Saturday 14 March 2020

Review: Alice by Christina Henry

I have had my eye on this book for so long, that when I popped into Waterstones one week I just had to choose this book to buy. I am slightly obsessed with Alice in Wonderland and any variations of it (I own about 5 different movie/TV versions) that I couldn't resist this twisted take on the story.

Here it is:

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

This book was utterly absorbing - so much so that I read it in less than a day, and then pushed it into my sisters hands and told her she needs to read it. It was such a different take on Alice in Wonderland that I just zoomed through, wanting to know what would happen and not wanting to stop to do anything else until I had found out.

I adored the relationship between Alice and Hatcher throughout the book - it was weirdly beautiful how they supported each other through everything despite the fact that they both had pasts that they were trying to remember, and despite the fact that they both agreed that they would rather die than go back to what they were like before they escaped the hospital.

If I had to describe this book in one sentence: a deliciously dark and twisted version of Alice in Wonderland that will suck you straight into the action.

This is definitely a dark book, so beware if that isn't your thing, but it's definitely action packed and I really can't wait to get the next book and see just what happens in Alice and Hatcher's next adventure.

I give this book: 5 cats!


Have you read this book before or any other twisted Alice stories? Comment below!