Reviews

Mad Hatters and March Hares by Ellen Datlow

tattered's review against another edition

4.0

Depression, happiness, fear, madness, these short stories are bound to take you on a curious roller coaster ride down the rabbit hole! Check out my Review on "Mad Hatters and March Hares" edited by Ellen Datlow
https://tatteredturtlestittertattle.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/mad-hatters-and-march-hares/

oysterkatcher's review against another edition

3.0

I picked this up because Seanan McGuire was featured in this collection, but I found it to be pretty lackluster overall. I really liked Priya Sharma's story, and Angela Slatter's, but other than that I found the stories either tedious or boring.

eddiegenerous's review against another edition

4.0

Probably my favorite Datlow anthology (I've only read a bunch of Best of ones and a couple others). Some stories I didn't like, but the authors of these ones sell well and always end up in these things, so I go in with very low expectations. For SGJ's story, I went in with high expectations and was blown away, fucking terrifying. There was one about filming an artsy Alice movie that was really cool, and the first story was very cool too...I don't remember now. Many of these authors were new to me and no two stories felt the same, despite the topic. I am honestly surprised I liked this so much, I've only ever seen the Disney cartoon and at that only once or twice and probably not in 25-30 years. So I don't know much about Alice.

Also, I'm mad at Kaaron Warren.

magpiesv's review against another edition

Given that short story collections are hard to rate I thought I'd take notes as I go. I gave up making notes after awhile, I did finish, but this is just not a collection for me. So partial notes below. (Alice fan or not, you really do need to read Seanan McGuire's story!)

There’s plenty of debate if he was on drugs or if there’s some mathematical underpinnings to the weirdness in wonderland, but this collection will leave your head spinning.

-My Own Invention-Delia Sherman- 3 stars –Cool idea, iffy on the execution, hard to say since it’s so disjointed I feel a bit sea sick, but we are talking through the looking glass.
-Lily-White & the Thief of Lesser Night-C.S.E. Cooney-4 stars—Intriguing, creepy, and I love the Cheshire nod to As You Like It.
-Conjoined-Jane Yolen- 4 stars- Clever. “They had another meltdown right in front of him then, called him all sorts of names. Some of them were verbs. All of them impossible to do, even if you’re conjoined. Especially then.”
-Mercury- Priya Sharma- 3 stars-Just didn’t grab me.
-Some Kind of Wonderland-Richard Bowes- Nothing wrong with it, just not for me.
-Alis-Stephen Graham Jones-Successfully creepy, also not my cuppa.
-All the King’s Men- Jeffrey Ford- Uhm.
-Run, Rabbit-Angela Slatter-Ah.
Starting to think this is not the collection for me!
But Seanan McGuire’s-DAMN 5 stars

afictionalcat's review against another edition

2.0

If you're a big Alice In Wonderland fan, this book is a great choice for you! I am not, but I mostly was pulled in by Seanan Mcguire's story. Which was really good. And Kris Dikeman's story was also particularly good in my opinion. So take my rating with a grain of salt, it's a me thing not a reflection on the anthology itself.

lfido12's review against another edition

4.0

A collection of short stories and poems from various authors all about Wonderland and their many quirky characters. Each story is very different. Some are light-hearted and fun, others are dark and adult. Some try to emulate Lewis Carrol's writing style (many successfully), and others have their own style. I very much enjoyed many of the stories and felt sucked back into that rabbit hole. If you are a fan of Alice in Wonderland, or one of it many representation, I would definitely check out this anthology. The narration for the audiobook is very well done, but I think it would be better read in the physical format. With the large amount of different stories and authors, it would be nice to be able to flip back and recall past stories with ease that an audiobook doesn't allow you.

toc's review against another edition

4.0

OK, so I'm a sucker for anything [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass|24213|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872220l/24213._SY75_.jpg|2375385] related. So this tome hit me right where I live.

sausome's review against another edition

4.0

A good collection of stories for fans of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass". Like most short story collections, there were a handful I couldn't get into, but the ones that I liked were quite fantastic, for a range of reasons. There was fantasy, drama, character-building, mad-hatter-esque strangeness, dungeons, strange theme parks, and more. I quite enjoyed: "Lily-White and the Thief of Lesser Night" by C.S.E. Cooney, "Mercury" by Priya Sharma, "Alis" by Stephen Graham Jones, "In Memory of a Summer's Day" by Matthew Kressel, "Sentence Like a Saturday" by Seanan McGuire, "The Flame After the Candle" by Catherynne M. Valente, and "Moon, and Memory, and Muchness" by Katherine Vaz. This is the first anthology-type short story collection gathered on a theme that I've actually completed - quite telling of the quality of work presented.

katica's review against another edition

5.0

I enjoyed almost every single short story in this collection. If you’re a fan of Alice in Wonderland (which, if you’re a little bit mad like me, is a definite yes!) then this will be your cup of tea.

alicegraf's review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.0