alyss and Hatter, only losing them with only getting a bit of Alyss’ birthday dress in his claws. He claims to Redd he murdered the two to bits and with them both in the Pool of Tears Redd could not see either in her Inner Eye (I’m pretty sure it is not called that, but what came to me), and ruled Princess Alyss gone. The two actually safe, but separated in the pool. This is how Alyss ends up alone in London with no one listening to her stories and Hatter in Paris seen as a dangerous person as her searches with regret of losing the young princess. It leaves her separated from her real life for nearly eighteen years.
In the years of Alyss’ absence in Wonderland, Redd has ruled out White Imagination and governed Black shall be the truth power. Those who refuse to commit to her ways have suffered to the point death is their only freedom. Her rage for banishment is put on to those in the Queendom and is absolutely ruthless. The only problem she has at all is the Alyssians, more like an irritating bug to her, who are the rebels are trying to reclaim the Queendom in the name of their beloved, fallen princess.
The Alyssians are a group made up of those who are left of the chess pieces, Wonderlanders, and overall anyone who is willing to fight against the power of Redd. They claim in the name of Alyss to defeat and overthrow the Queen. The few are key characters without giving too much is General Doppelgänger (he can split into Doppel and Gänger) and Dodge, which is the romantic interest in the story. There are a couple more characters known to the reader, but I dislike to give away too much if I do not have to even if those may appear obvious to what they are.
It is found out The Cat who had claimed to murder Aylss and the Hatter had not, though no one learns of his reasoning of lying because of wishing to not get wet. This upsets Redd in a way she takes a few of the Cat’s lives as punishment and if Alyss is not murdered soon she’ll take more of the beast. She is able to return to Wonderland, but is hardly able to believe in the world and of herself. She questions if she can be the savior everyone wants her to be and has to overcome it all.
Does Alyss overcome her maze? Does she defeat Redd?
That is all for you to discover.
The Looking Glass Wars is such a brilliant and bizarre taken on Alice in Wonderland. It is well written and the plot is wonderful. Each character no matter how big or small has a place without feeling like you question why they exist. It is depressing to see so many low rating when I found the book so amazing. I suggest to those who like Alice in Wonderland and enjoy the adaptation of it to give the book a try.
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor is such a brilliant idea. The story of Alice as what we know is not quite as it seems. Alice in Wonderland is a tale inspired by Alyss’ stories she told to the reverend who worked at the same college her adoptive father was dean of, which I cannot remember the same of, and used Lewis Carroll as a pseudonym. This makes Alyss angry as she believed someone would finally see her stories as truth and not fiction. He turns her stories of her home in such a way she finally gives up on trying to make anyone believe and she even pushes it deep within believing it is something she made all up.
In a way you feel her heartbreak within yourself when you know the truth. She is not Alice, a poor child who was found on the streets to those who assume she witness the death of her parents and put in an orphanage to later be adopted by the Liddells. Though she should be a proper lady, not a proper lady of London. She should be the Queen of Wonderland, the most powerful one of all, and use her White Imagination to overthrow Redd. Without Hatter, or anyone else, she becomes a normal lady who pretends all her stories with her dealing with her childhood and blends greatly into the world of which she lives in no matter if she is Princess Alyss for that is a long ago fairytale.
How did she end up in London? How did this all happen? Well, it is all simple and distressing. Alyass was taken from the Heart Palace to the Pool of Tears with Hatter Madigan as her guide and guard on her seventh birthday by the word of her mother, Queen Genevieve, when Redd’s army attacks the palace. Redd and her army battles Genevieve and White Chess pieces. The Cat is sent after Alyss to ensure there will be not Heart Family left to take Redd’s place. This is where Genevieve is slayed and the Queendom is taken over by Alyss’ aunt.
The Cat with several lives chases after the Alyss and Hatter, only losing them with only getting a bit of Alyss’ birthday dress in his claws. He claims to Redd he murdered the two to bits and with them both in the Pool of Tears Redd could not see either in her Inner Eye (I’m pretty sure it is not called that, but what came to me), and ruled Princess Alyss gone. The two actually safe, but separated in the pool. This is how Alyss ends up alone in London with no one listening to her stories and Hatter in Paris seen as a dangerous person as her searches with regret of losing the young princess. It leaves her separated from her real life for nearly eighteen years.
In the years of Alyss’ absence in Wonderland, Redd has ruled out White Imagination and governed Black shall be the truth power. Those who refuse to commit to her ways have suffered to the point death is their only freedom. Her rage for banishment is put on to those in the Queendom and is absolutely ruthless. The only problem she has at all is the Alyssians, more like an irritating bug to her, who are the rebels are trying to reclaim the Queendom in the name of their beloved, fallen princess.
The Alyssians are a group made up of those who are left of the chess pieces, Wonderlanders, and overall anyone who is willing to fight against the power of Redd. They claim in the name of Alyss to defeat and overthrow the Queen. The few are key characters without giving too much is General Doppelgänger (he can split into Doppel and Gänger) and Dodge, which is the romantic interest in the story. There are a couple more characters known to the reader, but I dislike to give away too much if I do not have to even if those may appear obvious to what they are.
It is found out The Cat who had claimed to murder Aylss and the Hatter had not, though no one learns of his reasoning of lying because of wishing to not get wet. This upsets Redd in a way she takes a few of the Cat’s lives as punishment and if Alyss is not murdered soon she’ll take more of the beast. She is able to return to Wonderland, but is hardly able to believe in the world and of herself. She questions if she can be the savior everyone wants her to be and has to overcome it all.
Does Alyss overcome her maze? Does she defeat Redd?
That is all for you to discover.
The Looking Glass Wars is such a brilliant and bizarre taken on Alice in Wonderland. It is well written and the plot is wonderful. Each character no matter how big or small has a place without feeling like you question why they exist. It is depressing to see so many low rating when I found the book so amazing. I suggest to those who like Alice in Wonderland and enjoy the adaptation of it to give the book a try.
rosatulipan's review
So, since I'm a big fan of the Wonderland world, you can trust me on this.
I REALLY enjoyed this book.