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theaceofpages's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I wanted to love this book. I read Alice in Wonderland as a child and loved the whimsy of the books nd was intrigued by the concept of everlasting Alices. I have since read a few other books set in Wonderland and how loved seeing how different authors build on and interpret the world. While I enjoyed how the author interpreted and represented the red and white courts, I struggled to enjoy this book fully. Everything felt rushed. And it was uncomfortably sexual (if it had been indicated in the blurb I would have given this a miss). Eliza (aka Alice) and Finn (aka The White Rabbit - he can transform into one as transformation runs in his family) fall in love unrealistically quickly and the actual plot kind of jumps around randomly. While I appreciated the references to various elements from the original book, the author chose to linger on some events for a strangely long time and then rush through other things so that the book wouldn't be too long. The author keeps rehashing certain points, which gets a bit frustrating.
I can't say I particularly liked the characters. A lot of them were just bad people (without much of an explanation as to why they are how they are - they just seem to like being cruel and controlling) and Eliza and Finn were just not particularly interesting to me. I felt like a lot of the characters lacked depths and were a bit caricature-ish. I did enjoy Chesa (aka The Cheshire Cat) though. She was a bit outside all the the uncomfortable stuff, but she's still very aware of it all (she apparently knows everything).
The book is also uncomfortably sexual. I know some people like that kind of thing, but if you are like me and don't I can recommend skipping this book. Even outside of the actual sex scenes (two detailed, one rathe uncomfortable exploration, and other background events), the overall tone is also kind of uncomfortable. People keep commenting/thinking about how sexy other characters are and looking at and (internally) commenting about their bodies, people are often aroused by said characters and features. Again, if this is your thing, no shame and go for it. But for me, it was a very unwelcome surprise. I feel like the plot often takes a secondary position to the relationship (which again, developed way too fast, especially since Finn essentially abducts Eliza and drags her off to a cruel world) which was disappointing. The whole story is meant to be about freeing Eliza from her duties, but this is largely treated as secondary until the end. Instead it's just constant "you'll know when you need to" and "but if I tell you now it won't work so you can't have anymore information about the curse". And Eliza doesn't really push bac because she just wants Finn. She really doesn't feel all that invested, even though her whole future and the future of Wonderland are controlled by said curse. I would have loved it if the feud was given more depth and the functioning of modern Wonderland was given more page time.
While this book wasn't bad, I was a little disappointed. But that being said, I can definitely see other readers having a good time with it. Those who are more into sexy books with a lot of random sexualisation.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Some notes on some of the content warnings (all are individually spoilered so you can look at what you need to)
Borderline bestiality:Finn goes and explores Eliza's underclothes while in his rabbit form
Sexual content:Two explicit sex scenes. I skipped them but a waning that the first one goes into a second chapter. There is also an orgy but its not very detailed
Sexual harassment/assault/rape:The Red Queen forces others to sleep with her, including Finn. If you refuse you will be killed.
Xenophobia:There is a lot of mistrust and hatred between the two kingdoms
Blood/violence:Because there isn't an Alice, the two kingdoms want to kill each other more than usual and the beasts are more aggressive than usual. There are descriptions of Finn being injured as a rabbit in case you are sensitive to animal injury.
I can't say I particularly liked the characters. A lot of them were just bad people (without much of an explanation as to why they are how they are - they just seem to like being cruel and controlling) and Eliza and Finn were just not particularly interesting to me. I felt like a lot of the characters lacked depths and were a bit caricature-ish. I did enjoy Chesa (aka The Cheshire Cat) though. She was a bit outside all the the uncomfortable stuff, but she's still very aware of it all (she apparently knows everything).
The book is also uncomfortably sexual. I know some people like that kind of thing, but if you are like me and don't I can recommend skipping this book. Even outside of the actual sex scenes (two detailed, one rathe uncomfortable exploration, and other background events), the overall tone is also kind of uncomfortable. People keep commenting/thinking about how sexy other characters are and looking at and (internally) commenting about their bodies, people are often aroused by said characters and features. Again, if this is your thing, no shame and go for it. But for me, it was a very unwelcome surprise. I feel like the plot often takes a secondary position to the relationship (which again, developed way too fast, especially since Finn essentially abducts Eliza and drags her off to a cruel world) which was disappointing. The whole story is meant to be about freeing Eliza from her duties, but this is largely treated as secondary until the end. Instead it's just constant "you'll know when you need to" and "but if I tell you now it won't work so you can't have anymore information about the curse". And Eliza doesn't really push bac because she just wants Finn. She really doesn't feel all that invested, even though her whole future and the future of Wonderland are controlled by said curse. I would have loved it if the feud was given more depth and the functioning of modern Wonderland was given more page time.
While this book wasn't bad, I was a little disappointed. But that being said, I can definitely see other readers having a good time with it. Those who are more into sexy books with a lot of random sexualisation.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Some notes on some of the content warnings (all are individually spoilered so you can look at what you need to)
Borderline bestiality:
Sexual content:
Sexual harassment/assault/rape:
Xenophobia:
Blood/violence:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Blood
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual assault, Alcohol, Stalking, Rape, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Cursing
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