Elite

Not gonna lie, I went into this book fully prepared for it to be a bully or an enemies to lovers romance, but that wasn't the case at all. Elite is certainly dark in a lot of ways, but the Elite men, Hatter, Rabbit, Cat, and Knight are loyal and dedicated to their Alice, protecting her in any way they possibly can, even if it means putting themselves in harm's way. Even in a more contemporary book, Johns does a great job at keeping her men brutal yet soft as well as strong yet vulnerable in different ways. She flourishes with these types of characters.

I loved the more modern twist on Alice in Wonderland, keeping the unpredictable and more chaotic themes of everything but putting it in a more real life setting. The addition of the secret societies, the involvement of well known authors, the clues and riddles left for people to find, and the mystery of Wonderland really made this book enjoyable. I especially loved the unexpected surprises that Johns threw at us. The ending was such a huge turn of events, but was satisfying as well. Don't think you have everything figured out because things in Wonderland aren't always as they seem.

Laura Beltran

1,029 reviews7 followers

Amazing, dark and steamy

I absolutely loved this book. It was an amazing, dark and steamy twist on Alice in Wonderland. I was completely hooked start to finish. I loved Riley/Alice and her men. They are all somewhat broken but fit so well together and give each other strength. He story gave me alk the feels and I loved the twists. I highly recommend this book especially if you lie dark and steamy.

beth m

874 reviews

December 19, 2022

I’m pretty sure I’m Alice

I’m pretty sure I fell down the rabbit hole. I wanted to like this book but I had to stop halfway through. There’s omission to be mysterious and omission bc you don’t seem to know all the details yourself this feels like the latter.

The book starts with you the reader, completely plopped into the setting- there’s no gradual explanation where you feel like you understand what’s going on. You start already at the school in the library and you’re dealing with love interest #1 and it’s confusing because the banter back and forth is like they know each other but really they don’t and the fmc only knows him through a study group that goes over their thesis. They don’t interact otherwise.

Spoilers****

You find the guys can’t really speak to anyone bc they’re in a “secret “ society (everyone knows they’re in it) they traded the role the fmc should’ve played to be their love interest because they all (gasp) are in love with her…. Insert a million eyeroll emojis…she does not know them except for the interactions she’s had with 2/4 guys… she’s only truly met two of the guys and suddenly all of them love her… I can’t. But home girl wants revenge on the society because the person who should’ve been Alice is a really nice girl that lives in the same room building even though they’ve never been friends more passing acquaintances because this girl never leaves her room because she’s on fast track to be a doctor… I think it’s nice that the fmc is so self righteous but at least make it where she has some real connection with the girl… like they’re actual friends that have hung out and not dorm-mates who live in the same building and have a passing interaction.

The idea of this book is really intriguing. But the start of it was just such a cluster-f turn off that I only got through 57%…. Maybe I’ll come back to it and try again after I’ve had a bunch of cocktails and it’ll make more sense- idk at this point the book feels like a rough draft.

Celeste

1 review

April 28, 2024

Lewis Carroll deserves reparations.

This is sincerely one of the worst books I have ever had the misfortune to read. There is never once any sort of consistent tone—the characters flip between emotional states so quickly and so randomly it will give you whiplash. The sex scenes are laughable. It was clearly unedited, and on virtually every single page you can find at least one if not a bevy of awkwardly-phrased and poorly-constructed sentences. Perhaps worst of all, despite all of the author’s TikTok-esque virtue signaling that she is a Good Person, this book’s politics are absolutely reprehensible.

The book begins with the protagonist, Riley, having a nightmare about the night her sister was murdered. Immediately after being thrust into this traumatic experience, Johns uses the word “sensual” to describe the scent of vanilla. This is the first example of tonal whiplash in this book, and while a sudden change in tone can be used to great effect in the hands of a competent writer, in this book it only ever comes across as jarring and inappropriate. The real first scene takes place with one of the Elites, Hatter, attempting to steal a book from Riley. Hatter is the son of a billionaire, and yet is justifying his theft of this book by claiming that it’s the only copy in the university’s library, and they both need it for their thesis. Putting aside the fact that the library only has a single copy of this book (and yes, it’s not that all the other copies have been already borrowed—it’s specified to be the only copy), this implies that Hatter cannot access this book in any other way, such as buying a copy for himself, or buying a version online. Keep in mind he is a billionaire.

This first scene has an establishing character moment for Riley. Throughout the rest of the book, she is cast as an extremely intelligent and gifted young woman who will earn her way into Royal Hall on nothing but her own merits. Her intelligence is, as far as I can tell, supposed to be one of her defining character traits—she’s called a star student, and later she… decides that the raven-writing desk riddle from the original Alice is a secret coded message… based on nothing… and we never find out what the code is for or why she thinks it’s a code. But anyway, to establish this part of her characterization, the author allows us a deep dive into her thought process:

“How much even is a billion? I mean, I don’t even know how many zeros that is.”

Yes, this is the right note to introduce your supposedly super-smart protagonist on. Not knowing how many zeroes are in a billion. She apparently got into Harvard. I almost want to assume this as a joke about how “a billion” in the UK meant what we currently call “a trillion” until 1974, except it doesn’t read as a joke, and if you don’t already know that little fact going in, then this just establishes Riley as someone who doesn’t know her place values, which does not track with her supposed mental acuity. She also says “most people aren’t me,” which seems to be the result of an extensive game of telephone played with the sentiment of “I’m not like most people,” distilled into a near-perfect tautology.

The rest of the plot does not improve from here, but I only have 15k characters to work with, so I’ll move on.

The formatting of this book is atrocious. There are virtually no proper paragraphs; almost every sentence is written on a new line. This completely erases any emphasis or significance one could hope to derive from a sentence that stands alone. It’s sloppy and mind-numbing. Commas are constantly misused, breaking up sentences and phrases that do not need them and sometimes being absent where their presence is required. The use of curse words for emphasis is also bungled on a level I have never before experienced. Riley will think things like “Is that why Hatter holds these parties? Hell, I get it now,” or “Shit, the atmosphere is so tense that I feel I can’t breathe,” where the swearing adds nothing and the sentences would be snappier and cleaner without them.

The sentences themselves suffer from frequent and catastrophic structural flaws. For example: “Every time that Rabbit glances at his watch, becoming increasingly stressed that the tutorial’s time is running out, his expression becomes grimmer.” The clause “becoming increasingly stressed[…],” aside from the clumsy wording in and of itself, does not belong in this sentence, and any editor worth their salt would have pointed this out. Not to mention that we as the audience don’t need to be explicitly told why or that he’s becoming more stressed; it’s established that they’re waiting for Hatter. If Rabbit is looking grimly at his watch, we can infer why. We don’t need the author to hold our hand.

Another example of this comes when Riley quips, regarding the Wonderland Club, “Why didn’t they simply call it the The Outdated Sexist Misogynists’ Club?” As opposed to all the non-outdated, non-sexist misogynists out there. Two adjectives too many; this is a blunder that reads like high school-level writing, and a competent editor would have pointed this out, had one been involved in this book’s production.

On the note of dialogue: it’s bad. The characters in this book don’t talk like human beings, they talk like aliens trying to reconstruct the English language based solely on erotic TikTok sketches. Some of the greatest hits from various characters include “Just help me to storm the entitled asshole because my legs aren’t cooperating, and at the moment, I can only manage an undignified crawl”; “Perhaps, I like being adored and am into some extreme kinks”; “So, he may be living with a mental health problem or be neurodivergent”; and “He’s vulnerable, when it comes to letting women close or choosing ones who won’t hurt him, except in fun ways.” Nobody talks like this. It’s stilted and forced. None of the characters have a distinguishable voice, except that the Irish twins say “Away with you,” and “Aye,” which does not count.

The sex scenes have no actual eroticism to them. Not only do they inspire no emotion, they read as though the author isn’t 100% sure what sex is but sure has heard a lot about it from some very specific circles. There’s no passion behind them. There’s no emotional buildup or payoff. Any pleasure that could be found is demolished by the aforementioned issues of sentence structure and dialogue, when it’s not already run into the ground by the constant and clumsy mentions of consent.

And speaking of consent.

I’m all for increased awareness of consent and its importance, and for its more explicit inclusion in romance-focused novels. But this book brings up consent constantly, in ways that are not smoothly integrated into the narrative, but rather huge flashing neon signs that read HEY DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT CONSENT? EVERYONE HERE LOVES CONSENT. Riley attends an orgy hosted by Hatter and immediately, from sight alone, realizes that every single person here is consenting to everything that is happening to them. And by “realizes,” what I mean is the author is telling us this, as a fact, through Riley’s POV. Yes, of course that’s the kind of environment you want to foster at an orgy, but it’s not naturally developed through what we see through Riley’s eyes; it’s told to us, with no charm.

Is that so bad? It’s awkward, sure, but not a crime. I would agree if this book did not also have a preschool-level understanding of what consent is. The aforementioned orgy? Hatter did not inform her that it would be an orgy, only calling it a “Wonderland party” and saying he didn’t want to “spoil the surprise.” Inviting someone somewhere where people will be having wild and public sex, without telling them that that is what’s going to happen, is a gigantic violation of consent. Luckily, Riley is fine with this, so as far as the book understands, everything is okay! What if she hadn’t been fine? What if she was a victim of sexual trauma in the past? In light of this, the book’s ceaseless nagging about the importance of consent is aggravating, because it doesn’t even know what it’s advocating for! It’s virtue signaling and nothing more. It’s repulsive.

It doesn’t end there, either. During that same party, the author’s technique of telling the audience facts about the world through Riley’s thoughts fails on a nuclear level. Observe:

“Cat’s legendary. He’s rumored to be the best lover in Oxford.

I bet it’s bullshit but still, who wouldn’t be tempted by the offer of a kinky night with a member of the dazzling Elites? He offers women the best night of their lives, even if he never offers a repeat.

Yet there’s no one who says a bad thing about Cat. He’s the most adored Elite in Royal Hall.

So, his casual encounters must be consensual, fun, and entirely upfront every time for the other partner only to have good things to say about him after.

That’s rare.”

Take a moment to see if you can identify what’s wrong with this picture.

There is no unreliable narrator in this novel; everything Riley thinks reflects the world accurately. Johns is attempting here to reassure the audience that no matter how debauched Cat behaves, he always gets full consent from his partners. Great! Except by filtering that through Riley’s POV, we hit a snag the size of the Grand Canyon.

Cat is a billionaire and part of an elite society at this university with apparently unlimited social clout and influence. And yet Riley somehow—somehow!—cannot conceive of any reason that the women who have sexual encounters with this immensely powerful man would lie about how consensual their encounters with him were. The only possibility is that they are all being completely truthful. There is no way that this billionaire could coerce the women he sleeps with into only saying good things about their experience. There is no way these women might feel pressured to only speak positively of him, lest he decide to ruin their lives—something that the Wonderland Club is completely capable of and in fact does routinely via the delivery of the queen of hearts card.

This scene is so unfathomably tone-deaf that it alone would ruin an otherwise-enjoyable novel for me. In this book? Get out of here. Not to mention that once again it makes Riley look like a moron.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of tone-deaf.

I am not joking when I say that fundamentally, the basic plot of this book is that a Black girl has an opportunity for power and influence stolen from her and given to a white girl, at the whims of four billionaire white guys.

The Wonderland Club is forced to give one girl the queen of spades, making her their “Alice,” and one girl the queen of hearts, marking her for ruin. They do not pick who receives these cards, the Society of Secrets does. In this case, the Society of Secrets decided that Riley would receive the queen of hearts, dooming her socially, and Lucy—one of exactly two explicitly non-white characters in the entire book—would receive the queen of spades. But Hatter, who had been madly in love with Riley from the start of the term despite never speaking to her until the start of the novel, could not abide this. And so he switched their cards. So Lucy gets the damning queen of hearts. Because Hatter and the Wonderland Club didn’t looove her. They loved Riley. The white girl.

And the book does not acknowledge this. It never, never, never, even a single time, never acknowledges the racial aspect here. Instead it focuses on how difficult life is for Hatter and tries to make you pity him for being so brave in spite of danger from the scary secret society. Riley stands up for Lucy and gets mad at the Elites for condemning her, yes, but not so mad that she isn’t still sucking Rabbit’s dick in the literal next chapter. And again: zero acknowledgement of Lucy being dark-skinned. That never factors in. Riley’s defense of her is purely on the basis that she’s kind and innocent, and the idea of simply swapping their cards back to let Lucy avoid her terrible fate is never floated, even when Riley says she should be the one with the queen of hearts. Which, yes, she should be.

Before anyone brings it up: there are reasons why casting Lucy as the “Alice” would have been pretty goddamn bad as well. “Alice” was historically a servant to the actual club members, though that isn’t really done anymore, but the rules are still in place, so… Yikes. And then she would have been killed as a sacrifice. But my point stands, because none of that happens to Riley, so it wouldn’t have necessarily ended up that way for Lucy either! She never gets a chance to try, because white boy wuv white girl. Considering how much of a dipshit Riley is, I feel like she probably could’ve done pretty well for herself. Instead, she’s dismissed from the book with a trite “happy ending” and everything is forgiven in the end, yaaay. Ugh.

Then, just for good measure, Hatter reveals he believes in alternative facts. “Dates, statistics, and sources are all subjective. And the fun thing about the game of history? We get to create our own reality.” Yeah, go ahead and espouse a belief system that enables the denial of historical atrocities, you white American billionaire. Especially when the entire concept of the Society of Secrets borrows overtly from antisemitic conspiracy theories of global networks of control.

Have I mentioned yet that this book’s politics are bad?

(For the record, the only non-white character besides Lucy is the Warden, a.k.a. the Red Queen, a.k.a. the purported main villain for most of the book’s plot, if you can call it a plot. So that’s also a pretty good look for the author—dark-skinned people exist either to suffer for the sake of white people, or to be evil. Really awesome. At the same time, the Warden is also the only character in this entire book who is even a little bit likeable. She actually talks like a person most of the time and has some pretty good lines dunking on Riley and the Elites, who by that point I was hoping would all die. I love her. I wish she was in more than two chapters, or better yet, in a different book.)

I sincerely do not know why I finished this book. It was an unpleasant slog that made me actively angry more often than I’d care to admit. Ironically, probably the most compelling reason was that I was falling down the rabbit hole—I kept thinking it had gotten as low as it could possibly go, and then the book went lower. The other main reason is that this book at present has a fairly high rating on here, and that might trick people into thinking this will be a good book. I am writing this review for those people, and I am on my hands and knees telling you: It is not. It is a horrible, horrible book. It should not exist. You will not enjoy it. Charles is supposed to be real human man Lewis Carroll. Read something else. Read anything else. Riley sharpies ALICE on Hatter’s dick. Do not read Elite.

Seraphia Bunny

2,114 reviews34 followers

academy arc-shelf bullying

Elite by Rosemary A. Johns is the adult twist on Alice in Wonderland you never knew you needed...or even wanted. The author takes fantasy characters and brings them into the real world as real characters.
This enemies-to-lovers romance is really well done. The author gives readers unique characters that are similar to their names - Hatter is a bit "mad," Rabbit - well, he likes the rules more so than the others, Cat - is more of the people person, and Knight is the sweetheart. Knight is more or less the newer of the characters for me when it comes to Alice in Wonderland, but it has been awhile since I read the "original" story. LOL!
Riley is just trying to get by and keep her head down, but when she "bumps" into these guys and they show her that they don't mind being jerks, that's when things turn chaotic. The story unfolds in the typical enemies-to-lovers fashion. The drama between the characters, but of course, the guys are drawn to her and vice versa. Little by little the story unfolds and showcases the development between them and where things lead from "stay away from me/us" to steamy scenes in the bedroom.
You're going to love the steamy elements, the attention to detail, and how everything all plays out. This story earns 5 out of 5 stars.

Cheryl Sedman

1,159 reviews11 followers

October 12, 2022

Wow this book!! What can I say but I loved it from beginning to end. The twisted more modern take on Alice in wonderland. See's Riley in England after running away from traumatic events in America.
This is where she is fighting for a scholarship to Oxford University against Hatter. The twists come up quickly in this book and straight to the thick of this amazing read.

The characters are all so well written and to see the bond and love grow between Riley and the guys, right up to that amazing ending that I think they all deserved 100% after taking a trip down the rabbit hole. I thoroughly enjoyed every page

Murphy

725 reviews

October 7, 2022

Deadly Secrets of the Underland...

"Broken people are the most deadly."

This book is full of secrets and the unexpected events. I went in to this book completely blind. I was a bit confused in the beginning, I felt like their should have been more forthcoming information...but I think that with the storyline, maybe we weren't meant to get all of the information? ...This is a completely new outlook on an Alice in Wonderland retelling and I enjoyed the authors take on it.

As the newest scholarship student, Riley is working hard on doing what she can to be number one and fulfill her sisters dream for herself on getting her PhD. She's trying hard to maintain a calm persona while she suffers on the inside from the nightmares of her sisters brutal murder and everything she came from. When she meets the Elites...although beautiful, she instantly doesn't think much about them. Their entitled-ness is overwhelming and they reek of an arrogance she can't understand... Or is that just what she was told...

When invited to a Wonderland party...she gets a very different outlook on them and the lustful glances headed her way are making her head spin. When she is handed the Queen of Spades cards...her whole world is changed and she decides to fall down the rabbit hole.

"If they don't protect my heart on this, then they'll break it."

With a new title and a new found freedom, she learns, the guys - aren't really free at all. Instead they are under lock and key under the Red Queen and are forced to give someone very unlucky the Queen of Hearts card that will eventually ruin them.

With riddles and tasks - Riley aka Alice, is determined to free her boys (Hatter, Rabbit, Knight and Car) from this SOS and enter a new era where they don't have to hide from serial killer's and be someone they don't want to be. The fight continues until blood is drawn, but then where do they really go from there?

...This book was different and I commend the author for capturing such a unique world with the Alice in Wonderland retelling. I would have liked to read more about the SOS and get more from Riley's background with her sister... The Elite's fell into an insta-love type relationship, so I really couldn't tell if their "love" for her was genuine or if it was just because she accepted the card. The relationship dynamic also was different, I couldn't tell if they were allllll together until the very end and we get some Dom/Sub talk but no actual follow through...I will definitely be waiting to follow up with book two, but am hoping to get more answers and see where this rabbit hole goes for all of them.

*Overall 3.5/5
*Heat? 4/5
*Med Burn
*MMFMM Romance (Very light MM)
*Ends on HFN with hints of a new beginning

arcs

Marisa Niemann

428 reviews5 followers

Let me just say that I was not expecting this book to turn out the way that it did, it took me a minute to figure out what was going on with the Elites and why they acted the way they did with Riley. This might be controversial but I think that Hatter is my favorite, he is always there to cause issues and be stubborn but you can really tell that he cares for Riley. Riley is a scholarship student at school and doesn't really fit in due to this fact and she is trying to escape a traumatic past, she befriends the librarian (Charles) and they spend a lot of time together and he is a real support system for her. Their relationship starts to change when the Elites set their sights on her, they have more arguments and Charles starts acting cold toward her. Riley is pulled into a world unlike her own and she is immersed into a secret society and is trying to survive and make it through their trials with her guys.

Monika Sandlin

181 reviews2 followers

October 16, 2022

I'm going to keep this kind of simple. I absolutely LOVED this twist on Alice in Wonderland. We are all Mad here is a good description of this tale of Riley and her Harem. I honestly can't pick a specific character that I love more. Although I can pick one that I could hate more but no spoilers!

Hatter is just as Mad as his name makes you think, but he was kind of raised that way. Rabbit is a stickler for the rules and isn't usually late for anything. Then you have the sweet Knight and the everyone gets a ride Cat. This wild group of men is held together by Riley their Alice by choice rather than the one that was chosen for them.

This group of misfits came together in a family and you can see how they all strengthened each other and the group as a whole. You can also tell just who their queen is and Riley made a change in the dynamic that seriously needed.

I absolutely LOVED this book and definitely highly recommend it to anyone who loves Alice in Wonderland and RH's. The writer was able to bring a whole need world together that drags you down and keeps throwing curve balls at the reader left and right.

Joy Lynch

932 reviews3 followers

October 13, 2022

Awesome!!

Rosemary brings us an awesome book in this series! An amazing standalone book, the story of Riley/Alice, Hatter, Rabbit, Cat and Knight is full of danger and feels as they try to navigate life at the best and most dangerous college in the country. Well written with complex characters and plot twists that you don't see coming, this story is sure to become a favourite. I loved reading this book and highly recommend it. Don't miss out on this book!!

VANESSA BARRITT

828 reviews8 followers

Excited to review this book as it sounded so amazing and gripping.

We meet Riley who is a scholarship student at Oxford University who is starting a fresh new chapter of her life after a traumatic experience that haunts her.

Hatter, cat and knight the twins and rabbit are known as the four elites and each one have their own personality.

Hatter is an a@#e but I think that why I like him.
The twins Cat and Knight the beautiful Irish Playboy's of the group.
And then rabbit the tidy professor that every girl would drawl over

Then there is Charles the librarian whom I'm having mixed feelings over, he seems so kind to Riley but I have darker vibes coming from him.

I'm not going to lie I thoroughly enjoyed this book and really loved the wonderland theme throughout this book.
The mystery and the puzzles of each individual, the truths and revelations aswell.
This book had me gripped from page one.

Angela Denny

1,059 reviews6 followers

October 2, 2022

What a unique and twisted retelling of Alice in wonderland. This book was equally dark and steamy. Riley is a fiesty FMC who refuses to follow someone else's rules. I could not put this book down. Love every minute of it.

Charlotte

3,979 reviews64 followers

October 16, 2022

After reading the blurb i was dying to start reading it but it was refreshingly different to what i was expecting. The inclusion of all of the Alice in Wonderland references were a nice addition even if they were way more adult than the original (or maybe the Disney version had been) and this version was full of darker undercurrents which kept me on my toes.

American student - Riley (FMC) definitely goes down the rabbit hole when she lands in Oxford University and shes confronted with the Elites - Hatter, Rabbit, Cat and Knight. Only they are not what they seem and i really liked that they were multi-layered. As well as extremely loyal to one another. It was a dark and twisted read with plenty of steam. I just loved it

Reading

159 reviews12 followers

This is a mysterious and sexy Alice in Wonderland retelling, and I can't like it enough. If I could give it more stars I would. I love the dark academia setting and the plot kept my anxious and on my toes in the most entertaining way. Riley is a strong woman that knows what she wants, and the 4 guys...well, what can I say about them? A lot of time in RH books there is usually a favorite or one I don't care for as much...not here. I loved each one, can I give each one a hug please? Anyway, I found this ride to be perfection and I'll look forward to more in this "world" and any other books by this author.

Jennifer Soppe

2,251 reviews13 followers

A dark and twisted reverse harem read

Riley, a postgraduate student, has left everything behind in order to study at Oxford University on a scholarship while Hatter, a member of the Elite, plays a role in trying to get her to fail. As the story progresses the madness begins, danger never ends, and choices made might lead to a win. Elite is a dark and twisted take on Alice in Wonderland, where Alice is still the lead, but the other characters become members of her harem.

I received a free copy of the book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.

Lexi

1,015 reviews19 followers

I enjoy a good twist on a classic and this was a dark twist on Alice in wonderland. We have our FMC Riley and she suffers a loss making her move and start over. Then she ends up in a secret society and there are so many secrets to uncover. The author took some of the characters from Alice in wonderland and twisted their dynamic around which made this fun. I loved the way riley interacted with her guys and had a blast reading this story.

Debbie Eyre

5,918 reviews116 followers

October 13, 2022

Welcome to a dark and twisty version of Alice in Wonderland and boy is it good! This series is off to a fantastic start as we meet Riley who is trying to get herself sorted to make her life better after her sisters death. Enter the elites, Hatter, Rabbit, Knight, and Cat who are the powerful heirs to a club called wonderland and think nothing can touch them! They are strong, arrogant and very dangerous and they pull Riley into their dark and twisted games. Each of them including Riley are damaged in their own way which is what makes their relationships work so well and as we enter this bizarre world filled with riddles and wonder, serial killers and stalkers and twists and turns , you will find yourself on the edge of your seat. Exciting, thrilling, gripping and captivating this had me hooked right up until the very last page!

TheSugaredBookworm

687 reviews13 followers

October 16, 2022

A modern, spicy take on a oldie!

I love retellings but this one blew me away! It's Alice in Wonderland inspired, but is so different than any retelling I've read. Our "Alice" is Riley. She's a survivor and a fighter. She's resilient and intelligent. I loved her ferocity! And her guys- Hatter, Rabbit, Cat and Knight!! Wow! No spoilers, but I loved their chemistry! I also loved how the depth of their personalities is described. Nothing is what it seems. Definitely jump down the rabbit hole and prepare yourself for steam, twists and turns!!

Rachel Osborne

1,094 reviews19 followers

This book took me by surprise. I was expecting something more bully type troupe but this definitely isn't that. It's a dark and unique take on the Alice in wonderland tale and I'm all for a fun and new take on a loved story. Riley is a fun and fiesty FMC and her guys are perfect for her in every way. I flew through this book and I loved every chapter, every scene and the darkness in the authors writing. Great start and I'm eager for the next book!

Katie

1,990 reviews16 followers

Fantastic story!!! Loved that is had an Alice in Wonderland type of vibe to it. Well a darker version of it. Loved reading about Riley and her guys. Very different type of book but in a good way. Dark and definitely steamy. My type of book. Also with a phenomenal storyline. Definitely recommend!!

Ashley

383 reviews3 followers

October 14, 2022

The suspense and tension in this book were fantastic! I really liked the meshing of real-world problems (winning a scholarship) with the Alice in Wonderland vibes. I really liked how we got to see the men in MC group as a bit broken in their own ways. They weren't the typical 'bad boys' you'd expect - they're much more believable and relatable characters in that regard. It showed in the unique ways they demonstrated their love for Riley. Most of all, I really liked the way our MCs bonded as a unit and found a way to prevent taking a tumble down the rabbit hole, so to speak. Learning who all the moving parts in the SOS were was fun! I really hope these guys pop up in cameos throughout the series!

Kira

1,650 reviews

I knew as soon as I read the description this book was going to draw me in and not let me leave, and I was not disappointed! Not to mention, I love fairytale retellings, and while this is not a traditional retelling, the Alice in Wonderland elements were done phenomenally! Riley and the Elites are such an interesting mix! It's fun getting introduced to his world through the eyes of Riley, aka Alice, and then getting to know more about these powerful heirs. But there is so much we don't know yet and through the twists and turns Riley is put through, it would make anyone's head spin! I cannot wait to see what is next for these characters in Fame!

Debbie Victorino

449 reviews11 followers

Steamy read!!

This dark steamy read keeps you on the edge of your seat, for sure! Riley is a great character. She is trying to make her way at Oxford when she meets the Elites, things change. As in most enemies to lovers books, the elites are jerks and could care less what anyone thinks. Things start getting steamy and maybe the elites are not what she thought at first. Great character development, awesome story line. If you like steamy, different relationships with a strong female who can pretty much take on any of the guys, this book is for you!!!

Camilla Bratt

567 reviews5 followers

"Don't play games with dangerous men."
Down the rabbit hole we go..... Riley really falls into Wonderland and it's mysterious denizens. This is a contemporary romance, but with definite wonky wonderland vibes, starting with the Elite quartet of Oxford Uni - Hatter, Rabbit, Knight and Cat - gorgeous, powerful, super rich and all of them a bit nutty. "We're all mad here."
I love how they introduce the idea of polyamory and how the lay it out as an option from the get go.
If you love secret societies, dark romance, mystery, some crazy wonderland vibes and intrigue - this is the book for you!

Amy Hannagan

761 reviews3 followers

This book has a lot of everything...Steam, smexy men, action, great story and emotion. The new riff on Alice in Wonderland is something I had no clue I needed in my life but trust me, you need it too!. I am sitting here with anxiety waiting to see what happens next and begging the author to get book 2 done yesterday. This is probably one of the best contemporary RH that I have ever read.

Chelsi Dawn

404 reviews5 followers

Another banger from rosemary! Man I don’t think she’s ever written a book I haven’t liked yet and this one did not disappoint! I love a good retelling and this one was based on Alice in Wonderland. One of my all time favorites and it does it justice!! Definitely recommend!

Amy

1,491 reviews5 followers

elite

I absolutely loved this! Such a twisted version of Alice in wonderland. The characters were all so wonderfully broken yet they worked out well with one another. So many shocking discoveries. This book will hold your attention throughout.

Kristen Lewendon

8,429 reviews63 followers

October 14, 2022

This book introduces us to a glittering world of power and treachery. This felt like it was a view of Alice in Wonderland, not just through the looking glass but through a fun house mirror. Our Alice has her allies, but she also has her enemies too. And when everyone's hiding behind a mask, it's hard to tell the two apart. I really enjoyed seeing Riley's journey down this particular rabbit hole, but please note that there are scenes that take place in both the past and present that could be triggering for some readers. They're important to the development of the story, but they don't make for light reading.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.

Jodi Kimball

762 reviews

What a twisted little game played in this book! The main characters are tangled in a game steeped in the world of Alice in Wonderland. I love the references to the AoW story and characters. Vivd imagery and wicked themes lend to a rush as the characters fall down the rabbit hole. Steamy scenes and a group of elite friends that truly love each other and share their strength.

Belinda Clemons

2,451 reviews28 followers