Review: Alice by Christina Henry

Alice

Author: Christina Henry

Release Date: August 4, 2015

Publisher: Ace

ISBN:  0425266796

ISBN13: 9780425266793

Genre: Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Publisher

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.

I was expecting ALICE to be dark and creepy and it was dark and creepy. Creepy isn't something I usually go for, but Henry did a great job blending her dark and creepy into something I was able to enjoy and I was glad I was able to read it.

Alice has been in a mental hospital for a while so her head is a pretty dark place. She has a rough past that we slowly learn about and she slowly remembers as the story develops. Hatcher is her neighbor that she has only talked to and seen through the mouse hole in her wall until they escape during a fire that kills all the other patients at the hospital. It took me a little bit to understand the relationship between Alice and Hatcher. You know they are friends, then they seem like more, then they don't. It's a bit confusing, but by the end I had an understanding of them and what they felt for each other and why it was an important relationship to the story. The character development and growth from beginning to end was really phenomenal.

All the traditional Alice in wonderland characters are present, but in ways you don't expect. The story is well told and the characters really do make the book that much more. Some might have a hard time reading about the way that woman are abused and used in the story, so I want to make sure to put that warning in here. It can be hard to read about.

With a great pace, a fantastically written world and the dark adventures the characters find themselves on, ALICE had me glued to the pages. Henry did a great job of telling us her version of Alice in Wonderland.

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.