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Alice Takes Back Wonderland
After ten years of being told she can’t tell the difference between real life and a fairy tale, Alice finally stops believing in Wonderland. So when the White Rabbit shows up at her house, Alice thinks she’s going crazy. Only when the White Rabbit kicks her down the rabbit hole does Alice realize that the magical land she visited as a child is real. But all is not well in Wonderland.
The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful. But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?
Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows. Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.
With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland.
The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful. But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?
Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows. Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.
With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 155 reviews
August 2, 2019
I really liked this book it took me back to my childhood of witch Alice and wonderland and wizard of Oz were my favorite books. But this story has a twist the ace of spades has taken over wonderland and is removing the wonder from all who live there so Alice goes to neverland to ask for help where peter the lost boys and Pinocchio help her then she goes to grim where she meets a 1920s gangster moll named Snow White and her dwarves that don’t have names or want them where they are making moonshine and there competition is red riding hood and her lackey the gingerbread man and she asks for help from queen cinderella charming. It was a fun take on a retelling or maybe a sequel to Alice in wonderland.
January 14, 2016
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Curiosity Quills Press and NetGalley.)
This book was just a mess. Alice seemed to be in need of psychiatric help, I didn’t get why Peter Pan suddenly showed up, and the tangents that this book then went off on were nothing short of ridiculous -
Needless to say I spent most of this book hoping that the end would come quicker, and getting frustrated with the random places the storyline went. I would not want to read another book by this author.
4 out of 10
This book was just a mess. Alice seemed to be in need of psychiatric help, I didn’t get why Peter Pan suddenly showed up, and the tangents that this book then went off on were nothing short of ridiculous -
Needless to say I spent most of this book hoping that the end would come quicker, and getting frustrated with the random places the storyline went. I would not want to read another book by this author.
4 out of 10
November 11, 2015
This book is definitely YA. Literally, trigger warning. Lots of violence, lots of it gun violence, but not in a gratuitous way. It made sense to the plot and Alice really did have a HARD time in using guns to protect herself and her friends. I wanted to shake her a couple of times. I mean, if someone is shooting at you and your friends with a Gatling gun, I think you have the right to protect yourself and your friends. The first time she shot someone was an accident, she was in a panic and shot the guy who was trying to kill her. Justified, but it really threw her for a loop and it took a loooong time of Peter trying to explain to her that the gun was necessary for protection, but it didn't sink in until an evil character was trying to kill a newly made friend of her's. The bad guy was a man who had already killed a LOT of people and had already tried to have her killed. She wasn't blood-thirsty or a gun nut, but she was trying to save Wonderland and her friends, so she did what she needed to do.
So if you aren't into guns and the violence they stand for, then this book is NOT for you.
I was actually RELIEVED when Alice got over her issue with weapons and used it to save the life of a friend. No Deus Ex Machina, she did it herself. I've been reading a LOT of YA books recently where the MC REFUSES to hurt someone, even if that person is trying to kill them and those they care about. That's not realistic, at least not to me. It's a victim mentality and not everyone can be reasoned with, especially if they are in the process of trying to kill you. Conversation, at that point, is not going to be effective. I'm not saying kill the person, just use the necessary force to stop them from hurting you, big difference.
And in this book, not every "bad guy" Alice meets is met with a gun. There IS dialogue when Alice sees that's it's a viable alternative and she does try communication even when it's obviously not going to work. So it's not all shoot first, ask questions later.
Sorry, enough about guns. I wanted to get the trigger warning out of the way, as I know a lot of people have issues with gun use.
How were the characters? I actually LOVED how most of them were portrayed and how all of the fairy tales, stories and myths were woven together. The beginning was very shaky, but after page 50, I was hooked and read until I finished the book in one sitting.
Oh, and shout out to Lovecraft. WOOT!!! I LOVE it when authors introduce an obvious element from Lovecraft into their work and it fits. That was one of my favorite parts I think.
4.5 stars, rounded down to 4, because some of my more favorite characters were killed off and Wonderland wasn't the Wonderland I wanted it to be after all was said and done. I wanted my version of HEA, thankyouverymuch. (not saying there was or wasn't a HEA, just that I didn't get MY version of it.)
I admit, I was VERY hesitant to get this book to read. I have read some rather poor interpretations of Alice in Wonderland recently and was concerned that this would be more of the same. It wasn't. I enjoyed it and am glad that I did read it. I would recommend it if you like good re-visits of fairy tales and don't mind gun violence.
My thanks to NetGalley and Curiosity Quills Press for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
So if you aren't into guns and the violence they stand for, then this book is NOT for you.
I was actually RELIEVED when Alice got over her issue with weapons and used it to save the life of a friend. No Deus Ex Machina, she did it herself. I've been reading a LOT of YA books recently where the MC REFUSES to hurt someone, even if that person is trying to kill them and those they care about. That's not realistic, at least not to me. It's a victim mentality and not everyone can be reasoned with, especially if they are in the process of trying to kill you. Conversation, at that point, is not going to be effective. I'm not saying kill the person, just use the necessary force to stop them from hurting you, big difference.
And in this book, not every "bad guy" Alice meets is met with a gun. There IS dialogue when Alice sees that's it's a viable alternative and she does try communication even when it's obviously not going to work. So it's not all shoot first, ask questions later.
Sorry, enough about guns. I wanted to get the trigger warning out of the way, as I know a lot of people have issues with gun use.
How were the characters? I actually LOVED how most of them were portrayed and how all of the fairy tales, stories and myths were woven together. The beginning was very shaky, but after page 50, I was hooked and read until I finished the book in one sitting.
Oh, and shout out to Lovecraft. WOOT!!! I LOVE it when authors introduce an obvious element from Lovecraft into their work and it fits. That was one of my favorite parts I think.
4.5 stars, rounded down to 4, because some of my more favorite characters were killed off and Wonderland wasn't the Wonderland I wanted it to be after all was said and done. I wanted my version of HEA, thankyouverymuch. (not saying there was or wasn't a HEA, just that I didn't get MY version of it.)
I admit, I was VERY hesitant to get this book to read. I have read some rather poor interpretations of Alice in Wonderland recently and was concerned that this would be more of the same. It wasn't. I enjoyed it and am glad that I did read it. I would recommend it if you like good re-visits of fairy tales and don't mind gun violence.
My thanks to NetGalley and Curiosity Quills Press for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
September 29, 2015
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
When I read 'returning to Wonderland' in combination with that lovely cover, I knew I just had to read the book.
And when I first started I really enjoyed it. I thought the part about Alice and her 'mental illness' was done very good, but this is only present at the beginning. She then steps in completely again and not once is the question whether it's real or not addressed in the remainder of the book although some weird things happen for sure.
Although at first I really liked the mash up of the different fairy tales and stories (it's so difficult to pull this trick in a nice way that doesn't feel too forced) it became less and less with the introduction of yet more characters. When Alice arrived in Neverland I was like YES, pinocchio OK, and the Kingdom of Grimm was a bit too much for me.
So, the high expectations I had after reading the beginning of the book were not met, but it was an enjoyable read nevertheless. Alice was not a very memorable heroine in this story, but if you liked the original (or the movie) you may want to return to Wonderland, even though it won't be as you remember it!
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review during this book tour.
When I read 'returning to Wonderland' in combination with that lovely cover, I knew I just had to read the book.
And when I first started I really enjoyed it. I thought the part about Alice and her 'mental illness' was done very good, but this is only present at the beginning. She then steps in completely again and not once is the question whether it's real or not addressed in the remainder of the book although some weird things happen for sure.
Although at first I really liked the mash up of the different fairy tales and stories (it's so difficult to pull this trick in a nice way that doesn't feel too forced) it became less and less with the introduction of yet more characters. When Alice arrived in Neverland I was like YES, pinocchio OK, and the Kingdom of Grimm was a bit too much for me.
So, the high expectations I had after reading the beginning of the book were not met, but it was an enjoyable read nevertheless. Alice was not a very memorable heroine in this story, but if you liked the original (or the movie) you may want to return to Wonderland, even though it won't be as you remember it!
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review during this book tour.
June 13, 2016
If you enjoy the television series Once Upon A Time, Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David D. Hammons will have a very similar vibe. Characters from Wonderland, Neverland and the realm known in this book as Grimm are all mashed together quite delightfully. I received a free copy in advance of publication from Curiosity Quills, the publisher, in return for this review.
Literary mashups are usually considered as the equivalent of stunt-casting for fans of the characters involved who want to know what would happen if they met. It's akin to fanfic, and is based on the same playful impulse. This novel is for those fans, but is also much more.
This is a novel whose purpose is the defense of the imagination against its enemies through the utilization of some of the most beloved fairy tales. If I had thought of this idea first, I would have written an essay. So kudos to David D. Hammons for giving us such a delicious and compelling novel dealing with this theme.
For the blog version of this review see http://shomeretmasked.blogspot.com/20...
December 26, 2015
**I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
I was really lucky, I've wanted to read this book since I first saw it, and it was on NetGalley not long after that.
I love stories that are inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but this one in particular really caught my attention when I read the blurb, since other fairy tale characters were mentioned, I mean... How could I not want to read this??
Alice is all grown up now, and the poor girl is considered to be crazy. She needs to take pills and go to therapy, so that she can stop talking about Wonderland and understand once and for all that it's just part of her imagination.
Just when she's starting to believe that Wonderland's not real, the White Rabbit pays a little visit, and takes Alice back to his world. But things are not the way they used to be. Creatures are being chased by the Ace of Spades and getting their wonder taken out of them, making them just plain, normal people... And let's be honest, that's just depressing.
Now Alice has a mission: awaken the Sleeping Beauty and take back Wonderland from Ace.
I must say I loved seeing all these fairy tale characters together in just one place, it was really wonderful. It kind of reminded me of Kingdom Hearts a little bit, and I love Kingdom Hearts to death. But this was very different, the fairy tales are not exactly the way they're supposed to be, and not everyone's as happy as we've always thought them to be. Their stories can certainly be more scary too.
Along the way, Alice gets to meet characters like Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White, Hercules and many more. There's also a little something going on between her and one of these fairy tale characters. And it's adorable.
There's a lot of action and fighting too, which I really enjoyed.
In the end, this book is a bunch of nonsense, just how it should be. I've read other stories about Alice in Wonderland and some of them have just been a mess, I think it's not an easy task to be all nonsensical like Lewis Carroll was in the original story, but Hammons manages to do it really well!
Definitely, definitely give this a chance if you like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and/or fairy tales in general :)
More reviews on my blog: Lipstick and Mocha
I was really lucky, I've wanted to read this book since I first saw it, and it was on NetGalley not long after that.
I love stories that are inspired by Alice in Wonderland, but this one in particular really caught my attention when I read the blurb, since other fairy tale characters were mentioned, I mean... How could I not want to read this??
Alice is all grown up now, and the poor girl is considered to be crazy. She needs to take pills and go to therapy, so that she can stop talking about Wonderland and understand once and for all that it's just part of her imagination.
Just when she's starting to believe that Wonderland's not real, the White Rabbit pays a little visit, and takes Alice back to his world. But things are not the way they used to be. Creatures are being chased by the Ace of Spades and getting their wonder taken out of them, making them just plain, normal people... And let's be honest, that's just depressing.
Now Alice has a mission: awaken the Sleeping Beauty and take back Wonderland from Ace.
I must say I loved seeing all these fairy tale characters together in just one place, it was really wonderful. It kind of reminded me of Kingdom Hearts a little bit, and I love Kingdom Hearts to death. But this was very different, the fairy tales are not exactly the way they're supposed to be, and not everyone's as happy as we've always thought them to be. Their stories can certainly be more scary too.
Along the way, Alice gets to meet characters like Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White, Hercules and many more. There's also a little something going on between her and one of these fairy tale characters. And it's adorable.
There's a lot of action and fighting too, which I really enjoyed.
In the end, this book is a bunch of nonsense, just how it should be. I've read other stories about Alice in Wonderland and some of them have just been a mess, I think it's not an easy task to be all nonsensical like Lewis Carroll was in the original story, but Hammons manages to do it really well!
Definitely, definitely give this a chance if you like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and/or fairy tales in general :)
More reviews on my blog: Lipstick and Mocha
December 24, 2015
I was expecting more from this book. I always like it when authors try to use several fairytales, but the stories don't connect. The authors throws one after the other into the story without really tying it together. It was a bit too much for my taste.
The basic of the story was interesting. Alice is in therapy and has to take pills to take control of her wild imagination. Until she is kicked right back into Wonderland by White Rabbit. Wonderland isn't the same anymore. Ace of Spades has taken over the power and takes the Wonder out of everyone and the world; he wants to create something similar as Alice's modern world. White Rabbit wants to stop this process. Alice ends up being sent to Wonderland to collect an army. Together with Peter Pan she must awaken the Sleeping Beauty in Grimm's country, ruled by Queen Charming.
A lot of characters are thrown into it. We have Captain Hook, who turns out to be Gepetto and the ticking crocodile is actually Pinocchio. There is Rumplestiltskin who acts as seer for Queen Charming (Cinderella), who is actually the mother of rebel Snow White. She has joined forces with Robin Hood and his merry man. When the war starts in Wonderland, we also suddenly see Hercules and I just couldn't keep track of them anymore. It was overwhelming and it didn't blend together nicely.
This made it hard to connect with any of the characters, because they weren't fleshed out, not even Alice. She is not a quitter and I like that, but at the same time, she doesn't really have a reason to save Wonderland. Her 'I just want to' speech to rouse an army wasn't spectacular.
It's a shame, really.
The basic of the story was interesting. Alice is in therapy and has to take pills to take control of her wild imagination. Until she is kicked right back into Wonderland by White Rabbit. Wonderland isn't the same anymore. Ace of Spades has taken over the power and takes the Wonder out of everyone and the world; he wants to create something similar as Alice's modern world. White Rabbit wants to stop this process. Alice ends up being sent to Wonderland to collect an army. Together with Peter Pan she must awaken the Sleeping Beauty in Grimm's country, ruled by Queen Charming.
A lot of characters are thrown into it. We have Captain Hook, who turns out to be Gepetto and the ticking crocodile is actually Pinocchio. There is Rumplestiltskin who acts as seer for Queen Charming (Cinderella), who is actually the mother of rebel Snow White. She has joined forces with Robin Hood and his merry man. When the war starts in Wonderland, we also suddenly see Hercules and I just couldn't keep track of them anymore. It was overwhelming and it didn't blend together nicely.
This made it hard to connect with any of the characters, because they weren't fleshed out, not even Alice. She is not a quitter and I like that, but at the same time, she doesn't really have a reason to save Wonderland. Her 'I just want to' speech to rouse an army wasn't spectacular.
It's a shame, really.
October 13, 2015
**I received this book for free from (Publisher) in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**
*Genre* Young Adult, Dark Fantasy, Romance
*Rating* 3.5-4
*My Thoughts*
Alice Takes Back Wonderland is a standalone novel that mashes up of different fairy tales and stories from Wonderland, Neverland, and the land of Grimm. While the "original" Alice Lewis in Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was from 19th Century, this Alice is from 21st century Missouri in the USA. The story starts with 7-year old Alice being charged with terrorizing Wonderland, and subjected to beheading by the Queen of Hearts. Thanks to Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, Alice returns home to a world that believes she's lost her mind. 10 years after escaping Wonderland and returning home, Alice, now Seventeen, is forced back to where it all began by the White Rabbit.
"Did you know that fairy tales are real?"
*Full Review Posting @ Talk Supe* Link to Follow*
*Recvd from Publisher* Published: September 28th 2015 by Curiosity Quills Press
*Genre* Young Adult, Dark Fantasy, Romance
*Rating* 3.5-4
*My Thoughts*
Alice Takes Back Wonderland is a standalone novel that mashes up of different fairy tales and stories from Wonderland, Neverland, and the land of Grimm. While the "original" Alice Lewis in Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was from 19th Century, this Alice is from 21st century Missouri in the USA. The story starts with 7-year old Alice being charged with terrorizing Wonderland, and subjected to beheading by the Queen of Hearts. Thanks to Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, Alice returns home to a world that believes she's lost her mind. 10 years after escaping Wonderland and returning home, Alice, now Seventeen, is forced back to where it all began by the White Rabbit.
"Did you know that fairy tales are real?"
*Full Review Posting @ Talk Supe* Link to Follow*
*Recvd from Publisher* Published: September 28th 2015 by Curiosity Quills Press
June 25, 2016
After ten years of being told she can't tell the difference between real life and a fairy tale, Alice finally stops believing in Wonderland. So when the White Rabbit shows up at her house, Alice thinks she's going crazy.
Only when the White Rabbit kicks her down the rabbit hole does Alice realize that the magical land she visited as a child is real.
But all is not well in Wonderland.
The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful.
But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?
Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows.
Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.
With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland.
Rating: 4.25/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: some grammatical issues/misspellings; HIGHLY entertaining; humorous and snarky; sometimes dark, always fresh and new; David D. Hammons took the fairy tales of old...and recreated them almost entirely into his own unique journey; unexpected love interest in Peter Pan?; LOVE all the pop culture references; LOVE the unique ideas
So I guess I need to send a HUGE shout-out to the lovely people over at Lit Cube for turning me on to this book in the first place; if they weren't so dedicated to finding their subscribers awesome, lesser-known reads, I'd have NEVER known this book existed.
"If you're a kid in Neverland, then you're a Lost Boy," Peter said. "And you're under my protection." Peter spat in his hand and extended it to Pinocchio.
Pinocchio didn't move.
"Are Lost Boys real boys?" Pinocchio asked.
"Lost Boys are just Lost Boys. And all you have to do to become one is shake Peter's hand," I said.
Let me just get this quick note out of the way to start with: there are some grammatical issues with this book. There are some missing words in the middle of sentences, there are places I had to backtrack to see where I'd gotten confused. It is not perfect writing; it is not even necessarily "pretty" prose. BUT. The dialogue? Spot-on. The dialogue ALONE carries this book quite a ways--because snark, and sass, and pop culture references, and general awesome. Trust me, guys--the dialogue far outweighs the small grammatical quirks this book has.
And OH, my penguins, was this a ton of fun to read! David D. Hammons took the fairy tales we all know and love...and crafted something brilliant and wholly his own out of them. I LOVE the world-building that happens throughout this read. I love that the author took the time to sit down and actually come up with a unique, fresh way to twist and braid these stories together into one epic adventure. There's a sort of "Kingdom Hearts" feel to this that I immediately connected with and felt drawn to (Kingdom Hearts is, after all, one of my favorite video games) The plot is filled with fun, entertainment, and humor. I laughed--HARD--throughout a good majority of this read.
"But how will I become a real boy?" Pinocchio asked.
"Dear Pinocchio, you are a real boy. Underneath that iron suit, you are a real boy," Tinkerbelle said with a sage smile.
"But if I take off the suit, I'll die."
"That is what real boys do."
While there's not MUCH in the way of romance, there is a hint of it between Alice and Peter--especially toward the end. This pair was snarky, sassy, and so much fun to read, I didn't even mind how simple it seemed (then again, I have a huge soft spot for Peter, so...) The characters are all vibrant, easily recognized despite sometimes being "in costume"...and a barrel of laughs to boot! And the cast is HUGE, guys--characters such as Hercules, Paul Bunyun, and Jack the Giant Slayer all make their own special appearances, along with so many others.
And while, in the end, Alice does not get the ending she was expecting throughout her journey...the ending is satisfying in a way I wasn't expecting it to be, and closes everything up pretty nicely. This adventure is quirky, light-hearted, and so very easy to slip into; the hours will pass and you'll finish the book without even realizing what's happened around you.
Whether it was climbing up to meet them, or flying through them in an airplane, children quickly discovered the tragic truth about clouds. They're not solid things. They're barely visible. Clouds almost disappear when you get up close.
This was a pretty awesome read overall, and I'm SO so glad that I got the chance to pick it up--though now I sort of want to play Kingdom Hearts. I might have to do that sometime soon. The snark was on point, the cast of characters is vibrant and huge, and the plot is filled with entertainment. If you're seeking a fresh, unique retelling...this just might be the book for you!
April 23, 2018
This was a truly great book! This has actually been one of my favorite retellings! So in this book, the Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and he is removing all the wonder from everything including the creatures. Ace wants to make Wonderland more like the world where Alice is from and he sends the White Rabbit into Alice's world to collect weapons and such. While the White Rabbit is there, he brings Alice back to Wonderland in hopes that she can stop Ace. After Alice's first trip to Wonderland as a child, her parents, doctors, and school counselors spend years convincing Alice that Wonderland was just a dream and that it was ADHD complicated by a serious case of schizophrenia that caused her to see Wonderland in the first place. Eventually Alice begins to believe them, so when the White Rabbit takes her back to Wonderland, she thinks she is going crazy and having an episode. She very quickly realizes that Wonderland is actually real and she isn't crazy after all, but she doesn't like what is happening to Wonderland and wants to help. The Mad Hatter sends her off in a flying machine to go and gather an army to defeat Ace. Along her way, she meets all kinds of different fairy tale (also mythological and folk tale) people and creatures like the Gingerbread Man, Snow White, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Davy Crockett, and so on. I really loved how all of these stories wove together and how certain characters were parts of multiple fairy tales. (If you watch the show Once Upon A Time, it works a lot like how Rumpelstiltskin was also the Beast from Beauty and the Beast and was also the crocodile from Peter Pan.) It wasn't all happy endings though because in war people die and in this fairy tale world that was no exception. While I was reading this book, it was totally playing out in my head as a movie, but the style of movie kept changing in my head. There were times that I saw this playing out as the original Disney animated characters. Other times I saw it playing out in my head as live action characters, and other times it was more CGI like Shrek! I highly recommend this book!
September 4, 2015
My Review:
When I received a press release for this book in my email from Curiosity Quill I knew I needed to read it ASAP. I emailed them and asked when the book was available if I could get an advanced copy and was delighted when they said yes. This book was NOT a disappointment and my love for fairytale retellings has been advanced to the next level. I have never read a book that interweaved the lives of characters like this and told such a different story. I did have one issue with Peter's age I think it wasn't clear but overall this is one of the best fairytale retelling I have ever read.
Alice was once in Wonderland but when she came back home everyone thought she was completely mad. Her mom made her see doctors and was on medicine to help her forget the fantasy of Wonderland. When the White Rabbit returns to take Alice back to Wonderland and stop the Ace of Spades from destroying all the madness of Wonderland Alice isn't sure what is real and what is made up. Sending her on an epic adventure into the New Wonderland and a world with a lot of familiar faces.
I actually liked Alice, she was a little frustrating in the beginning but that was pretty much because she was told to forget and when she returns she doesn't realize what is happening. As the story progresses you are able to watch Alice grow into a stronger character and the help of a few friends she finally realizes the line between reality and fantasy. Peter Pan was also a main focus in this book and I loved how this story was retold so different and just amazingly done. As each character was introduced I couldn't wait to find out how their story was going to be told. There is a little romance in this book and I actually enjoyed it (even if I was a little confused on ages).
The story interweaves so many fairtyales but they are not like you expect them. The world, our world, have stories that are echoes from the "fairytale world" The way this is explained and done is beyond anything I have ever read. I can't even explain how much I loved that part of the story and how each character connected with the next one gave me goosebumps with a lot of WOW moments.
This is truly a book that must be read. It has so many elements and so much going on that you will devour it. Alice is one of my favorite stories and I love when people retell it. David Hammons has done a phenomenal job with this book and he is one author that I can't wait to read again. I totally recommend this for Teens, Young Adults and Adults. This is one retelling you do not want to miss. Well Done!
This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life
When I received a press release for this book in my email from Curiosity Quill I knew I needed to read it ASAP. I emailed them and asked when the book was available if I could get an advanced copy and was delighted when they said yes. This book was NOT a disappointment and my love for fairytale retellings has been advanced to the next level. I have never read a book that interweaved the lives of characters like this and told such a different story. I did have one issue with Peter's age I think it wasn't clear but overall this is one of the best fairytale retelling I have ever read.
Alice was once in Wonderland but when she came back home everyone thought she was completely mad. Her mom made her see doctors and was on medicine to help her forget the fantasy of Wonderland. When the White Rabbit returns to take Alice back to Wonderland and stop the Ace of Spades from destroying all the madness of Wonderland Alice isn't sure what is real and what is made up. Sending her on an epic adventure into the New Wonderland and a world with a lot of familiar faces.
I actually liked Alice, she was a little frustrating in the beginning but that was pretty much because she was told to forget and when she returns she doesn't realize what is happening. As the story progresses you are able to watch Alice grow into a stronger character and the help of a few friends she finally realizes the line between reality and fantasy. Peter Pan was also a main focus in this book and I loved how this story was retold so different and just amazingly done. As each character was introduced I couldn't wait to find out how their story was going to be told. There is a little romance in this book and I actually enjoyed it (even if I was a little confused on ages).
The story interweaves so many fairtyales but they are not like you expect them. The world, our world, have stories that are echoes from the "fairytale world" The way this is explained and done is beyond anything I have ever read. I can't even explain how much I loved that part of the story and how each character connected with the next one gave me goosebumps with a lot of WOW moments.
This is truly a book that must be read. It has so many elements and so much going on that you will devour it. Alice is one of my favorite stories and I love when people retell it. David Hammons has done a phenomenal job with this book and he is one author that I can't wait to read again. I totally recommend this for Teens, Young Adults and Adults. This is one retelling you do not want to miss. Well Done!
Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my review
Hope you have a great day and Happy Reading!
This review was originally posted on Because reading is better than real life
October 28, 2015
[I received a copy of this novel from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.]
Both funny and leading one to think about darker themes, though a bit confusing at times.
I pretty much enjoyed this this novel. Its cover, for starters. Its grim version of a Wonderland not turned into gothic-like darkness or anything, but into an even more dreadful thing: grey, boring normalcy. Its mash-up of fairy tales, different from the ones known in our world, their echoes reaching us and being turned into stories, while our world has in turn their own echoes in those places—transcending time and space, too: Alice is actually from our contemporary United States, but Peter Pan knows her through her story as a girl from 19th century Britain, a story he himself was told before going to Neverland. Good ideas aplenty, in how the “true” characters were different: Pinocchio as a boy who doesn’t know whether he’s real or not (and with a darker backstory to his being a “puppet”), what’s truly going on with Captain Hook, Robin Hood’s real identity, Queen Charming who lost everything and has turned into a tyrant of her own kind because she couldn’t cope with all the sadness… There’s even a bit of a wink to Lovecraft, one that seemed odd at first yet ended up being not so odd, all things considered, with everything going on around it.
It may have been a bit too much at some point, making it difficult sometimes to remain focused on the story—possibly because of the large cast of characters and their nonsensical dialogue and ways of thinking: totally fitting the Wonderland setting (and thus good, too), but depending on your frame of mind and/or degree of tiredness, not necessarily the easiest to go through. I would advise not treating this novel as a “light read for when you don’t need to focus”, because you do, and you should, else some of its (interesting) elements may get lost along the way. (I’d dare say it’s the same with Carroll’s Wonderland, after all: to fully enjoy it, you definitely need to pay attention.)
I admit I would have liked to see just a bit more of Alice’s “madness” in the normal world, to better grasp how exactly she gave up on Wonderland at first: to me, it seemed she never gave up, picked up fairly quickly, and seeing her struggle more (or differently?) would have been nice. Not that I didn’t want her to accept Wonderland again—just differently, since Ace’s dominion there, his desire to turn it into a normal (boring) place, prompts her to take action and “retake” Wonderland. In the beginning, she didn’t *want* to believe, then the switch happened a bit too fast. Same with Alice’s parents: will they force her back into normalcy, or not? Can she stand up to them in that regard? Such answers aren’t given.
Otherwise it was a funny adventure, with good twists and turns and renewed takes on well-known fairy tales characters (the mysterious Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the dwarves dealing in moonshine…). 3.5 stars.
Both funny and leading one to think about darker themes, though a bit confusing at times.
I pretty much enjoyed this this novel. Its cover, for starters. Its grim version of a Wonderland not turned into gothic-like darkness or anything, but into an even more dreadful thing: grey, boring normalcy. Its mash-up of fairy tales, different from the ones known in our world, their echoes reaching us and being turned into stories, while our world has in turn their own echoes in those places—transcending time and space, too: Alice is actually from our contemporary United States, but Peter Pan knows her through her story as a girl from 19th century Britain, a story he himself was told before going to Neverland. Good ideas aplenty, in how the “true” characters were different: Pinocchio as a boy who doesn’t know whether he’s real or not (and with a darker backstory to his being a “puppet”), what’s truly going on with Captain Hook, Robin Hood’s real identity, Queen Charming who lost everything and has turned into a tyrant of her own kind because she couldn’t cope with all the sadness… There’s even a bit of a wink to Lovecraft, one that seemed odd at first yet ended up being not so odd, all things considered, with everything going on around it.
It may have been a bit too much at some point, making it difficult sometimes to remain focused on the story—possibly because of the large cast of characters and their nonsensical dialogue and ways of thinking: totally fitting the Wonderland setting (and thus good, too), but depending on your frame of mind and/or degree of tiredness, not necessarily the easiest to go through. I would advise not treating this novel as a “light read for when you don’t need to focus”, because you do, and you should, else some of its (interesting) elements may get lost along the way. (I’d dare say it’s the same with Carroll’s Wonderland, after all: to fully enjoy it, you definitely need to pay attention.)
I admit I would have liked to see just a bit more of Alice’s “madness” in the normal world, to better grasp how exactly she gave up on Wonderland at first: to me, it seemed she never gave up, picked up fairly quickly, and seeing her struggle more (or differently?) would have been nice. Not that I didn’t want her to accept Wonderland again—just differently, since Ace’s dominion there, his desire to turn it into a normal (boring) place, prompts her to take action and “retake” Wonderland. In the beginning, she didn’t *want* to believe, then the switch happened a bit too fast. Same with Alice’s parents: will they force her back into normalcy, or not? Can she stand up to them in that regard? Such answers aren’t given.
Otherwise it was a funny adventure, with good twists and turns and renewed takes on well-known fairy tales characters (the mysterious Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the dwarves dealing in moonshine…). 3.5 stars.
November 10, 2015
Ten years after Alice's trip to Wonderland we now have a seventeen year old Alice who struggles with her parents still not believing what she saw was real and have put her on medication to distinguish fantasy from reality.
One day the White Rabbit returns for Alice to get her help in saving Wonderland from being taken over from the Ace of Spades who is stripping Wonderland's residents of their Wonder and trying to make it more like our world. Alice takes a little convincing that what she's seeing is real after years of being told it's in her imagination.
Alice then embarks on a journey to find the Sleeping Beauty and along the way meets up with many other fairy tale characters who she tries to recruit to help save Wonderland.
I actually rather enjoyed this creative story using characters that we all know and love but not just copying their original stories. There were new ideas mixed in to each character along with an overall adventure to bring them all together which I found rather engaging.
When the story started off I had a bit of a problem connecting with Alice as a seventeen year old, she seemed to lack a bit of maturity. But in the end I think she grew and I believe the character actually needed that bit in the beginning to show her struggles through the years with no one believing her so in the end I had changed my mind about her.
As for the other characters being brought in to the story I rather enjoyed the creativity with them all. Things aren't exactly the way you'd think for each but there is a reasoning given in the story behind it. This made this one of my favorite retellings as I love when I get a whole new story loosely based on originals instead of the same story being retold again.
Overall, fun read that I'd definitely recommend checking out.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
One day the White Rabbit returns for Alice to get her help in saving Wonderland from being taken over from the Ace of Spades who is stripping Wonderland's residents of their Wonder and trying to make it more like our world. Alice takes a little convincing that what she's seeing is real after years of being told it's in her imagination.
Alice then embarks on a journey to find the Sleeping Beauty and along the way meets up with many other fairy tale characters who she tries to recruit to help save Wonderland.
I actually rather enjoyed this creative story using characters that we all know and love but not just copying their original stories. There were new ideas mixed in to each character along with an overall adventure to bring them all together which I found rather engaging.
When the story started off I had a bit of a problem connecting with Alice as a seventeen year old, she seemed to lack a bit of maturity. But in the end I think she grew and I believe the character actually needed that bit in the beginning to show her struggles through the years with no one believing her so in the end I had changed my mind about her.
As for the other characters being brought in to the story I rather enjoyed the creativity with them all. Things aren't exactly the way you'd think for each but there is a reasoning given in the story behind it. This made this one of my favorite retellings as I love when I get a whole new story loosely based on originals instead of the same story being retold again.
Overall, fun read that I'd definitely recommend checking out.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.wordpress....
June 6, 2016
Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David D. Hammons
This is quite a retelling. It all starts with Alice and then it goes on through Neverland and Grimm kingdoms. You will find many characters and lands you thought you knew, many versions of the stories that might've happened.
There are some things I really like about this book. For example all of the descriptions of places, characters, surrounding. It all felt right and lively. I did enjoy reading about all the places Alice had visited, I did like the various versions of the well-known fairy tales, because who would think to change Pinocchio into a child version of Iron Man who only wants to get rid of his suit of armor and look like a real boy. These parts were awesome and I kind of wish the author wrote separate stories, some new retellings for all of the tales he only just touched in this book.
From the negative side, I found the beginning to be rather boring. I had a hard time getting through the first chapters and I even stopped reading for a while. The way Alice's parents were treating her was rather scary. All the psychiatrist (including the school doctor with a fantastic surname Friend), the drugs, the way they wanted her to behave. If every child with imagination was treated that way our world would be as boring as Wonderland after the wonder was taken out of it. After a life like this Alice had simply no choice but to save Wonderland even though she could simply go back home and forget about everything.
The slowly growing feelings between Peter and Alice were a really nice touch. No instant love here, only two people joined by an adventure whose feelings evolved with time.
To sum it up, I had a good time reading this book, maybe it wasn't fantastic, but it did have plenty of magic, interesting characters, and some nice action scenes.
I received this copy from Curiosity Quills in exchange for an honest review.
check this review and more on https://maginibooks.wordpress.com/201...
This is quite a retelling. It all starts with Alice and then it goes on through Neverland and Grimm kingdoms. You will find many characters and lands you thought you knew, many versions of the stories that might've happened.
There are some things I really like about this book. For example all of the descriptions of places, characters, surrounding. It all felt right and lively. I did enjoy reading about all the places Alice had visited, I did like the various versions of the well-known fairy tales, because who would think to change Pinocchio into a child version of Iron Man who only wants to get rid of his suit of armor and look like a real boy. These parts were awesome and I kind of wish the author wrote separate stories, some new retellings for all of the tales he only just touched in this book.
From the negative side, I found the beginning to be rather boring. I had a hard time getting through the first chapters and I even stopped reading for a while. The way Alice's parents were treating her was rather scary. All the psychiatrist (including the school doctor with a fantastic surname Friend), the drugs, the way they wanted her to behave. If every child with imagination was treated that way our world would be as boring as Wonderland after the wonder was taken out of it. After a life like this Alice had simply no choice but to save Wonderland even though she could simply go back home and forget about everything.
The slowly growing feelings between Peter and Alice were a really nice touch. No instant love here, only two people joined by an adventure whose feelings evolved with time.
To sum it up, I had a good time reading this book, maybe it wasn't fantastic, but it did have plenty of magic, interesting characters, and some nice action scenes.
I received this copy from Curiosity Quills in exchange for an honest review.
check this review and more on https://maginibooks.wordpress.com/201...
January 14, 2016
(I received a copy from Netgalley, In exchange for an honest review.)
I didn't like this one at all unfortunately.
This was weird, confusing, and absolutely ridiculous. I really struggled to get through it, and I was really relieved when It had finished.
I didn't like this one at all unfortunately.
This was weird, confusing, and absolutely ridiculous. I really struggled to get through it, and I was really relieved when It had finished.
June 2, 2016
DNF at 10%
I wanned so bad to read this book, coz I looooove Alice stories, but this book was such a mess.
I wanned so bad to read this book, coz I looooove Alice stories, but this book was such a mess.
October 15, 2020
A Copy of this book was provided to me by Netgalley in Exchange for an Honest Review!
As always lets start with the blurb: "After ten years of being told she can't tell the difference between real life and a fairy tale, Alice finally stops believing in Wonderland. So when the White Rabbit shows up at her house, Alice thinks she's going crazy.
Only when the White Rabbit kicks her down the rabbit hole does Alice realize that the magical land she visited as a child is real.
But all is not well in Wonderland.
The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful.
But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?
Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows.
Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.
With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland."
I find myself torn with this one. On the one hand, I really honestly enjoyed myself with it, for the most part. The re-imagining of the various fairy tales were inspired and unique for one. The idea, for example, and Snow White is a booze runner was hilarious, and that she was having a feud with Red Riding Hood was just the right amount of insane.
The basic story here is that Alice in Wonderland really happened, and that Alice is not a girl from the Victorian era of England, but rather a girl from our time. Apparently, the "rabbit hole" that connects the dimension of Wonderland to ours is almost a wormhole, and echos of events that take place in Wonderland and its fairy tale neighbors escape to our world, and become the books we read. Because Wormholes don't follow time and space laws, you end up with the story of Alice going to another reality and becoming a book written in the past, for example.
When Alice gets back home however, no one of course believes her in regards to her adventures, and they start drugging him with anti schizophrenia and ADHD medications. This was something I could understand, as today parents frequently heavily medicate their children.
Eventually Alice grows up, and around 17 years old sees the White Rabbit, who steals her meds, and drags her back into Wonderland, where all hell has broken loose...because Wonderland is changing.
From there Alice goes on a journey to find a way to save Wonderland. She meets a colorful cast of characters, deals with a few challenges, and then the one thing that pisses me off about the book occurs.
Romance happens. Suddenly, without warning, and without any logical reason I could see.
One of the first people Alice meets is Peter Pan, who tells her that she is a Fairy Tale to him as he remembers his book before he came to Neverland. She knows Peter Pan as a fairy tale.
She askes for his help and they team up after she helps him solve some issues. They act, for the majority of the book, as just a pair of friends. No real hints of romance or anything. Then suddenly after a major battle...Peter kisses her, and next thing you know the two are inseparable. I had to sit there and think for a minute pondering if I missed something.
I did not.
The ending in fact happens the way it does SOLELY because of the two of them being suddenly in love.
At least the ending did not sequel bait.
Overall I enjoyed the book but the ending honestly soured it for me. If the romance had made sense I would have been fine with it, but it did not. Not for me at least.
I rate this a 3/5 and suggest it to anyone who likes twisted fairy tales. Honestly, they are the best part. Alice is nice and all, but when you meet Pinocchio you will smile broadly, I promise.
As always lets start with the blurb: "After ten years of being told she can't tell the difference between real life and a fairy tale, Alice finally stops believing in Wonderland. So when the White Rabbit shows up at her house, Alice thinks she's going crazy.
Only when the White Rabbit kicks her down the rabbit hole does Alice realize that the magical land she visited as a child is real.
But all is not well in Wonderland.
The Ace of Spades has taken over Wonderland and is systematically dismantling all that makes it wonderful. Plain is replacing wondrous, logical is replacing magical, and reason is destroying madness. Alice decides she must help the Mad Hatter and all those fighting to keep Wonderland wonderful.
But how can she face such danger when she is just a girl?
Alice must journey across the stars to unite an army. She discovers that fairy tales are real in the magical world beyond the rabbit hole. But they are not the fairy tales she knows.
Fairy tales have dangers and adventures of their own, and Alice must overcome the trials of these old stories if she wants to unite the lands against Ace.
With the help of Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White and heroes old and new, Alice may have the strength to take back Wonderland."
I find myself torn with this one. On the one hand, I really honestly enjoyed myself with it, for the most part. The re-imagining of the various fairy tales were inspired and unique for one. The idea, for example, and Snow White is a booze runner was hilarious, and that she was having a feud with Red Riding Hood was just the right amount of insane.
The basic story here is that Alice in Wonderland really happened, and that Alice is not a girl from the Victorian era of England, but rather a girl from our time. Apparently, the "rabbit hole" that connects the dimension of Wonderland to ours is almost a wormhole, and echos of events that take place in Wonderland and its fairy tale neighbors escape to our world, and become the books we read. Because Wormholes don't follow time and space laws, you end up with the story of Alice going to another reality and becoming a book written in the past, for example.
When Alice gets back home however, no one of course believes her in regards to her adventures, and they start drugging him with anti schizophrenia and ADHD medications. This was something I could understand, as today parents frequently heavily medicate their children.
Eventually Alice grows up, and around 17 years old sees the White Rabbit, who steals her meds, and drags her back into Wonderland, where all hell has broken loose...because Wonderland is changing.
From there Alice goes on a journey to find a way to save Wonderland. She meets a colorful cast of characters, deals with a few challenges, and then the one thing that pisses me off about the book occurs.
Romance happens. Suddenly, without warning, and without any logical reason I could see.
One of the first people Alice meets is Peter Pan, who tells her that she is a Fairy Tale to him as he remembers his book before he came to Neverland. She knows Peter Pan as a fairy tale.
She askes for his help and they team up after she helps him solve some issues. They act, for the majority of the book, as just a pair of friends. No real hints of romance or anything. Then suddenly after a major battle...Peter kisses her, and next thing you know the two are inseparable. I had to sit there and think for a minute pondering if I missed something.
I did not.
The ending in fact happens the way it does SOLELY because of the two of them being suddenly in love.
At least the ending did not sequel bait.
Overall I enjoyed the book but the ending honestly soured it for me. If the romance had made sense I would have been fine with it, but it did not. Not for me at least.
I rate this a 3/5 and suggest it to anyone who likes twisted fairy tales. Honestly, they are the best part. Alice is nice and all, but when you meet Pinocchio you will smile broadly, I promise.
December 13, 2015
Review:
Protagonist: When our story begins Alice is just leaving Wonderland and reentering the real world. After that she's put on medication and goes to counseling to quell these delusions she has. Over time, even she begins to doubt Wonderland's existence, then, 10 years after she left Wonderland, the White Rabbit appears. She's thrown back into a Wonderland she doesn't know, on that has changed and shifted to become more logical and orderly, and has lost most of it's wonder. Alice now has to assemble an army of fairy tales and take back Wonderland. Alice is a fantastic character, at first she comes off witty, but not someone to always take charge, she does sometimes, but you can't really rely on her to lead. However over the course of the book she becomes more sure in herself, her motivations, and her decisions. She grows into a character born to lead her army into war for Wonderland.
Romance: So there's actually very little romance in this book. In fact it's so subtle that I didn't fully realize it was romance until Alice and her love interest kissed. I was sort of vaguely aware but I had figured that it was more that I wanted them together than actually thinking their interactions were intentionally romantic. The romance is good, the characters fit and have some great chemistry, but I just wish it'd been more obvious that they were flirting or that the romantic tension was more palpable.
World-Building: Surprisingly this adventure takes place mostly outside of Wonderland. Since most of the wonder has been sucked out of Wonderland, Alice needs to find and army to join her in her fight to overthrow the Ace of Spades. Along the way she teams up with familiar fairy tale characters such as Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White, and Robin Hood all of whom are twisted versions of the classic characters we know and love. Even though we didn't get to see that much of Wonderland I did really enjoy getting to see this vast world and learn how it works. As I said before, these aren't the fairy tales you're used to. Some have become more modern while some keep the same feel of the classic story they come from, and some are a bit of both.
Predictability: So, in terms of the identities or sometimes dual identities of certain characters, those surprises were pretty easy to figure out. There was a lot of foreshadowing for them and by the time the big reveal happened I either had it figured out or the author over killed on the foreshadowing so much that any surprise I could have had was gone a long time ago. That's not to say that I was never surprised during this book. On the contrary, there were many times throughout this book that I wasn't all that sure what was going to happen and definitely during the grand finale I was so unsure of how everything, if anything, would turn out well to give our characters their Happily Ever After.
Ending: So I was relieved that this book ends with a spectacular battle. With as much build up as we had I would have been very annoyed if the ending just sort of sorted itself out without much fighting and casualties. While the final battle isn't as epic as I would have wanted it to be, it was pretty darn epic, and the fallout of it was stressful enough. This doesn't have a perfect or idealistic ending, I was surprised with how surely the author stuck to the whole "not everyone gets happy endings" shtick. The book does however tie up most if not all loose ends which was fantastic, and while it was a bit sad to say goodbye to this world even after only one book, it was a bittersweet one.
Rating:
While I really enjoyed this story, I felt the romance could have either been more pronounced or taken out, the foreshadowing could have been less heavy handed at times, and we could have seen a bit more of Wonderland. Other than that however, this book is chock full of magic, fairy tale twists, and all the action and adventure you could want, oh and flying, there's lots of flying!
Protagonist: When our story begins Alice is just leaving Wonderland and reentering the real world. After that she's put on medication and goes to counseling to quell these delusions she has. Over time, even she begins to doubt Wonderland's existence, then, 10 years after she left Wonderland, the White Rabbit appears. She's thrown back into a Wonderland she doesn't know, on that has changed and shifted to become more logical and orderly, and has lost most of it's wonder. Alice now has to assemble an army of fairy tales and take back Wonderland. Alice is a fantastic character, at first she comes off witty, but not someone to always take charge, she does sometimes, but you can't really rely on her to lead. However over the course of the book she becomes more sure in herself, her motivations, and her decisions. She grows into a character born to lead her army into war for Wonderland.
Romance: So there's actually very little romance in this book. In fact it's so subtle that I didn't fully realize it was romance until Alice and her love interest kissed. I was sort of vaguely aware but I had figured that it was more that I wanted them together than actually thinking their interactions were intentionally romantic. The romance is good, the characters fit and have some great chemistry, but I just wish it'd been more obvious that they were flirting or that the romantic tension was more palpable.
World-Building: Surprisingly this adventure takes place mostly outside of Wonderland. Since most of the wonder has been sucked out of Wonderland, Alice needs to find and army to join her in her fight to overthrow the Ace of Spades. Along the way she teams up with familiar fairy tale characters such as Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White, and Robin Hood all of whom are twisted versions of the classic characters we know and love. Even though we didn't get to see that much of Wonderland I did really enjoy getting to see this vast world and learn how it works. As I said before, these aren't the fairy tales you're used to. Some have become more modern while some keep the same feel of the classic story they come from, and some are a bit of both.
Predictability: So, in terms of the identities or sometimes dual identities of certain characters, those surprises were pretty easy to figure out. There was a lot of foreshadowing for them and by the time the big reveal happened I either had it figured out or the author over killed on the foreshadowing so much that any surprise I could have had was gone a long time ago. That's not to say that I was never surprised during this book. On the contrary, there were many times throughout this book that I wasn't all that sure what was going to happen and definitely during the grand finale I was so unsure of how everything, if anything, would turn out well to give our characters their Happily Ever After.
Ending: So I was relieved that this book ends with a spectacular battle. With as much build up as we had I would have been very annoyed if the ending just sort of sorted itself out without much fighting and casualties. While the final battle isn't as epic as I would have wanted it to be, it was pretty darn epic, and the fallout of it was stressful enough. This doesn't have a perfect or idealistic ending, I was surprised with how surely the author stuck to the whole "not everyone gets happy endings" shtick. The book does however tie up most if not all loose ends which was fantastic, and while it was a bit sad to say goodbye to this world even after only one book, it was a bittersweet one.
Rating:
While I really enjoyed this story, I felt the romance could have either been more pronounced or taken out, the foreshadowing could have been less heavy handed at times, and we could have seen a bit more of Wonderland. Other than that however, this book is chock full of magic, fairy tale twists, and all the action and adventure you could want, oh and flying, there's lots of flying!
September 30, 2015
So, we all know Alice fell down a rabbit hole where things became curiouser and curiouser, but what happened once Alice went home? After her adventures in Wonderland were finished, where did Alice's story lead? In his book, Alice Takes Back Wonderland, David D. Hammons tells us that Alice's parents medicated her to help quell her delusions of Wonderland, and Alice did her best to live a normal life. Except Alice lives in the United States, and it's present day, and she catches the white rabbit robbing her house and follows him back to Wonderland, where nothing is as she remembers it.
The Ace of Spades is sucking the wonder out of Wonderland. He wants it to be more like Alice's world. Alice decides to do everything she can to depose Ace as the ruler of Wonderland and return the wonder to the world she has such fond memories of. The fact that Ace wants her dead proves to be a bit of a challenge.
The Mad Hatter tells Alice she must amass an army and wake the Sleeping Beauty to save Wonderland, and launches her to a new land, where Alice encounters characters from fairy tales, and discovers she may be a fairy tale character herself.
I wasn't immediately drawn into this story. The first chapter is a rushed flight from Neverland when Alice was a young child, and is filled with the nonsensical wisdom of the Cheshire Cat. Alice's mother made me want to throw my Kindle into the wall because she was so unsupportive and indifferent to Alice's discomfort with the medication.
However, once Alice returned to Wonderland, I couldn't help but be drawn into Hammons' story. I love the way that he intertwines the tales of so many characters. So many people make appearances, from Jack the Giantslayer to Tinkerbelle, to Pinocchio, and none of them are the characters you expect. Fairy tales are only echoes of the truth, and the stories have been told through rose-colored glasses for many of these characters. Happy endings are a bit harder to find than our storybooks led us to believe.
I dislike that so many authors have begun to draw their stories out into trilogies. I miss the days when a good adventure could begin and end within the covers of one book. That being said, I actually find myself wishing Hammons had extended this into a second novel. There are so many wonderful characters and settings, that I wish we had more time with some of them.
Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read, and fans of the original Alice might find this dystopian Wonderland an interesting contrast to the one with which they are familiar.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me a free copy of this book for my honest review.
The Ace of Spades is sucking the wonder out of Wonderland. He wants it to be more like Alice's world. Alice decides to do everything she can to depose Ace as the ruler of Wonderland and return the wonder to the world she has such fond memories of. The fact that Ace wants her dead proves to be a bit of a challenge.
The Mad Hatter tells Alice she must amass an army and wake the Sleeping Beauty to save Wonderland, and launches her to a new land, where Alice encounters characters from fairy tales, and discovers she may be a fairy tale character herself.
I wasn't immediately drawn into this story. The first chapter is a rushed flight from Neverland when Alice was a young child, and is filled with the nonsensical wisdom of the Cheshire Cat. Alice's mother made me want to throw my Kindle into the wall because she was so unsupportive and indifferent to Alice's discomfort with the medication.
However, once Alice returned to Wonderland, I couldn't help but be drawn into Hammons' story. I love the way that he intertwines the tales of so many characters. So many people make appearances, from Jack the Giantslayer to Tinkerbelle, to Pinocchio, and none of them are the characters you expect. Fairy tales are only echoes of the truth, and the stories have been told through rose-colored glasses for many of these characters. Happy endings are a bit harder to find than our storybooks led us to believe.
I dislike that so many authors have begun to draw their stories out into trilogies. I miss the days when a good adventure could begin and end within the covers of one book. That being said, I actually find myself wishing Hammons had extended this into a second novel. There are so many wonderful characters and settings, that I wish we had more time with some of them.
Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read, and fans of the original Alice might find this dystopian Wonderland an interesting contrast to the one with which they are familiar.
Thank you to the publisher for providing me a free copy of this book for my honest review.
October 1, 2015
**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**
3.5/5
Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David Hammons is a young adult fairy tale mash up, that will remind fans of a younger version of Once Upon a Time. I have a love for all things Wonderlandian, so it is no wonder that I was immediately drawn to Alice Takes Back Wonderland. The book starts out when Alice is about 7 and is somehow in Wonderland. But she is not the Alice from the story, she is an American Alice from the Midwest. Her first trip in Wonderland is short, but it left a lasting impression on her. Fast forward 10 years, and she Alice has almost convinced herself that it was just a dream. But then the Rabbit shows up at her door and takes her back to a very different wonderland.
Although I found the start of the story a bit slow, I really did love the set up. I loved that this was not the Alice from the story, and I loved the idea that the Villain in this story- the Ace of Spades, didn't want to just take over Wonderland. He wanted to change Wonderland into something more ordinary. Something more like Alice's world. What a fresh take! I have never read a story like this one. Author David Hammons did a great job with nonsense. I don't mean that in a negative way, nonsense is essential in a story about Wonderland. And Alice is a very nonsensical girl. I felt like she truly belonged in Wonderland.
Alice Takes Back Wonderland brings us characters from many different story worlds, and they overlap in delightful ways. I had never guessed some of the pairings that David Hammons treated us readers to. The literary geek in me was super excited to see some of the crossovers. This is why I love Wonderland as the backdrop for fairy tale mashups and re-imaginings, because there is so so much that can be done with this fantastical setting. Alice Takes Back Wonderland is a really interesting read. Fans of fairy tale re-tellings and of Once Upon a Time should check it out. And keep reading, if you found the beginning a bit slow like I did, keep going because it really picks up speed after Alice's return.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
3.5/5
Alice Takes Back Wonderland by David Hammons is a young adult fairy tale mash up, that will remind fans of a younger version of Once Upon a Time. I have a love for all things Wonderlandian, so it is no wonder that I was immediately drawn to Alice Takes Back Wonderland. The book starts out when Alice is about 7 and is somehow in Wonderland. But she is not the Alice from the story, she is an American Alice from the Midwest. Her first trip in Wonderland is short, but it left a lasting impression on her. Fast forward 10 years, and she Alice has almost convinced herself that it was just a dream. But then the Rabbit shows up at her door and takes her back to a very different wonderland.
Although I found the start of the story a bit slow, I really did love the set up. I loved that this was not the Alice from the story, and I loved the idea that the Villain in this story- the Ace of Spades, didn't want to just take over Wonderland. He wanted to change Wonderland into something more ordinary. Something more like Alice's world. What a fresh take! I have never read a story like this one. Author David Hammons did a great job with nonsense. I don't mean that in a negative way, nonsense is essential in a story about Wonderland. And Alice is a very nonsensical girl. I felt like she truly belonged in Wonderland.
Alice Takes Back Wonderland brings us characters from many different story worlds, and they overlap in delightful ways. I had never guessed some of the pairings that David Hammons treated us readers to. The literary geek in me was super excited to see some of the crossovers. This is why I love Wonderland as the backdrop for fairy tale mashups and re-imaginings, because there is so so much that can be done with this fantastical setting. Alice Takes Back Wonderland is a really interesting read. Fans of fairy tale re-tellings and of Once Upon a Time should check it out. And keep reading, if you found the beginning a bit slow like I did, keep going because it really picks up speed after Alice's return.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
September 15, 2015
Okay, let's face it. Fairytale retellings are IN this year. The genre has dominated most of the YA books released in 2015. And when I saw that this book was a whole load of fairytales all mixed up into one giant magical fruit salad, Disney style, my first thought was, "oooh, ME WANT!" I headed into this book with some hesitation, though, because, as fun as it may sound, the whole thing could collapse miserably if the author doesn't pull off the premise. BUT. I am happy to say that this book totally met my expectations, and better!
The ideas behind the world-building. It was so imaginative and clever! I loved the author's fresh take on the Alice in Wonderland story, and all the stuff about the wormholes that connect the different worlds and how the fairytales that we all know and love are "echoes" of what really happened. There are so many fun, original ideas behind this book, and I LOVED it!
The characters. I loved them all! (Except Ace, of course. He was a nasty piece of fried Dalek.)
Alice was spunky and extremely likeable, although you DID get the feeling that she didn't know what she was doing, sometimes. There is a big similarity to the original Alice, but that was fine with me.
Peter (Pan) -yes, that Peter Pan, with the Lost Boys and all that jazz - could not have been more perfectly written. Again, his character was not completely in line with the original, since he sounded a bit more grown up than in the J.M. Barrie book, but this is YA, so we have to make some exceptions. Peter was snarky, boyish and terribly sweet.
And then we have Snow White, who, believe me, completely breaks the Disney stereotype, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio and Robin Hood, who were all amazingly portrayed and also a whole other bunch of fairytale characters that were a delight to read about.
My only disappointment was that we didn't get to see much of the Hatter, who appeared suddenly out of nowhere and then disappeared just as fast.
The plot. I loved how all the fairytales were connected to each other. They were all blended together seamlessly, and created one great story. There were certain places in the novel that slightly dragged, especially on the beginning, but I'm willing to overlook that.
Find more reviews on my blog, The Araliya Bookshelf!
The ideas behind the world-building. It was so imaginative and clever! I loved the author's fresh take on the Alice in Wonderland story, and all the stuff about the wormholes that connect the different worlds and how the fairytales that we all know and love are "echoes" of what really happened. There are so many fun, original ideas behind this book, and I LOVED it!
The characters. I loved them all! (Except Ace, of course. He was a nasty piece of fried Dalek.)
Alice was spunky and extremely likeable, although you DID get the feeling that she didn't know what she was doing, sometimes. There is a big similarity to the original Alice, but that was fine with me.
Peter (Pan) -yes, that Peter Pan, with the Lost Boys and all that jazz - could not have been more perfectly written. Again, his character was not completely in line with the original, since he sounded a bit more grown up than in the J.M. Barrie book, but this is YA, so we have to make some exceptions. Peter was snarky, boyish and terribly sweet.
And then we have Snow White, who, believe me, completely breaks the Disney stereotype, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio and Robin Hood, who were all amazingly portrayed and also a whole other bunch of fairytale characters that were a delight to read about.
My only disappointment was that we didn't get to see much of the Hatter, who appeared suddenly out of nowhere and then disappeared just as fast.
The plot. I loved how all the fairytales were connected to each other. They were all blended together seamlessly, and created one great story. There were certain places in the novel that slightly dragged, especially on the beginning, but I'm willing to overlook that.
Find more reviews on my blog, The Araliya Bookshelf!
September 19, 2015
What I thought of the book:
When I read the summary I immediately liked the story. Alice who returns to Wonderland and meets various fairy tale characters. When I started to read the story I was a bit scared because I hoped that it wouldn't be a remake of the original story and that the characters hadn't changed. Those where some critic points that I had in my mind. But gladly that wasn't the case, eventually I couldn't put my e-reader away. The story begins with the 7 year old Alice who is still in wonderland, you eventually also read how she gets back to the real world, what happens to her and how she grows up. It was sad to read that people found her delusional and crazy, and that people said that she couldn't define reality from fantasy. Eventually she starts to believe that wonderland doesn't exist. Until the white rabbit comes for her.
I really liked to read about Alice as a 17 year old, I think she hadn't changed a lot when she was 7, she still had a huge imagination, I found her very funny, emotional. Childish, caring, fearless, and friendly. She had a very strong character, she still believed in Wonderland no matter what, I've found that brave of her, especially since no one believed her.
I also found it fantastic that she met fairy tale characters throughout her adventure I was, however, a bit disappointed that the fairy tales weren't the same ones we know, but that had a reason.
The whole setting where the story took place was amazing, the story doesn't only take place in Wonderland but also in Neverland, and other places, which makes it more exiting. I really could imagine where it all took place. As for me as a reader I found it important that the story is exiting enough for me to read it, where it takes place, the characters, the details, is the story logical etc. etc. you name it, I really pay attention to a lot of things when I am reading a story. This story passed the test.
I found this that kind of book where fairy tale characters aren't fairy tale characters anymore but become heroes of their own.
I can totally recommend this story, it’s a magical story full with adventure.
Score: 5 out of 5
-Our Book Stories
For more reviews and challenges check out my blog:
www.our-book-stories.blogspot.com
When I read the summary I immediately liked the story. Alice who returns to Wonderland and meets various fairy tale characters. When I started to read the story I was a bit scared because I hoped that it wouldn't be a remake of the original story and that the characters hadn't changed. Those where some critic points that I had in my mind. But gladly that wasn't the case, eventually I couldn't put my e-reader away. The story begins with the 7 year old Alice who is still in wonderland, you eventually also read how she gets back to the real world, what happens to her and how she grows up. It was sad to read that people found her delusional and crazy, and that people said that she couldn't define reality from fantasy. Eventually she starts to believe that wonderland doesn't exist. Until the white rabbit comes for her.
I really liked to read about Alice as a 17 year old, I think she hadn't changed a lot when she was 7, she still had a huge imagination, I found her very funny, emotional. Childish, caring, fearless, and friendly. She had a very strong character, she still believed in Wonderland no matter what, I've found that brave of her, especially since no one believed her.
I also found it fantastic that she met fairy tale characters throughout her adventure I was, however, a bit disappointed that the fairy tales weren't the same ones we know, but that had a reason.
The whole setting where the story took place was amazing, the story doesn't only take place in Wonderland but also in Neverland, and other places, which makes it more exiting. I really could imagine where it all took place. As for me as a reader I found it important that the story is exiting enough for me to read it, where it takes place, the characters, the details, is the story logical etc. etc. you name it, I really pay attention to a lot of things when I am reading a story. This story passed the test.
I found this that kind of book where fairy tale characters aren't fairy tale characters anymore but become heroes of their own.
I can totally recommend this story, it’s a magical story full with adventure.
Score: 5 out of 5
-Our Book Stories
For more reviews and challenges check out my blog:
www.our-book-stories.blogspot.com
May 4, 2017
(I wish there are more stars to express the love I have for this book)
Anyway, off with the review. I'm not getting mad, I hope.
Alice Takes Back Wonderland is about Alice who they thought is crazy for not being able to distinguish the difference between reality and fantasy. For ten years, she fought hard about what she believes in until one day she decided to stop. Then one day, White Rabbit decided to pay her a visit.
I really liked the idea of one fairy tale character will be part of another fairy tale and all the fairy tale world will meet in one world. It’s just … maddening! And I’m running out of things to say! I haven’t read Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland or Peter Pan or any fairy tales for that matter but I watched those when I was a child, even now. So I know how the story goes and how it will end.
I must say that I did not like the changes because I … freakin’ LOVE it! *disco lights* The fairy tales that I adore combined into one book. I seriously love everything about this book. I love how I excitingly wait for another fairy tale character to be introduced..
The pace was extraordinary. It’s not slow nor fast. It’s somewhere in between that will make you anticipate on what’s going to happen next. David D. Hammons, the amazing author of this book, wrote the scenes in a way I could imagine them perfectly without damaging my brain. The other amazing thing is that I could connect to every one of the characters that were introduced. It felt like I’m a thousand people just by reading this book. It’s just astonishing that someone could write as breathtaking as this book.
It was such a fun fun read and I think I’m getting mad. Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone I see and will encounter. I think I’ll be talking about this book for weeks. And oddly enough, I’ve been reading the whole book with a British accent. How mad can I get?
Anyway, off with the review. I'm not getting mad, I hope.
Alice Takes Back Wonderland is about Alice who they thought is crazy for not being able to distinguish the difference between reality and fantasy. For ten years, she fought hard about what she believes in until one day she decided to stop. Then one day, White Rabbit decided to pay her a visit.
I really liked the idea of one fairy tale character will be part of another fairy tale and all the fairy tale world will meet in one world. It’s just … maddening! And I’m running out of things to say! I haven’t read Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland or Peter Pan or any fairy tales for that matter but I watched those when I was a child, even now. So I know how the story goes and how it will end.
I must say that I did not like the changes because I … freakin’ LOVE it! *disco lights* The fairy tales that I adore combined into one book. I seriously love everything about this book. I love how I excitingly wait for another fairy tale character to be introduced..
The pace was extraordinary. It’s not slow nor fast. It’s somewhere in between that will make you anticipate on what’s going to happen next. David D. Hammons, the amazing author of this book, wrote the scenes in a way I could imagine them perfectly without damaging my brain. The other amazing thing is that I could connect to every one of the characters that were introduced. It felt like I’m a thousand people just by reading this book. It’s just astonishing that someone could write as breathtaking as this book.
It was such a fun fun read and I think I’m getting mad. Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone I see and will encounter. I think I’ll be talking about this book for weeks. And oddly enough, I’ve been reading the whole book with a British accent. How mad can I get?
October 8, 2015
This book is an Alice re-telling surrounding a world where Alice returns to Wonderland.. or what may be left of it. I personally really enjoy re-tellings, especially set around Alice in Wonderland. When I first heard of this book, I immediately wanted to get my hands on it. After the first chapter, I knew there was potential in this re-telling.
We start out with a sort of psychological aspect where everyone around Alice thinks she is crazy and needs medication due to the stories she told them from her adventures. It was fun to explore this idea of how the story may have went after her initial return. It is drastically different from the original tale…
As we kept following her through her trip back with the White rabbit, I found that the story kind of slowed down for me. The plot grabbed onto a dark, gloomy feeling of the tragedy that partook after Alice’s first visit. I felt like there were a few parts that I wasn’t connecting to as a reader in that I ended up having to reread sections when I started to drift off. I’m not saying the book wasn’t exciting, but for me, I just wasn’t a fan of this developing plot.
The characters remain mostly the same from this re-telling to the original which I enjoyed. We as readers get to see a new side of them as they struggle in the new world they are being suggested to. Overall, I give this story a 2 out of 5 stars. I liked the idea behind the plot, but I felt like I was dragging through to the end. I will say that if the book’s synopsis sounds intriguing to you then you should definitely give this a shot. We get to see such a dramatic shift in both the setting and the plot which does add a spark to the story.
We start out with a sort of psychological aspect where everyone around Alice thinks she is crazy and needs medication due to the stories she told them from her adventures. It was fun to explore this idea of how the story may have went after her initial return. It is drastically different from the original tale…
As we kept following her through her trip back with the White rabbit, I found that the story kind of slowed down for me. The plot grabbed onto a dark, gloomy feeling of the tragedy that partook after Alice’s first visit. I felt like there were a few parts that I wasn’t connecting to as a reader in that I ended up having to reread sections when I started to drift off. I’m not saying the book wasn’t exciting, but for me, I just wasn’t a fan of this developing plot.
The characters remain mostly the same from this re-telling to the original which I enjoyed. We as readers get to see a new side of them as they struggle in the new world they are being suggested to. Overall, I give this story a 2 out of 5 stars. I liked the idea behind the plot, but I felt like I was dragging through to the end. I will say that if the book’s synopsis sounds intriguing to you then you should definitely give this a shot. We get to see such a dramatic shift in both the setting and the plot which does add a spark to the story.
April 29, 2018
Alice Takes Back Wonderland is a packed story about a young woman named Alice on a journey to restore the Wonderland that has fallen apart since her last visit. Something I really loved about this story was the different tellings of other fairy tales with a twist, though some did come off as trying too hard to fit in the fairy tales.
A lot of the time, things felt forced and though the story is a bit more than 280 pages, some scenarios could have... (more via website)
January 28, 2020
I couldn't finish it. I stopped when alice meets snowhite. I have so sympathy whatsoever for alice or anty other character of the book and the book itself it a summary of alice's second time to wonderland and her efforts to save it. I really thought it was another glass frost but it wasnt.
I read it for the second time and I totally adored it!! It was awesome! I don't know why I didn't like it the first time....Too bad it wasn't a series :(
I read it for the second time and I totally adored it!! It was awesome! I don't know why I didn't like it the first time....Too bad it wasn't a series :(
September 6, 2016
Rating: 3 / 5
Fans of "Once Upon A Time", this is a book you will enjoy!
I must confess that some things didn't make sense in this book because they weren't completely explained, but since it was a quick read full of characters from different fairy tales and considering that I liked the end a lot (it made me cry and then laugh and smile)... it truly deserves 3 stars.
Fans of "Once Upon A Time", this is a book you will enjoy!
I must confess that some things didn't make sense in this book because they weren't completely explained, but since it was a quick read full of characters from different fairy tales and considering that I liked the end a lot (it made me cry and then laugh and smile)... it truly deserves 3 stars.
October 9, 2015
I want to live in this book (yeah I have some book attachment issues. Deal with it). This book is a wonderful combination of Alice in Wonderland meets Once Upon a Time mixed with the Alice in Wonderland movie. I especially enjoyed all the references to the fairytales we all know and love.
December 18, 2015
28/11/15
*3.5 stars*
full review to come // *a few hours later*
I love how a bunch of fairy tales were creatively put together for this story. Read my full thoughts here!
*3.5 stars*
full review to come // *a few hours later*
I love how a bunch of fairy tales were creatively put together for this story. Read my full thoughts here!
October 2, 2015
Review to come.
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