Alice

By: Christina Henry

“He was haunted, same as she was, except he didn’t know the name of his ghost.”

Christina Henry, Alice

*This post contains spoilers for Alice

Overview:

In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.

In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn’t remember why she’s in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood…

Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.

Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.

And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.

Alice

When reading a story like this we have to ask ourselves. Is it a good story independent of the subject matter that inspires it? If we had never read Alice in Wonderland would it be a good story? Are its merits solely based off of nostalgia or familiarity?

I don’t know if this story could stand alone without the original subject matter. I feel like we need that nostalgia for this to work. The goal of this story is to make you uncomfortable because of the twisting the author does.

In the original Alice in Wonderland Alice has an awful time in Wonderland but it is spun as whimsical and fun. This story embraces that darkness. The story is filled with body horror, human trafficking and bloody gore. Which, you could argue, are all present in the original story but smoothed over by the adventure.

The story did feel a little abrupt. The original story is long and takes it’s time. Alice has the ability to go faster because we already know these characters and do not need the background. For instance, we know Hatcher is actually the Mad Hatter. We are never specifically told this but is too obvious to ignore. The background on him is not needed for this story but I’m sure will be explored in the next book.

This is not a retelling of the traditional story but a follow up. Alice has already been traumatized by these characters and this story is about her taking her power back from them.

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Overall,

Not bad. It relies on the reader already having an emotional attachment to these characters and somewhat uses it as a crutch for the story.

However, I like nostalgia and the characters while awful are written well. Nothing bothers me more than an insufferable character. The characters are not likable because they are horrible beings but their motivations are clear.

I will say I don’t like the whole “the magic was in you the entire time” troupe but it wasn’t done in a way that was overly corny.

Christina Henry writes almost exclusively retelling so I will probably be reading more of her books soon.

Rating: 3/5 stars