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puddleshoes's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Gore
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Police brutality
graceev's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Child death, Gore, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
jaz_gets_literary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Thank you to HearOurVoices Tours, NetGalley, and the publisher for the copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A Blade So Black is the urban fantasy retelling of Alice In Wonderland that I needed as a teen. Alice is on her way to a Con that she was supposed to be going to with her dad but he’s gone. She’s all in her head on the way to the Con when a terrifying creature, called a Nightmare, attacks her her. She’s saved by a mysterious man who turns into her mentor. Her mentor teaches her about the Nightmares and trains her to kill them. While is apart of a small group of people trained to kill the Nightmares, she’s also a normal teen at home. A teen trying to balance her best friend, her feelings towards two different guys, and an overprotective mother. Her mother has every right to be protective when a young Black girl was just killed by police in their neighborhood and Alice starts staying out and not checking in with her. Alice thinks she’s found a way to balance her real life in Atlanta and her life in Wonderland until her mentor is poisoned and she must return to Wonderland to cure him. There are many obstacles in Wonderland and when her real life and it combine all hell breaks loose.
I book kept me on my toes. I was throughly engrossed in it the entire time. Alice is just a normal Black teenager dealing with the challenges that life throws you when she’s thrown into a completely different world with more challenges to deal with. While it did cover heavier topics such as police brutality and death of a loved one, it wasn’t the entire focus of the story. I know those topics can be too much for some people so it was good to see them added to the story in a way that was essential to the storyline but not the sole focus. It contains all the original characters of the story and I love the way the author made them different but still the same. This book is apart of a trilogy and does end in a cliffhanger so I diving right into the second book. I must know what happens next.
A Blade So Black is the urban fantasy retelling of Alice In Wonderland that I needed as a teen. Alice is on her way to a Con that she was supposed to be going to with her dad but he’s gone. She’s all in her head on the way to the Con when a terrifying creature, called a Nightmare, attacks her her. She’s saved by a mysterious man who turns into her mentor. Her mentor teaches her about the Nightmares and trains her to kill them. While is apart of a small group of people trained to kill the Nightmares, she’s also a normal teen at home. A teen trying to balance her best friend, her feelings towards two different guys, and an overprotective mother. Her mother has every right to be protective when a young Black girl was just killed by police in their neighborhood and Alice starts staying out and not checking in with her. Alice thinks she’s found a way to balance her real life in Atlanta and her life in Wonderland until her mentor is poisoned and she must return to Wonderland to cure him. There are many obstacles in Wonderland and when her real life and it combine all hell breaks loose.
I book kept me on my toes. I was throughly engrossed in it the entire time. Alice is just a normal Black teenager dealing with the challenges that life throws you when she’s thrown into a completely different world with more challenges to deal with. While it did cover heavier topics such as police brutality and death of a loved one, it wasn’t the entire focus of the story. I know those topics can be too much for some people so it was good to see them added to the story in a way that was essential to the storyline but not the sole focus. It contains all the original characters of the story and I love the way the author made them different but still the same. This book is apart of a trilogy and does end in a cliffhanger so I diving right into the second book. I must know what happens next.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Police brutality
Minor: Grief
citrus_seasalt's review
3.0
3! The premise was interesting, and I loved the representation, but the execution was..so-so. Firstly, because we didn’t spend a ton of time in Wonderland, especially with other residents, the world-building was done through exposition and not in a more organic way. I forgot which chapter it was, but most of it was just Maddi doing a lengthy backstory explanation on the different queens via mirror images.
Secondly, I didn’t like the romance! Alice has a lot of different people she crushes on in the book, which is fine because that’s what teenagers who get crushes do, but it resulted in this…weird pseudo love triangle?! Like, she almost kissed Chess, but spends the entire book thinking of Hatta. At least pick somebody, geez! (And then there’s her crush on the knight lady from the white queen’s kingdom, which I thought would go somewhere but no she got paired with the princess lol. But that wasn’t too surprising? Ok, those two were kinda cute but should’ve gotten more on-page time together.)
(But also..her and Hatta have a mentor-student dynamic, and I’m a little unsure how Wonderland Immortal Aging even works, so I’m not the only one who thinks that’s a little weird right?)
It also took too long for the plot to really kick off, I think. It isn’t until halfway when Hatta gets poisoned, and then a lot of said plot revolves around a MacGuffin. Point is, it doesn’t feel very solid, especially with the weaker Wonderland worldbuilding. I’ve heard the second book is stronger in this regard, hopefully that is actually the case! Again, an Alice with a darker story and more Buffy vibes is interesting.
Last gripes: Some of the writing felt more tell-not-show, didn’t like the one use of “orbs” instead of eyes, how did Alice just…never hesitate to get back out of the house or at least think things through a little more after her no-nonsense mom kept catching her sneaking out and got mad at the later and later times she got back?! Alice please be so fr LMAO
Anyhow! Overall though, this wasn’t a bad read, it’s not a ⭐️3 in the same way “Belladonna” narrowly avoided a 2.75, but it had its fair share of flaws and I was hoping for the story to feel stronger in its structure.
Secondly, I didn’t like the romance! Alice has a lot of different people she crushes on in the book, which is fine because that’s what teenagers who get crushes do, but it resulted in this…weird pseudo love triangle?! Like, she almost kissed Chess, but spends the entire book thinking of Hatta. At least pick somebody, geez! (And then there’s her crush on the knight lady from the white queen’s kingdom, which I thought would go somewhere but no she got paired with the princess lol. But that wasn’t too surprising? Ok, those two were kinda cute but should’ve gotten more on-page time together.)
(But also..her and Hatta have a mentor-student dynamic, and I’m a little unsure how Wonderland Immortal Aging even works, so I’m not the only one who thinks that’s a little weird right?)
It also took too long for the plot to really kick off, I think. It isn’t until halfway when Hatta gets poisoned, and then a lot of said plot revolves around a MacGuffin. Point is, it doesn’t feel very solid, especially with the weaker Wonderland worldbuilding. I’ve heard the second book is stronger in this regard, hopefully that is actually the case! Again, an Alice with a darker story and more Buffy vibes is interesting.
Last gripes: Some of the writing felt more tell-not-show, didn’t like the one use of “orbs” instead of eyes, how did Alice just…never hesitate to get back out of the house or at least think things through a little more after her no-nonsense mom kept catching her sneaking out and got mad at the later and later times she got back?! Alice please be so fr LMAO
Anyhow! Overall though, this wasn’t a bad read, it’s not a ⭐️3 in the same way “Belladonna” narrowly avoided a 2.75, but it had its fair share of flaws and I was hoping for the story to feel stronger in its structure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Grief
Moderate: Racism, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Minor: Body horror
pinkalpaca's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Police brutality
theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Whew, what a wild ride this book is!
If I'm being honest, the beginning confused me a little bit. Maybe my brain wandered while I was listening to the audiobook and I just missed it entirely, but I somehow didn't notice the skip in time, so when the FMC went from being terrified of nightmares to being a pro at fighting them, I was super confused! However, once I understood the timeline, I felt much better and very quickly adjusted to the story - which was amazing!
What an incredibly unique twist on the classic Wonderland story! I've read reimaginings of Alice in Wonderland, but never something quite like this. If the character names weren't somewhat similar to the originals, I would've never known that it was connected, which I actually really liked. It was whimsical and dark, simultaneously, a mix that's hard to accomplish in my opinion.
The relationships between Alice and all of the other characters was something that I loved from the very beginning. While there are tiny elements of romance, it's definitely not the focus at all. The primary emphasis is on the adventure and the friendships made along the way. It has a great found family aspect that I really enjoyed.
My first thought after finishing the book was, "when can I get my hands on the sequel?" I proceeded to immediately download the audio for the second book because I had to find out what came next!
If I'm being honest, the beginning confused me a little bit. Maybe my brain wandered while I was listening to the audiobook and I just missed it entirely, but I somehow didn't notice the skip in time, so when the FMC went from being terrified of nightmares to being a pro at fighting them, I was super confused! However, once I understood the timeline, I felt much better and very quickly adjusted to the story - which was amazing!
What an incredibly unique twist on the classic Wonderland story! I've read reimaginings of Alice in Wonderland, but never something quite like this. If the character names weren't somewhat similar to the originals, I would've never known that it was connected, which I actually really liked. It was whimsical and dark, simultaneously, a mix that's hard to accomplish in my opinion.
The relationships between Alice and all of the other characters was something that I loved from the very beginning. While there are tiny elements of romance, it's definitely not the focus at all. The primary emphasis is on the adventure and the friendships made along the way. It has a great found family aspect that I really enjoyed.
My first thought after finishing the book was, "when can I get my hands on the sequel?" I proceeded to immediately download the audio for the second book because I had to find out what came next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Police brutality
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book wasn't really grabbing me, but I kept going with it because I was genuinely interested in where the plot was going. I think I would've liked this more if it existed when I was in the target age demographic
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Violence, Murder, and Body horror
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Mental illness, Medical content, Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Stalking
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
e_flah's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
A Blade So Black was a gripping story that had me hooked from the very first page. McKinney's spin on Alice in Wonderland was the perfect blend of whimsical and dark. Alice was a lovable character who I enjoyed exploring this world with.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Police brutality
orladonnelly's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Police brutality and Death of parent
Minor: Child death
caseythereader's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, and Violence