Reviews with content warning for Violence - Alice in Borderland, Vol. 2

Yay for Story Graph having a half star and quarter option. I'm able offer more nuance with my Star ratings!

Where my Star deductions come from is that I'm not crazy about the art, and that some of the character background stories are too melodramatic for me. That's typical of Manga though.

What I am crazy about is the bonkers setting and the high concept, brutal games that the characters have to play to stay alive. I am also surprised by the ruthlessness that characters are done away with. It would appear that other than the absolute lead, no one else is safe, at least at this stage. This is developing into something quite interesting.

Bring on the the next book!

Content Warnings

ninahuynh's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Wow! The volume was longer than expected and so much plot has moved forward. It reminds me dystopian films where an "elite group" has been made by a group of long-standing survivors who try to create some sort of order by the ranks within the group.

Content Warnings

mir_frog73's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I think the ending really helped this book for me because I know that we are about to get to a great part of the plot.

Content Warnings

cass_lit's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.5

While I enjoyed the first volume, I did not like this one and do not feel the need to continue after this. I was intrigued by the idea of the Borderland, and I still am, but… I don’t know that I like it enough to to care about it if there aren’t good characters to root for too. So, that first plot point was sad. And then just in general — I HATED the treatment of women in this episode. There are a few really weird instances (especially because I’m pretty sure the main cast is supposed to be high schoolers?), but the kicker for me was the “cliff hanger” of Usagi about to be raped. Rape, because that’s the “punishment for girls” (Arisu was physically beaten up instead). I like to think Arisu is getting out and will be there to save Usagi in Volume 3, but I won’t be sticking around to find out.

The two things I did enjoy about this volume were another Alice in Wonderland call-back with Hatter and learning the secret to getting out, which I thought was clever.

Content Warnings