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A review by elliemaiblogs
Ever Alice by H. J. Ramsay
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.