Title: Alice (The Chronicles of Alice #1)

Author: Christina Henry

Publisher: Ace 2015

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 304

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

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.

CW: Sexual assault, rape

I finally got to read this gritty adult version of Alice in Wonderland. Whoever had checked it out from the library kept it for a year during the pandemic. Terrible! But I got it and tore through this book. I love dark retellings of classic stories and this one delivers on that promise. We get Alice and Hatcher (Mad Hatter) traveling through the Old City to attempt to defeat the Jabberwock. We get encounters with the Walrus, the Carpenter, the Caterpillar, the Rabbit, and (my absolute favorite) Cheshire. I adored Cheshire in this book. You definitely shouldn’t trust him, but he is incredibly entertaining. I loved the inclusion of the rose garden. This book wrapped up the Jabberwock storyline but leaves the overall storyline open further adventures in the world. I can’t wait to read the next in the series. But be forewarned, this is a very gritty adult take on Alice in Wonderland, not for children or even teens.

The Chronicles of Alice

• #1 Alice

• #2 Red Queen

• #3 Looking Glass

Next up on the TBR pile: