Alice in the Country of Hearts, Vol. 1

ハートの国のアリス ～Wonderful Wonder World～ [Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Wonderful Wonder World~] #1-2

by Soumei Hoshino (Illustrator), QuinRose, Beni Axia Conrad (Translator)

Kidnapped by a handsome man with rabbit ears, Alice Liddell finds herself abandoned in an odd place called Wonderland and thrust into a "game," the rules of which she has yet to learn. Alice, ever the plucky tomboy, sets off to explore and get the lay of this strange land, intent on finding her rude kidnapper and giving him a piece of her mind (and her fist). But little does she know that she's wandered right into the middle of a dangerous power struggle involving just about all of Wonderland's attractive, weapon-happy denizens. And the only way for Alice to return home is to get acquainted with the lot of them?! How in the world will she manage that and still manage to stay alive?!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Retellings, Young Adult

367 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2009

About the author

ほしの総明

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed to have no cohesive storyline, and tried to combine way too many concepts. It was messy, and confusing. Alice is also a really dull main character, and the guys all look and sound exactly the same. And what's with all the everyday objects randomly morphing into semi automatics? Weird.

[Laura A. Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

VIDEO REVIEW HERE: https://youtu.be/TDiGKD4pDiA

"It might be easy to fix a life but that doesn't mean you shouldn't value it."

Color me, SUPER impressed!

My expectations of enjoying this were *extremely* low. I picked it up from my library on a whim because of a recommendation on my YouTube channel, but once I picked it up, my interest just seem to zap. However, I was inspired by a friend who was sharing how she always reads her library pickups and decided to do the same.

One of the BEST bookish decisions I have made recently!

THIS WAS SO GOOD!

This story captures so many quirky and mysterious elements of the original Alice in Wonderland all the while being its own thing. I told my husband earlier that the more pages I read, the more I fell deeper down the hole of this story because I NEVER knew what to expect and/or what was going to happen next. I was completely captivated and groaned every. single. time. I had to put this down and go do other things because I was completely sucked in and invested in this story!

Alice is a really fun character to follow and enjoyed A LOT of her reactions to things in this "dream." I definitely shared her dislike of Peter White even though I found myself more often than not able to *completely* dislike his character due to what another character voiced of how pure and honest his heart is. It really is facts about him even though I didn't always agree with even HALF of his actions.

And speaking of Peter White, outside of his character, I LOVE all these different guys! (I also really liked the Queen of Hearts, but I feel we haven't seen enough of her yet to REALLY get to know her.) Each person is so unique and brings a very fun element to the story (or dangerous one depending on which character were talking about). I am SOOOO conflicted about who I want Alice to be with because ACEEEEEEE! He reminds me of a mashup of Ace and Zoro from One Piece and can't even with that because Ace from One Piece is one of my all-time favorite characters! I also really really really like Blood and sort of like, "I hope Alice falls for him…" And then there is Elliot who is a little angry cinnamon roll and absolutely adored seeing on page the more I read. And of course, there is Nightmare too (though I won't say anything about him because of spoilers), so I am very conflicted on who I want to be the end game here! LOL!!

When it comes to the story world, such imaginative world-building! You can really feel Alice's desperation and horror of how life is NOT treated precious, which was my biggest takeaway even though I'm very curious about the war that is ongoing between the three lands. But back to what I was saying, I loved how she "presented" a different way of thinking in that each and every character should value their life. It's a beautiful and powerful thing and love seeing each character slowly come to realize how meaningful(?) those words are. Granted, it DOES make each guy fall more in love with her, but I give major credit to Alice because she is unyielding in that she won't actually fall for any of them. Pretty sure I would have been doomed since I liked so many of these guys! LOL!!!

Overall, I really really really enjoyed this! It was a total delight to read and really enjoyed all the characters, the world-building (as hard and saddening it was at times to learn different things), and especially Alice who gets so exasperated with certain characters and their illogical way of thinking. LOL!

Very much looking forward to reading the next omnibus!

[Anastasia Antonova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Хммм... это было в высшей степени необычно. Я бы сказала с налетом безумности. В общем и целом мне понравилось. Приятная рисовка, полнейшее непонимание что за чертовщина здесь творится + приятные и очень неоднозначные персонажи. Тайны в самом конце на блюдечке не положили, дав парочку фрагментов и заявив "додумывайте сами". Догадаться можно, но догадка приводит к выводу что главная героиня... кхм, не буду раскрывать все карты.
Теперь немного о персонажах. Они здесь так хороши что их хочется отметить.
Алиса - странное чувство. Вот вроде она мне и нравится, а вроде и нет. В одни моменты я ее уважала, а в другие хваталась за голову со стоном "дурыында". Хотя, если моя догадка по поводу финала верна, ее стоит только пожалеть.
Эйс - рыцарь, один из моих любимчиков. Топографический кретинизм роднит. И его было сложно предугадать. А его рисовка... наверное мангаке он нравился больше остальных, так как рисовала она его намнооого лучше других. Что ни кадр, то нужно ведерко для слюнок подставлять.
Блад - неоднозначно. Как перс он крут и неоднозначен, но большую часть времени ему просто хотелось отвесить пендаля. Но как шляпника его нарисовали хорошо.
Вивальди - королева сердец. Чего только стоит ее привычка говорить о себе во множественном числе. Да и характер в купе с поступками заставляют в нее влюбится.
Близнецы - кровожадные дьяволята.
Борис (ака Чешир) - тоже причина для пускания слюней. Но его автор очень хорошо раскрыла под конец. Он хорошо вписался в роль "психолога".
Питер - кролик-читер. Почитаете-поймете. Но если честно, я ставила на него. Хотя если после прочтения мои догадки верны, то это просто писец. Писееец. Блин, даже обсудить нет с кем.
Джулиус - милаха. Приятный во всем персонаж, в котором я иногда узнавала себя. Но я не могу понять кем он является из книги про Алису. Хоть ты тресни. Всех остальных узнала, а его не могу.
Остальные персонажи тоже удались. Чего только стоит Джокер, хотя он появился не на долго. Впрочем, это не помешало ему оставить после себя сильное впечатление.
Данная манга не является первоисточником - изначально эта история была игрой Heart no Kuni no Alice. После успеха игры по ней нарисовали мангу и сняли аниме-фильм. Почитав отзывы, я поняла что лучше сначала почитать мангу, а потом уже смотреть фильм. Говорят что очень много чего урезано и можно просто ничерта не понять. Поэтому отложите его на потом, если вас заинтересовала эта вещь.
Единственное что: здесь гарем. так что если вы не любители подобного, проходите мимо, ибо он здесь просто ГАРЕМ. Капсом.
Кому советую почитать: любителям всяких нелепостей, непоняток и взрывающих мозг тайн.

Итоговая оценка: 10 из 10

[Justyn Rampa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I finally broke down and decided to select this title as one of the Otaku Club reads. (An Anime and Manga club I lead at two libraries!) Many have spoken about the series, one girl in particular desperately wanted us to select it. Looking for more female centric titles and with a slight interest in seeing Alice in Wonderland reimagined, I decided to finally do Alice in the Country of Hearts (or Heart no Kuni no Alice as it is called in Japan).

Background: Heart no Kuni no Alice started as a Visual Novel in Japan written by the same author which is actually a game that people can play on a PC or Playstation. The game was so popular that it was adapted into a manga, which in turn also became very popular. Both the games and the manga are still ongoing. There was also a possibility of the series getting turned into an anime, but the final result was that it was turned into an animated film. Also, several novels were written based on the game as well, but I do not believe those are still on-going.

Heart no Kuni no Alice is a somewhat more mature take on Lewis Carrol's classic as it introduces the concept or a romantic love into the story that was not in the original. Some reviews I have read suggest that it is a satire on the harem genre of manga (here of course being a reverse harem as it features a female character being pursued by many male suitors). I don't know if I agree that the manga really is that progressive. In fact, I actually read this at the same time that I discussed the Skottie Young OZ series with my book club which then led to a comparison/contrast discussion of Alice and Dorothy. What was fascinating was that Dorothy is thrown into an unknown strange world and takes control of her own destiny and assumes power over her circumstances while Alice is a very passive protagonist that is thrown into an unknown strange world where she is constantly dominated and forced on various paths by encountering liquids and cakes with instructions (Drink Me. Eat Me.) and characters that control her destiny. Dorothy makes sense of her world while Alice never truly does.

Heart no Kuni no Alice definitely sets up Alice as that same passive character only emphasizing it more by having all the male characters pursue her and fall desperately in love with her. There is also the suggestion made that Wonderland is a creation of Alice's subconscious and merely a dream where Alice's desires manifest themselves, including a character that appears the same as an ex-boyfriend of hers. Essentially, I feel that Alice and Dorothy were a turn of the century Bella and Katniss. This Wonderland is a rather terrifying place where people have no concern for death and are all questionably sane. What is probably more terrifying is the extent to which Alice is pursued. Thankfully, in the first omnibus edition (which is a combo of the first two volumes), Alice maintains her boundaries and actually breaks the fourth wall a bit by commenting on the ludicrous actions of those around her. At the same time, she remains a passive character who is powerless unless of course Wonderland truly is created by her in which case, she could assert some power if she only realized her potential.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice Liddell is taking a nap in the garden when she's kidnapped by a guy with rabbit ears and forced to jump down a hole in the ground. She then finds herself in a strange place called Wonderland, where there's a power struggle between different territories and everyone seem ready to kill each other. How on earth will Alice get back home?

A manga retelling of Alice in Wonderland! This is an omnibus containing volume 1 and 2 in the series. Some things and characters are similar to the original, while others are very different. The Hatter's territory is led by Blood Dupre, a mafia boss. The Queen of Hearts rule the Heart Castle, and the Amusement Park is managed by a man named Gowland. We also have the Clock Tower Plaza, which is the only neutral area. Julius Monrey lives here.

Just like in the original story bizarre things happen, and the characters are quite odd. I had some difficulties keeping the characters apart, but it was even worse knowing who said what. The talking bubbles doesn't show who's talking, which was frustrating. I also wasn't fond of the fact that everybody was supposed to fall in love with Alice, as part of the "game". But despite these disturbances I'm still curious enough to want to continue reading the series!

[Jacqueline Reads]

I like retellings which is what drew me to this in the first place. I found out it’s based on a game, which as you read you can definitely tell.
Alice is very much a passive character with almost no personality or at least just very “not like other girls” traits but is in reality pretty bland. Being that the is is based on a sort of choose your adventure (love interest) sort of game it makes sense. The “love interests” are all either gross, weird, or creepy. And all seem to have hidden agendas.
The world of wonderland in this adaptation is like a weird theme park kingdom. The characters are surprisingly ok with random and exorbitant use of guns. I would say the most interesting thing about the world is the plot line/conflict with the clocks and the mystery surround that.

[Jennie Damron · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter finally did it. She convinced me to try a Manga for the first time. I normally wouldn't, but I am a sucker for all things Wonderland. I'm a bit obsessed actually.
I didn't hate this, but I didn't love it either. Not because it's Manga but I found the story a bit ridiculous. All these characters say the love Alice, but they all are using her for their purposes. Not one is being honest with her. And Peter, OMG! He's a sociopath. It was ridiculous how much he claimed to love Alice, but he forced every interaction they had. Maybe I am taking the story to seriously, but it was just crazy. I did love the artwork and appreciated the sense of style that went into this Manga. I get now why people enjoy this type of reading. It's captivating and so fast paced. I am glad i took the time to try this out. Don't think I will continue the series though.

[Mike Foley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unpopular opinion here but I didn't like it. I know AWL is supposed to be a crazy ride and truthfully I don't remember much of tge story. That being said I found this version off putting for several reasons.

1) it's supposed to be a violent interpretation of Alice which is awesome! But i found the violence lacking. Near non existent actually.

2) the art is pretty good but average for a lot of shojo I've read. My biggest problem is all the male characters are the same to me. I like that it's not the usual manly man art but having all the men the classic fan girl dream isn't to my taste either.

3) my biggest issue though is the story. We have a female character kidnapped, receives a love confession from a stranger, multiple actually, offered a suspicious liquid which she refuses then forced to drink against her will via the kidnapper force feeding it to her mouth to mouth. Now I'll admit I've read and liked some sketchy manga before but I cant remember one that literally had a character say "no" then get kissed against her will and given a drug that traps her in a dangerous world.
I will also say maybe this is a set up for him being an evil character but I feel as though he's going to end up a love interest or main contender for Alice and I'm not interested.

[Kimberly [Come Hither Books] · Rating 1 out of 5]

An Alice in Wonderland retelling with an older Alice and the denizens of Wonderland as hot guys (yes, even the animals) who all want to possess and control Alice because they "love" her.

I generally like Alice stories, which is why I picked this one up. But this is just about my least favorite retelling of all. Alice is older but not wiser, and even more passive than the original. The craziness of Wonderland shifts to sexual predation and obsession which is more nightmare than wonder. Alice despises the worst offender, who kidnapped her from the real world and trapped her in Wonderland with a forced kiss. But she seems only confused and excited by the same attention from everyone else.

Few of the characters are worth liking, and their behavior will probably worsen over the series too. For everyone in Wonderland is fated to fall in love with Alice. *sigh* So the wrong story for me, and a subplot about clocks and afterimages is nowhere near enough to make me continue this nonsense.

[Jillyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Alice in Wonderland, in all of its forms. If there's a retelling, a story inspired by Alice, or anything of that sort, I'm going to read it. In this case, it was the manga inspired version.

It was a really cute, fast read. The characters are all very charming. I really liked the twists on the characters we all know and love.

The illustrations were very pretty and complimented the writing well. One of my normal issues with manga/graphic novels is that I tend to find that you don't get a whole lot of story. That wasn't the case for Alice in the Country of Hearts. I thought it had a good, well paced plot that was mirrored by these illustrations.

Alice was likable and spirited, and held her own despite being in such a confusing place. There's a lot more romance in this version than the original, and an interesting twist of what those in Wonderland's heart is really made of and what makes them tick.

I look forward to reading the other episodes of this series and seeing where else it goes from here.

[Dani H · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite odd, and to be honest, lacking in much plot. The only storyline there seemed to be that Alice was taken to Wonderland against her will and she was trying to get back home, while everyone was being weird and claiming to fall in love with her. Very strange.

It was entertaining enough, but I'm not sure I enjoy it enough to spend the money reading the next one. Maybe I would if I could borrow it, but my library doesn't have any copies.

Considering I love Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass so much, this was a bit of a disappointment, although it was interesting to see some of the characters adapted into entirely new characters, while remaining recognisable.

A solid 3 stars.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series seems really interesting and has a lot of great characters that are both entertaining and complex. I really enjoy seeing how all the different characters interact with each other as well as learning more about them as the series continues and I am looking forward to reading the next volume so I can find out what happens next.

Contains Chapters 1- 11
Alice 01.) Welcome to Wonderland
Alice 02.) On the Way
Alice 03.) Nightmare
Alice 04.) Clock & Afterimage
Alice 05.) In the Amusement Park
Alice 06.) Midnight Tea Party
Alice 07.) Slow Making
Alice 08.) Interesting
Alice 09.) Pure Feeling
Alice 10.) Heart Sound
Alice 11.) Light Weight

[Amirah · Rating 5 out of 5]

bdjfjd

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am always of two minds when it comes to adaptations of well known literary classics. I’m always on the look out for something new and fun but all too often I’m disappointed. Alice is somewhere in between. Art wise, it’s gorgeous. Story wise it’s a bit odd. On it’s face, it’s a Mary Sue even though in many ways it doesn’t read as one.

Alice is brought into Wonderland by Peter Rabbit (It’s worthy of noting that all characters are now super hot bishies with a few exceptions like the queen of hearts). Peter is in love with her and forces her to play their ‘game,’ by kissing her and forcing a potion down her throat in the process. Alice has to refill that potion bottle by befriending the inhabitants. They, on the other hand, are all doomed to love her.

The Mary Sue shell is, of course, all the boys vying for her attention. Under that is a mess of violence. These people are always trying to shoot each other. So far there are four main camps, the watch repairman whom she stays with and seems to trust, Peter Rabbit and the Queen of Hearts, The Hatter (who is a mob boss and looks just like a man Alice once loved which is disturbing since Alice does look so young) and Elliot the March hare and Gowland and the amusement park. Ace (of hearts) seems to float between them all.

This Yen press offering is an omnibus but it doesn’t bother telling me how many chapters/volumes are in it but it is large. The story is complicated, violent and very Machiavellian. There is a very big secret revealed toward the end about how this world works and it’s so transgressive and interesting that I will have to see the next volume.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this manga! The storyline is super awesome! I love tweaked versions of Alice in Wonderland. This one is rad... with the Mad Hatter as a mafia boss!!? Bad ass! Besides the storyline, the costumes (is that what you'd call them in a manga?) are AMAZING!! The girls are very gothic lolita (which is a style I'd dress in every day if I could) and the men always have great outfits on too! The artwork is very Black Butler, down to the looks of some characters and the clothing of all characters. But what I love most about the artwork is The Queen of Hearts. She is sexy!! Normally I don't find the women in manga attractive because they have the big circular eyes or gigrundous boobs or both... but the Queen of Hearts has neither. Well, her breast size may be big but her boobs aren't popping out all over the place like they'd normally be so I can't really judge. All I know is she's beautiful and has an AMAZING dress! I also love all the characters. They're all so fun! I can't even pick my favorite(s) yet because I adore them all so much!

I cannot wait to get the other two volumes from the library, but this is a series I will definitely be adding to my own personal collection! I'm so happy Yen Press picked it up after Tokyopop bit the dust... now if only they'd do that with Saiyuki and my life would be complete ;-)

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5ish

I often have a sense of surreality when reading manga, and this book is no exception. But, then, considering the topic, it rather works in its favor.

As should be obvious, this is yet another Wonderland retelling - manga style, complete with hot Mad Hatter, who's real name is Blood Dupre and is the head of the mafia family the Hatters.

Yes, it's that kind of retelling, where it takes the basic characters, adds a few new ones, and just makes a different story.

So purists beware...

The basic "plot" of this is that Outsiders are special in Wonderland 'cause they have real hearts instead of clocks, and everyone seems to fall in love with Alice and try to get her to love them. It's part of a Game with very specific rules which the Wonderlandians know, but Alice doesn't... so she's sort of just trying to get home, with everyone falling "in love" with her - not always romantically - and trying to kill everyone else. (And by "in love" I mostly mean insanely and obsessively infatuated... )

We, the readers, are in a position where we know more than Alice about some things, but we discover other things along with her - like the family feuds going on, and the secrets and intrigue galore - and I was left as feeling as out of the loop and out of my depth as Alice at times.

It's very weird, and I liked it. :D

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this series. Alas, after getting halfway through it and recognizing that nothing really had happened I am surprised I finished it. I am originally gave it 3-stars, but the more I sit here and think about the series as a whole I cannot justify that. It is not so bad as a 1-star which I save for the truly awful since we don't have a No-Star-Even-Though-I-Read-It rating, but I didn't really care for it. Your mileage may vary, but this one didn't do it for me. (I am not going to bother posting this on the other two omnibus volumes).

[Jana Denardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very odd reimaginnig of Alice. She's brought to Wonderland against her wishes and forced into a game with no obvious rules. It seems that everyone loves her and it's a fight (to the death) to see who gets her. It sounds ludicrous on the surface and yet it's quite readable and the art is lovely.

[Bonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i planned to buy the first book and if i like this book then i'll buy the second and the third. it turned out i loved it but i forgot to buy the rest of the book and now im back to my hometown! argghhh

[Allison Floyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those of us still going through Labyrinth withdrawal (which is probably just me) and who wish more things could be like it (again, party for one!), this is for you.

[Holly Letson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is seriously all over the place, but it keeps your attention and makes you want to keep reading.

[Hannah (Sakurahan or ForeverBooks18) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve just finished “Alice In The Country Of Hearts,” a manga that I really enjoyed.

4 Stars!

I read this for a few readathons!

The Cardcaptor-a-thon - The Through - A book I didn't know the premise of before reading...I knew “Alice In The Country Of Hearts” was a retelling of “Alice In Wonderland,” however there are many differences that I didn't know, some of which I go into below...

Reading Rivalry (RR) - Illustrated Cover - It's a manga so the cover is illustrated, just as the insides are.

Fiction Feud Society (FFS) - Dark - This is a dark retelling of “Alice In Wonderland.” I say why I think this below...

The art style is very shoujo-esque, which I like, the story however is more shounen, I’d say.

Spoilers Below...

This was good, surprisingly good actually. When I started it, I didn’t know what to think but as I progressed through and began to know the characters, I ended up feeling for them.

This is basically a mafia story, set in a fantasy world—a world you’ll already sort of know if you’re at all familiar with “Alice In Wonderland.” There are differences of course between this manga version and Carroll’s original Wonderland, like the guns and an amusement park but the main characters from the original tale are still present — Alice, the White Rabbit, who’s called Peter, and the Cheshire Cat or a take on him anyway, in the form of Boris in this manga, specifically. Dee and Dum make an appearance too, as well as the Queen of Hearts, but she’s not really that present in this volume! I think she will be more so in the sequels.

It’s a character driven story, more than a plot driven story, I’d say. Yes, there is a plot but the characters are what pull you in. At least they did for me. There were some funny moments as well as the serious moments. “Alice...please confess your love for me soon...this teasing of yours is driving me mad,” is what the White Rabbit character of Peter says to Alice. They’ve only known each other what feels like a few hours at this point!

We follow Alice, an ordinary girl as she gets pulled into Wonderland by Peter, the White Rabbit character. She doesn’t want to be in Wonderland of course. She wants to be back home with her sister, like in the original tale. When she learns of the differences between that version of Wonderland and her home, she’s shocked. Also every male character seems to be in love with Alice, which I think is a more modern take on the original story.

There’s a dark mystery at the heart of “Alice In The Country Of Hearts,” literally! It surrounds clocks. This is the part that's changed from the original that I didn't know about before I started reading the manga. I don’t want to spoil it completely because if I do it gives the plot away but it’s good! “When the inhabitants of this world “die,” only a clock remains. Ace and those afterimages recover recover the clocks and gather them here,” is what a character says to Alice to help her understand how the world of Wonderland is different from her own. The afterimages are people that have died and are waiting to be put back into bodies, which a character has the job of doing. Ace is the helper of the character that I don’t want to name, due to spoilers.

You’re not meant to be sure of ANY character, I don’t think. It was exciting turning the pages to see what each character would do next! I’ll say the ending was shocking...you literally can’t trust ANYONE in “Alice In The Country Of Hearts!”

I'm giving volume 1 Four Stars because a few things didn't quite make sense to me. This might change when I read the sequel, which I’m now really excited to get my hands on and read. Since posting this yesterday I’ve learnt that this series isn’t published anymore :(.

[Judyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

~3.5/5
[Also available on my blog.]



Firstly, I’m not going to be comparing this series to the original Alice in Wonderland much. (1) Because I just don’t care about the similarities all that much and I’m not really looking for any, or noticing them, aside from maybe a very obvious same plot line or same character. And (2), because they are very different. This story, from the beginning, took a different route, took the story in a different direction. And I realize that some people are very picky about that, and don’t like this series because of things like that, but I was honestly pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this volume.

I found this story interesting when I first heard about, and tried reading it once but I think I just mostly wasn’t in the mood for it. I’d planned to pick it up at some point, but I didn’t, and then Tokyopop went down, and I still didn’t. But then Yen Press picked it up, and I found it for a really good price online and got it. After reading the first book, I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed it.

So the book starts with Alice waking up from a dream that mentioned some kind of game, and, as expected, she’s sleeping on the grass as her sister reads a book next to her. Psychology is mentioned, and her sister tells her about the book she’s reading, which is, of course, Alice in Wonderland. And then her sister leaves to get some cards for them to play, and Alice proceeds to fall asleep again. She wakes up when a clothed rabbit goes past, but when she tries to fall back asleep, the rabbit comes back to wake her up, claiming she is supposed to follow him, and then picking her up and bringing her with him down the rabbit hole.

When they get there, he kisses her in order to make her drink some kind of liquid that enforces she play part in some game, and makes it so she has to finish before going back home. She’s confused, and angry at the rabbit, and we later find out that the glass the liquid came from will slowly refill the farther in the game she gets, and once it’s completely filled up, she can go home.

She ends up staying at the clock tower with Julius, the clock maker/fixer, who tells her about Wonderland (the town is actually called the Country of Hearts, I believe, but I’m going to be calling it Wonderland). Apparently there’s some kind of feud going on between the three different parts of the town, the Heart Castle, where the rabbit Peter White and the Queen Vivaldi and Ace reside, the Amusement Park, where the Cheshire cat Boris and (Mary) Gowland live, and the Hatter Mansion, where the hatter Blood Dupre and Elliot March and the Bloody Twins (Dee and Dum) live. The clock tower, where Julius lives and Alice is staying, is neutral land.

While in this ‘dream’, Alice also sleeps and dreams, and in her dreams, she meets Nightmare, who tells her some things about the world and why she’s there and some things about herself. Including that everyone in Wonderland is going to love her, and that this world is of her making. This makes her wonder if they’re falling in love with her because she wants them to, and is she really that self-centered? From there, I really enjoy her little musings about the world.

This Wonderland is very interesting. The time changes at random, turns daylight and dark at any time, and, much like the cards in the original, all of the helpers at each place have no face and are easily replaced. Everyone, really, is easily replaced, and people are always getting killed. I won’t spoil too much more about that, because there are these afterimages, and things get done with the bodies and their ‘hearts’ that were a bit of a surprise and is causing a controversy in their world, and I don’t want to spoil too much.

There are several guys, all of whom are supposedly falling in love with Alice, and I’m interested to see what happens with that, especially since some of them are fighting already and Alice is causing some jealous feelings to erupt. At this point, I’m not sure who I want her to be with, either. I’m thinking that the Hatter, Blood Dupre, is the obvious choice, but I also quite like Ace, and there’s something about the cheshire Boris that I like as well… I’m not sure where my feelings about them all are going at this point, but I’m looking forward to finding out.

Also, I am happy to say that I do like Alice. She’s just curious enough, and she’s also very kind and is always trying to stop everyone from killing each other, and I like how she thinks about everything. She’s wondering if all of it is her making, and what that means about her, and she kind of wants no part in any of this, but she’s obviously getting a bit attached and is going to end up too deep in all of it. She’s also a bit feisty; she sticks up for what she believes in, and when she doesn’t like something or someone (like the rabbit Peter) she lets them know.

There are some dark things brewing, between each area and some possible scandalizing things happening behind closed doors. Also, some of the people in this world are representing people from Alice’s real world, including her sister and her sister’s boyfriend (who is also the guy that Alice likes), which is obviously going to cause some drama. As is the fact that everyone is growing to love her but she can only choose one, and only for the amount of time that she’s there. Unless, of course, something neat happens to change that, which I hope does happen. Oh, and at the beginning we’re introduced to some kind of game she’s inadvertently become a part of, one of the rules including that when she leaves, she has to take someone with her, I think?. I’m hoping to hear more about that in the next book, since not much of what the game actually is was explained.

I mentioned above that I’m not going to compare much, and how this is so different from the original, and it is. There are similarities in the characters, but they are very different people, and they even look quite different. For instance, the Cheshire and the march hare and the rabbit are human, but with cat/bunny ears. The Cheshire cat is the most different in that respect, and his personality is as well. He’s much more adorable, and doesn’t seem to know everything about everyone quite as much.

I liked Alice in Wonderland, and enjoy most forms that it’s told, and I’m enjoying this one a lot, but I’m always very wary of the stories. Because, while I’m getting wrapped up in the story and falling for the characters, I have to remember that Alice wakes up at some point, and, in most versions, she doesn’t bring any of the characters with her. So, whatever happens while in Wonderland, she has to leave it all behind. I’m thinking that maybe the person she really falls for she will get to be with when she wakes, but I’m still unsure and very wary.

I’m rather looking forward to the next book, now.

Oh, as a sidenote: the covers. I think the covers are very pretty, and the artwork is also very nice; the artwork isn’t overly flowy or gorgeous, but it is very nice and detailed and I like looking at it; the outfits are especially nice. And I think how the covers are turned to the side is neat. But the fact that the covers are turned to the side, and the back cover looks like it’s upside down to me, makes me disoriented, and almost every time I pick it up, it’s upside down. I’m not quite sure why this is, but it is disorienting and that’s bothers me, even while I do like the idea; maybe it’s just me?

Also, I remember mentioning in one of my other omnibus review that it looked like the publisher(/editor/whoever) put little to no effort into making the two books look like one, in that when the first book ended, it (I think?) said some version of ‘to be continued’ and had copyright pages before moving into the next book, and that bothered me a tiny bit. I was happy to see that this volume was different from that. I could tell when one volume ended, but only because the chapter ended slightly different from the others at the halfway point, but there wasn’t too much of a difference or pause between chapters, and I liked that, and there was also an index at the beginning of the book for the whole two volumes, and I liked that. I mean, it’s not really that big of a deal, I guess, but I like that fact that it shows the publisher made more of an effort than just printing the two books in one binding.

[Caity McPhe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice in the Country of Hearts was just something that I picked up at my local library. There are often a lot of little treasures hidden there that you'll actually very much love.

This particular manga was alright in my book. Partially because I was set for a two volume series that ended up being a lot longer. Not only does Alice visit the Country of Hearts, but further on in the story she goes to the Country of Clovers and Diamond. My library didn't have those soooo this is part one of my Alice report to you all. I will have to wait to get the rest of the series at my library before I can tell you more.

This, of course, is a retelling of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. As in that book, there are many strange things that happen; this being a manga means that even more odd things happen. Here, Alice follows the White Rabbit, Peter White, down the rabbit hole and turns human with bunny ears. He kisses her, making her drink some kind of "medicine" (no tag that says "Drink Me" on it though) that magically forces her to stay in the Country of Hearts. He wants her to desperately fall in love with her and of course it backfires on him and she hates him passionately.

She finds that the land has four boundaries: the Palace (where Peter White and the Queen of Hearts lives), The Amusement Park (where the Cheshire Cat and his boss lives), The Mafia mansion (the mafia run by the Mad Hatter and March Hare, and guarded by Tweedle-Dee/Dum), then in the center of it all is the clock tower where the Clockmaker lives and repairs clocks.

Not everything is as nice as the Lewis Carroll novel. Life is not considered precious. The residents of the land magically turn pretty much anything into guns and constantly try to kill each other. When people die, their body dissolves and all that is left are clocks. The Clockmaker repairs them and they get formed into humans again. There is also a segregation between "those with duties" and those who don't. Those who do have duties have differential faces while those who don't, don't have a face at all. Which can make taking life that much easier. Another problem Alice discovers is that everyone, who has a duty, is falling in love with her. Not romantically all the time, but they love her like a curse or something because she is an "outsider." And slowly she is forgetting that she wants to go home. The end of this particular set of books ends with her playing a game and probably heading to the Land of Clover (as the next set of books is titled).

Overall, it was alright. The adaptations for the novel is intriguing and the characters are different enough to be mostly new while still sticking to the names and likes of the original characters they were based on. I was hoping for a contained novel, which wasn't what this was. If I'd known there was more when I first started it and wasn't left hanging like I am, I would have enjoyed it more. I will ask my library to get the next volumes and I'll finish the series, because there is hope for it. But right now I'm put off. :/

I really like Cheshire, though. He is genuinely caring and kind to her. The Clockmaker has his cuteness. The other characters have their own personalities which you will have to discover for yourself, but I really like the Cheshire Cat. I mean, he has a piercing in his tail of a dead fish. Sounds slightly gross, but it's quirky and give him a fun personality.

[Rosa Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this brought me back to my middle school days. I think one of the first mangas I purchased was in this series but I read it out of order and I didn’t really understand what was happening. Not only that but I thought the art style was bad bad then. Now I definitely think differently, I like it. It’s kind of nostalgic. And honestly reading this with an adult mind sort of, helps understand what’s happening a lot better.
Out of all the characters the white rabbit Peter, I definitely don’t like him. He keeps harassing Alice and I’m definitely not down for that. I’m not really a big fan of Blood, the one that looks like her ex boyfriend, I dunno I’m not into “bad boys”. Though Elliot is adorable, like super adorable. And I also like Boris, but I love boris’ design too. And then theirs Ace. He’s a mystery to me honestly, I liked him at first but I’m getting mixed signals and mixed feelings with him.
I like how the story doesn’t lay it all out for you, cuz that’s what alot of manga and anime do now. They sum up what happened to the main character first and then continue the story, I like how as much as Alice doesn’t know, the reader as well doesn’t know. That also adds to the nostalgia for me.
One for the main reasons I never read this before was cuz I thought Alice was one of those characters that needed to be protected all the time, so I never read this manga but she’s actually got some spunk to her. I like it, and she’s got morals too. And not only that but she sees the red flags (Peter) and try’s her best to avoid them at all cost. We love that for her.
Also about alice, I like how it’s all coming along, I like how she sees the difference between this world and her own, though I feel like this isn’t a dream if I’m being honest. I like how she sees it’s wrong to kill people and just replace them afterwards. Just because they’re replaceable doesn’t mean they should be replaced, because I’m her world you can’t replace the dead. Once someone dies that’s it, and people mourn, and some try to bring them back or get lost on trying to understand how it all happened. It’s sad. Reality is sad, so I guess this world “wonderland” is really just a dream for everyone. A place where even though it’s gruesome you don’t have to be sad all the time.
Honestly this was a really good read. I will be reading the next volume. I really enjoyed this.

[Chelsea Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this reimagining of Alice in Wonderland. I thought it was very creative to have her be kidnapped instead of following the white rabbit. Just have to say that the white rabbit Peter is absolutely a creeper and a stalker who is way too obsessed with her. He does not love her like he claims. I love the different characters. I love that the mad Hatter is a mafia boss named Blood Dupre. I love that the March hare works for him and is named Elliot. I love that the queen of hearts is in charge of her own little area. I love that there is an amusement park and that a guy named Mary Gowland is in charge of it. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are the guardsman of Hatters mansion. Then we have Julius who is the clock maker, and it turns out that the clocks that he works and repairs are the people's hearts. Also I know that Ace is up to something and it’s not good and the fact that he is taking all these hearts for Julius is so sketchy. I find it very fascinating that the inhabitants don’t all have faces because they don’t all have a job or I should say a job with duties. I think it’s so creepy but at the same time super cool. I am at times annoyed with Alice, but overall I do enjoy her character. I think that this little take and spin on it is absolutely loveable. I love it! I just don’t know what she’s gotten herself into, and she firmly believes that it’s a dream, even though everyone is telling her how this is their world. Also everyone keeps falling in love with her. It’s insane and it would drive me nuts. I kind of feel bad that everybody is falling in love with her because she doesn’t want that. I am so pissed that Peter forced himself on her and try to do it another time. I just hope that she does get back to her own world like our world but at the same time I would miss these characters too much. I also enjoyed the character of nightmare the dream demon, and I hope that he is in more books in this series or even the spinoff. I cannot wait to read more. It was really really good.
I forgot to mention the only way she can get home is by interacting with the inhabitants and then she can drink her potion and go home.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally I set this as "RTC" as a placeholder, but even now my thoughts are such a disorganized jumble that a proper review will have yet to see the light of day. What I can tell you at present is:

- this series and all its spin-offs are [to my knowledge] based on a visual novel from Japan
- I have a friend who originally loved this and kept attempting to push it on me some years back
- said friend now has done nothing but badmouth the series and how it went
- I've my doubts that said friend is aware of this series' origins as a visual novel and how that works, or if they do, they hate it all the more because of that
- of course I decided to start immersing myself into the series out of spite to that person, because that's just how I am sometimes (and especially when it comes to things this individual says, as they're excruciatingly negative over any little thing that mildly offends them)
- personally never been a big fan of anything Wonderland-related or -based, but so far I've really enjoyed this first installment and the way it has played out
- you've heard of bunny girls, get ready for bunny guys
- no, for real
- the plot that is building feels like a menacing undercurrent and sinister subtle tone so far but I love it
- everyone is bishie. except the Bloody Twins, they're shota. But everyone is bishie. This appeals too much to my inner 14-year-old self with her desire to draw all the bishonen and bishoujo. Someone help, this is dangerous.
- to my knowledge, the Alice In The Country Of... titles have all been out of print for a hot minute now, which means hunting them all down will be a challenge, so of course I'm going to put myself through that hell, because it's what I do.
- in emphasis of the above point, I've already ordered the following two omnibus volumes. You were a fool if you thought you could stop me.

[Jess (bookwyrmbella) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just really didn’t get this book. Part of it could be because I haven’t read a lot of Manga and also the translation in some places may have lacked but it overall didn’t seem to make much sense. There didn’t seem to be much happening plot wise. Alice really just walked from one place to another and ended up in conversations with the characters in Wonderland. I also felt like some of the characters were too similar, it was hard to tell them apart. The other thing I couldn’t understand is why they were all obsessed with Alice from the moment they met her. It has something to do with her being an Outsider but it was never really explained properly. The art style was whimsical and pretty, although it would have been prettier in full color, which could possibly have helped with differentiating some of the characters.

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Liddell is napping when a strange man with rabbit ears appears before her and kidnaps her to Wonderland.
She's promptly abandoned by her kidnapper in the mist of three waring factions, where she discovers she has to participate in a game if she wants to go back home.
-------------------------------------------------
Alrighty, I started reminiscing about one of the first manga series I was obsessed with as a tween.
I ultimately went out of my way and bought the series to reread it.
It's a cute series based on an otome game, and Wonderland in this version is more violent.
This series has some issues with it, and it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it so I'm rereading it.

[Angi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I fell the story was lacking quite a bit in plot and I didn't really understand what was going on. Things started to actually get going in the second half of this so I am reading the next book to see where this goes and if it gets ant better. I just feel like it was overall lacking it should definitely give us some more character traits and things like that they kinda blur together except a few. I'm trying to understand how this book is so highly rated? Like i feel like im missing something.