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meowreads_94's review
3.0
Ever Alice can be considered a well written sequel of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. The story starts after 15 years of Alice’s first venture to Wonderland where nobody believes her and put her at asylum. Alice run away to wonderland with the white rabbit as the avobeground (a secret organization) needs help of Alice to kill the Queen of hearts.
I have a very mixed kind of feeling about this book. It is well written. Ramsay catched the essence from the original book and used the characters so well. The story didn’t get slow and the madness of the queen of heart is described nicely. But… there are a lot of ‘BUT’ moments for me in this book.
Alice is 15 (or a bit older) in this book but the way she behaves around the prince of heart as she fell in love with him probably on very first sight is still not convincing. Ramsay’s writing of the character Alice and the Queen of heart sometimes seems very childish and unexplainable like the way they are in the original book. But sometimes they behaved or their thinking process seems very mature and normal that make the reader confused. I think the writer lost the track sometimes.
The book contains so many dark and light moments but the balance between them is perfect. Still while reading the book I felt some aspects of the plot are very much inspired from the movie directed by Tim Burton.
I wish I was a fan of the original work of Lewis Carroll book so that I could enjoy it to the fullest. Still the plot and the ending is fresh. The romance (or not romance- just friendzoned) part is so so. but I like the ending. It left a question on what’s actually real and what’s not. The decision of writing the chapters from the antagonist and protagonist point of view is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much.
It’s hard to keep the madness of wonderland and a mature and practical and darker storyline altogether. I would like to read some more darker elements in it. But I like how the author incorporate and rearrange the old characters with new twists.
Thank you Netgalley for letting me read the advance copy of Ever Alice. It was still a enjoyable read for me.
Ratings: 3 ★
I have a very mixed kind of feeling about this book. It is well written. Ramsay catched the essence from the original book and used the characters so well. The story didn’t get slow and the madness of the queen of heart is described nicely. But… there are a lot of ‘BUT’ moments for me in this book.
Alice is 15 (or a bit older) in this book but the way she behaves around the prince of heart as she fell in love with him probably on very first sight is still not convincing. Ramsay’s writing of the character Alice and the Queen of heart sometimes seems very childish and unexplainable like the way they are in the original book. But sometimes they behaved or their thinking process seems very mature and normal that make the reader confused. I think the writer lost the track sometimes.
The book contains so many dark and light moments but the balance between them is perfect. Still while reading the book I felt some aspects of the plot are very much inspired from the movie directed by Tim Burton.
I wish I was a fan of the original work of Lewis Carroll book so that I could enjoy it to the fullest. Still the plot and the ending is fresh. The romance (or not romance- just friendzoned) part is so so. but I like the ending. It left a question on what’s actually real and what’s not. The decision of writing the chapters from the antagonist and protagonist point of view is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much.
It’s hard to keep the madness of wonderland and a mature and practical and darker storyline altogether. I would like to read some more darker elements in it. But I like how the author incorporate and rearrange the old characters with new twists.
Thank you Netgalley for letting me read the advance copy of Ever Alice. It was still a enjoyable read for me.
Ratings: 3 ★
brooke_review's review
2.0
Alice, former frequent visitor of Wonderland, is now 15 years old and in a mental asylum for talking about her adventures in Wonderland with the White Rabbit, Red Queen, Mad Hatter, and all the rest as if they really happened. No one believes that Wonderland is a real place full of whimsy and madness. No, they just believe that Alice has, in fact, gone mad herself.
When Alice, desperate to leave the asylum, agrees to an experimental procedure (think lobotomy) to cure her of her madness, she changes her mind at the last minute when the White Rabbit - named Ralph in this story - shows up to save her. Alice escapes to Wonderland where she learns that the Red Queen, named Rosamund, is up to her old antics of beheading everyone in her sight and throwing tantrums, except she has gotten much worse. It seems there is a plot to assassinate the Queen, and Alice quickly finds herself in the center of a scheme to rid Wonderland of its wicked Queen.
Sounds like an exciting premise, right? Unfortunately Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsey fell far down the rabbit hole for this avid Wonderland fan, with my #1 complaint being that this just did not feel like Wonderland. Where's the whimsy? Where's the fanciful characters? Where's the fun? This book could have essentially taken place in any other fantasy world BESIDES Wonderland. The novel read as if the author had applied some baseline Wonderland knowledge to her plot, but that she even fell short in that. Ramsey over-relied on making words mean the opposite of their actual definition - in fact, this is practically the only whimsy she inserted into her story - making this fantasy novel feel tired and trite. The application of opposite meanings was even used incorrectly in some places, such as calling a character's actual birthday his unbirthday, when in fact, an unbirthday is any day of the year that is not your actual birthday.
Furthermore, the storyline was just not exciting. Alice, as a main character, was a bore - the girl who was full of wonder and curiosity is no more, leaving behind an insecure young woman who is fully distracted from her assignation plot by the half-hearted advanced of semi-attractive young men. Getting through this book was like plodding through a swamp, and the only time it truly caught my interest - and thus saved the novel somewhat for me - was the twist ending *SPOILERS AHEAD* where we learn that Alice, in fact, did NOT escape her experimental procedure and was thus lobotomized, leaving her trapped inside her mind - in Wonderland - forever.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When Alice, desperate to leave the asylum, agrees to an experimental procedure (think lobotomy) to cure her of her madness, she changes her mind at the last minute when the White Rabbit - named Ralph in this story - shows up to save her. Alice escapes to Wonderland where she learns that the Red Queen, named Rosamund, is up to her old antics of beheading everyone in her sight and throwing tantrums, except she has gotten much worse. It seems there is a plot to assassinate the Queen, and Alice quickly finds herself in the center of a scheme to rid Wonderland of its wicked Queen.
Sounds like an exciting premise, right? Unfortunately Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsey fell far down the rabbit hole for this avid Wonderland fan, with my #1 complaint being that this just did not feel like Wonderland. Where's the whimsy? Where's the fanciful characters? Where's the fun? This book could have essentially taken place in any other fantasy world BESIDES Wonderland. The novel read as if the author had applied some baseline Wonderland knowledge to her plot, but that she even fell short in that. Ramsey over-relied on making words mean the opposite of their actual definition - in fact, this is practically the only whimsy she inserted into her story - making this fantasy novel feel tired and trite. The application of opposite meanings was even used incorrectly in some places, such as calling a character's actual birthday his unbirthday, when in fact, an unbirthday is any day of the year that is not your actual birthday.
Furthermore, the storyline was just not exciting. Alice, as a main character, was a bore - the girl who was full of wonder and curiosity is no more, leaving behind an insecure young woman who is fully distracted from her assignation plot by the half-hearted advanced of semi-attractive young men. Getting through this book was like plodding through a swamp, and the only time it truly caught my interest - and thus saved the novel somewhat for me - was the twist ending *SPOILERS AHEAD* where we learn that Alice, in fact, did NOT escape her experimental procedure and was thus lobotomized, leaving her trapped inside her mind - in Wonderland - forever.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
vanessa_issa's review
3.0
Thanks to Red Rogue Press for the ARC!
In this book, Alice is 15 and returns to Wonderland.
At the beginning of the story, she's living in an asylum, since her family believes she's mad. She hates being called "mad". She insists that everything she lived in Wonderland was real, but no one believes her. She's hopeless, but then the White Rabbit shows up and she realizes that it's time to go back to Wonderland to help her friends, who are still suffering under the Queen's command.
"Ever Alice" is like a sequel to the original story, preserving the main elements and bringing new ones too. I like the fact that it was told from Alice's and the queen's points of view, because we were able to get to know the thoughts and feelings of them both, and sometimes that's the only way to fully understand the villain.
It was a good read. I think everyone who loves the Wonderland universe will enjoy it too.
The only reason I'm not giving more stars is because it wasn't the kind of book that I wanted to finish in a day.
In this book, Alice is 15 and returns to Wonderland.
At the beginning of the story, she's living in an asylum, since her family believes she's mad. She hates being called "mad". She insists that everything she lived in Wonderland was real, but no one believes her. She's hopeless, but then the White Rabbit shows up and she realizes that it's time to go back to Wonderland to help her friends, who are still suffering under the Queen's command.
"Ever Alice" is like a sequel to the original story, preserving the main elements and bringing new ones too. I like the fact that it was told from Alice's and the queen's points of view, because we were able to get to know the thoughts and feelings of them both, and sometimes that's the only way to fully understand the villain.
It was a good read. I think everyone who loves the Wonderland universe will enjoy it too.
The only reason I'm not giving more stars is because it wasn't the kind of book that I wanted to finish in a day.
dannycakez8808's review
3.0
3.5 stars
Hickory, dickory, dock.. ticktock, ticktock
Reviewing this for #netgalley ! This is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland with a unique twist. Alice's family think shes crazy and put her into a mental institution after she describes her visit to Wonderland. In this novel the White Rabbit is trying to convince Alice to go back down the rabbithole and to murder the Queen of Hearts (Rosamund). We get to see some of our favorite Wonderland characters and a few new ones as well. The book changed perspectives each chapter between Alice and Rosamund. I really enjoyed reading from Rosamunds POV. Overall this was an enjoyable read and unique retelling!
Hickory, dickory, dock.. ticktock, ticktock
Reviewing this for #netgalley ! This is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland with a unique twist. Alice's family think shes crazy and put her into a mental institution after she describes her visit to Wonderland. In this novel the White Rabbit is trying to convince Alice to go back down the rabbithole and to murder the Queen of Hearts (Rosamund). We get to see some of our favorite Wonderland characters and a few new ones as well. The book changed perspectives each chapter between Alice and Rosamund. I really enjoyed reading from Rosamunds POV. Overall this was an enjoyable read and unique retelling!
bibliotequeish's review
5.0
"more than you can ever possibly count, times double, divided by half."
The premise of this book grabbed me, and the story did not disappoint.
So often I get excited for a book, build it up in my mind before I read it, dive in and am left disappointing and almost let down by the book, like I wanted better for it.
This book delivered!
Alice is home after her adventures in Wonderland. Unfortunately all this talk about the Queen of Hearts and the white rabbit has landed her in an asylum.
Saved by the white rabbit, Alice is transported back to Wonderland where she finds herself on a dark adventure to save her head.
It is difficult to build on, or mimic such a famous story, to step into the massive shoes of Lewis Carroll, but I felt Ramsay did an excellent job.
The premise of this book grabbed me, and the story did not disappoint.
So often I get excited for a book, build it up in my mind before I read it, dive in and am left disappointing and almost let down by the book, like I wanted better for it.
This book delivered!
Alice is home after her adventures in Wonderland. Unfortunately all this talk about the Queen of Hearts and the white rabbit has landed her in an asylum.
Saved by the white rabbit, Alice is transported back to Wonderland where she finds herself on a dark adventure to save her head.
It is difficult to build on, or mimic such a famous story, to step into the massive shoes of Lewis Carroll, but I felt Ramsay did an excellent job.
cosmicpages's review
4.0
Ever Alice is fantastic! It tells a story of what happened to Alice after her adventures in Wonderland in the original classic by Lewis Caroll. Ever Alice follows a teenage Alice trapped in a mental institution after her parents have had her diagnosed as mentally insane or "mad". All Alice wants is her freedom, to return home to her family, and to prove to her family once and for all that she is not as "mad" as they believe and that Wonderland truly exists. Instead she is given a difficult choice: return to Wonderland for another dangerous adventure or be lost to the magical world, and possibly her family forever. The writing style was nice and easy to read and flowed nicely. I love that we get to see "the other side of the story" with the chapters focused on the Queen of Hearts. Its comforting to see so many familiar and lovable characters from the original tale.
the_immortal_library's review
2.0
I didn’t finish this book. I couldn’t get into it which was very disappointing for me as I love Alice retellings. I don’t know if it was the writing style, or the story itself I’m sure it has great potential but I couldn’t finish it.
I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
elliemaiblogs's review
4.0
My Review
What I Liked
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Alice in Wonderland. Of course, I’ve seen the Disney animated film but I was never bothered about reading the book. However, there’s been a lot of Fairy Tale retellings around so when the blog tour was announced for Ever Alice I thought I would give it a go and I ended up reading it in one night! I loved the dark twist and I was instantly hooked from page one.
The Story
Alice has returned from Wonderland and it’s now a few years later. With the world still lingering in her mind, she’s ended up in an asylum after everyone thinks she has gone mad. The way Ever Alice is set up, it can act as a sequel to the original but a lot creepier.
If you’re familiar with Alice in Wonderland, you’ll know who the Queen of Hearts is, or Rosamund as she’s called. She is convinced there is a traitor among her Queendom and won’t stop the beheadings until they are dead. Now Alice is back, the only thing left to do to save Wonderland is to kill the Rosamund so normality can be restored. Well as normal as it gets.
The detail in the writing is amazing and it’s so easy to get lost in Wonderland. I was constantly questioning myself what was real. It is so fun and descriptive it’s hard not to be fully consumed by the story. I love how everything is backwards. It may seem like nonsense and Alice definitely questions it a few times. But partway through it all starts to make sense and lets the reader imagine they are part of Wonderland.
The Characters
I love Alice’s mind and the whole world she has created within, you can really see her become part of Wonderland again like she once was. I was shocked when I started questioning if it was actually real? It’s hard to tell sometimes. I do sympathise with her a lot because she is obviously going through this internal struggle and she doesn’t want to be trapped in an asylum. All she wants to do is be home with her family.
I love the Queen of Hearts. Her character is so much fun to read about and you are repeatedly kept on your toes to see what she will do next. At times I even felt sorry for her which is mad because she had such a desire to kill everyone, sometimes without reason. I couldn’t wait to read her chapters as you could always expect something exciting and even a little dark to happen.
There are so many of the original characters that sometimes it felt like I could just be reading Alice in Wonderland (or watching it). So if there are any characters you particularly liked, they might even be in here such as White Rabbit, Cheshire cat, Mad Hatter and the Dodo. I love how Ramsay has made these characters her own without taking away too much of their unique characteristics.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I have definitely found a new love for Alice in Wonderland, original and retellings. I’m going to buy the original and read that very soon but will then probably read this again in the future because the dark tone adds such a unique twist that makes it incredibly gripping. I recommend this so much if you’re looking for a quick easy read with a twist on a classic tale!
Rating: 4.5/5
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book to read and review as part of the 2020 BBNYA competition and the BBNYA tours organised by the TWR Tour team. All opinions are my own, unbiased and honest.
What I Liked
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Alice in Wonderland. Of course, I’ve seen the Disney animated film but I was never bothered about reading the book. However, there’s been a lot of Fairy Tale retellings around so when the blog tour was announced for Ever Alice I thought I would give it a go and I ended up reading it in one night! I loved the dark twist and I was instantly hooked from page one.
The Story
Alice has returned from Wonderland and it’s now a few years later. With the world still lingering in her mind, she’s ended up in an asylum after everyone thinks she has gone mad. The way Ever Alice is set up, it can act as a sequel to the original but a lot creepier.
If you’re familiar with Alice in Wonderland, you’ll know who the Queen of Hearts is, or Rosamund as she’s called. She is convinced there is a traitor among her Queendom and won’t stop the beheadings until they are dead. Now Alice is back, the only thing left to do to save Wonderland is to kill the Rosamund so normality can be restored. Well as normal as it gets.
The detail in the writing is amazing and it’s so easy to get lost in Wonderland. I was constantly questioning myself what was real. It is so fun and descriptive it’s hard not to be fully consumed by the story. I love how everything is backwards. It may seem like nonsense and Alice definitely questions it a few times. But partway through it all starts to make sense and lets the reader imagine they are part of Wonderland.
The Characters
I love Alice’s mind and the whole world she has created within, you can really see her become part of Wonderland again like she once was. I was shocked when I started questioning if it was actually real? It’s hard to tell sometimes. I do sympathise with her a lot because she is obviously going through this internal struggle and she doesn’t want to be trapped in an asylum. All she wants to do is be home with her family.
I love the Queen of Hearts. Her character is so much fun to read about and you are repeatedly kept on your toes to see what she will do next. At times I even felt sorry for her which is mad because she had such a desire to kill everyone, sometimes without reason. I couldn’t wait to read her chapters as you could always expect something exciting and even a little dark to happen.
There are so many of the original characters that sometimes it felt like I could just be reading Alice in Wonderland (or watching it). So if there are any characters you particularly liked, they might even be in here such as White Rabbit, Cheshire cat, Mad Hatter and the Dodo. I love how Ramsay has made these characters her own without taking away too much of their unique characteristics.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I have definitely found a new love for Alice in Wonderland, original and retellings. I’m going to buy the original and read that very soon but will then probably read this again in the future because the dark tone adds such a unique twist that makes it incredibly gripping. I recommend this so much if you’re looking for a quick easy read with a twist on a classic tale!
Rating: 4.5/5
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book to read and review as part of the 2020 BBNYA competition and the BBNYA tours organised by the TWR Tour team. All opinions are my own, unbiased and honest.
shelvesofstarlight's review
5.0
An exceptional retelling of Alice in wonderland that was full of intrigue and an exceptional plot.
The premise of this book instantly intrigued me and when I was offered the chance to read it as part of a blog tour for there BBNYA winners I jumped at the chance because I knew that this would be a high rated book for me, and I was!
I loved the characters and how they were well developed past what we all know and love, and I especially liked how we were given the perspective of the Queen of Hearts as it gave us some much needed insight into her psyche. Alice, of course was a wonderful protagonist and I like that she was also older in this book and that she felt a bit more sure of herself when she was in Wonderland, especially because she had been there before. The other characters, like Ralph or the White Rabbit and William or the Mad Hatter were definitely different from the original stories and I thought that was really brilliant.
The plot and the court intrigue were wonderful, I loved how we didn't immediately jump into wonderland but got a sense of what Alice had been going through since she came back from Wonderland and she had really had a rough go of it. The whole story was full of suspense and a bit of muster and that ending had me shocked and also intrigued, I feel like we need a sequel now to know what happens to Alice after the events of this book because I for one would read it in a heartbeat.
The writing was easy to read and created such a wonderful tone and atmosphere throughout. Proving us with two such different points of view thought the book showed that H.J.Ramsey really has a lot of skill, especially considering that she took. much loved characters and gave them a new breath of life. I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for any more of her books as she truly is a lovely writer!
The premise of this book instantly intrigued me and when I was offered the chance to read it as part of a blog tour for there BBNYA winners I jumped at the chance because I knew that this would be a high rated book for me, and I was!
I loved the characters and how they were well developed past what we all know and love, and I especially liked how we were given the perspective of the Queen of Hearts as it gave us some much needed insight into her psyche. Alice, of course was a wonderful protagonist and I like that she was also older in this book and that she felt a bit more sure of herself when she was in Wonderland, especially because she had been there before. The other characters, like Ralph or the White Rabbit and William or the Mad Hatter were definitely different from the original stories and I thought that was really brilliant.
The plot and the court intrigue were wonderful, I loved how we didn't immediately jump into wonderland but got a sense of what Alice had been going through since she came back from Wonderland and she had really had a rough go of it. The whole story was full of suspense and a bit of muster and that ending had me shocked and also intrigued, I feel like we need a sequel now to know what happens to Alice after the events of this book because I for one would read it in a heartbeat.
The writing was easy to read and created such a wonderful tone and atmosphere throughout. Proving us with two such different points of view thought the book showed that H.J.Ramsey really has a lot of skill, especially considering that she took. much loved characters and gave them a new breath of life. I will definitely be keeping my eyes out for any more of her books as she truly is a lovely writer!
thisbookbelongstosk's review
1.0
**Thank you to NetGalley and Red Rogue Press for this ARC of Ever Alice in exchange for an honest review**
I'm not normally a fan of reimaginings/reinterpretations, and it seems this book really didn't do much to dissuade that feeling.
I was intrigued by the mental instability in the real world aspect, but that part of the plot is nothing more than a footnote.
Alice, almost immediately, returns to Wonderland, where some remember her, some don't (or do but don't care? I'm not sure, that part was tenuous).
Anyway, Alice is co-opted into participating in a plot against the Queen of Hearts. Sounds pretty straightforward... Except there's also a cast of characters all revealed to also be plotting against the queen themselves, but also against Alice sometimes? It's a bit of a mess.
There are needless hook-ups, headless ghosts that mess with the queen but do nothing important, proper names given to classic characters like the Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit (who don't need proper names). And of course a handsome (loathsome and useless in my opinion) Prince that OF COURSE must be in love with Alice on first sight, and she MUST be infatuated with him before they even meet solely because he's a prince. Look, I can accept the whole Disney princess, love at first sight thing, but this relationship was just terrible and added nothing to the plot.
There were also characters dropped into this story that had no place in existing in this world, like Marco Polo (why?) and a rip-off of Marilyn Monroe that's also named Marilyn and sings "Happy Birthday, Mister President" except to the Prince? Ugh, awful. It felt like middle school fan fiction that didn't understand the rules of its own universe.
Honestly, there were SOME ideas that were brought forward in the very end (Alice's hair colour changing as she herself changed) that were interesting and noteworthy, but ultimately didn't make it worth reading this book.
Unfortunately, this just wasn't the book for me. I wouldn't even recommend it to a younger audience as there's much better things out there for young readers.
I'm not normally a fan of reimaginings/reinterpretations, and it seems this book really didn't do much to dissuade that feeling.
I was intrigued by the mental instability in the real world aspect, but that part of the plot is nothing more than a footnote.
Alice, almost immediately, returns to Wonderland, where some remember her, some don't (or do but don't care? I'm not sure, that part was tenuous).
Anyway, Alice is co-opted into participating in a plot against the Queen of Hearts. Sounds pretty straightforward... Except there's also a cast of characters all revealed to also be plotting against the queen themselves, but also against Alice sometimes? It's a bit of a mess.
There are needless hook-ups, headless ghosts that mess with the queen but do nothing important, proper names given to classic characters like the Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit (who don't need proper names). And of course a handsome (loathsome and useless in my opinion) Prince that OF COURSE must be in love with Alice on first sight, and she MUST be infatuated with him before they even meet solely because he's a prince. Look, I can accept the whole Disney princess, love at first sight thing, but this relationship was just terrible and added nothing to the plot.
There were also characters dropped into this story that had no place in existing in this world, like Marco Polo (why?) and a rip-off of Marilyn Monroe that's also named Marilyn and sings "Happy Birthday, Mister President" except to the Prince? Ugh, awful. It felt like middle school fan fiction that didn't understand the rules of its own universe.
Honestly, there were SOME ideas that were brought forward in the very end (Alice's hair colour changing as she herself changed) that were interesting and noteworthy, but ultimately didn't make it worth reading this book.
Unfortunately, this just wasn't the book for me. I wouldn't even recommend it to a younger audience as there's much better things out there for young readers.