31 August 2015

Review #307: Alice by Christina Henry



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then.”


----Lewis Carroll



Christina Henry, a national bestselling author, pens her latest book, Alice which is a creepy retake on the Lewis Carroll's popular book, Alice in Wonderland where Alice wakes up years later in a mental institute with no memory of what happened when she came running out of the bushes with blood between her thighs, but now she have to break free from the institute to know about her past and for that she has to face the challenges in a creepy, Gothic town to get her answers.




Synopsis:

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.



Let's begin the review with the book cover which is not that scary but there's a slight eerie feel to it, and falls perfectly in sync with the story line. Next, hats off to the author, Christina Henry, for penning such a terrific and thoroughly hair-raising story and for her imagination which turned a brilliant story into something even more brilliant than before.

Alice is not that little, naive girl anymore. She has grown up and is stripped out from all her memory when she came running with blood on hr thighs, but right now the world she lives in is the exact opposite of Wonderland, called the Old City, which is governed by the Walrus, the Carpenter, the Caterpillar and Cheshire the cat. And Alice needs to escape this hospital grounds along with Hatcher's help who is the only person who talks to her in the mental institute right from the cell next to hers. But once they escape, they need to brave many challenges and dangers of the Old City as well as need to face a lot of creepy creatures and monsters, to find the truth about her past.

Okay let's just agree for a moment that there can't be this much sinister and disturbing book this year. The author penned it like a horror movie with some disgusting creatures and moments that can give a chill down the spines of a reader. The author strikingly creates a ghostly as well as Gothic setting to the whole story. From the very first page, the story is going to keep a reader hooked onto the heart of the story even though he couldn't bear to read the spectral details in the story which is hard to ignore yet disgusting and scary to read about. The book is not suitable for young readers since there is lot of dark stuff and accidents keeps on happening over and over again. Sometimes, a reader might need to close his eyes to stop himself from seeing those painful bloody dark moments, since the darkness is bound to pull a reader with all it's negative force into the core.

The writing style is extremely brilliant, flawless and perfectly in sync with the main story of Alice in Wonderland. The narrative is dark yet very engaging which has an alluring feel to it. The prose is Gothic and very, very dark, and the author plays around with lots of different creatures of the dark that makes the story look perfect for a horror movie set. The characters are vividly painted from the original, whereas some might just remind of some characters from the original book.

The main characters are very well developed, very layered and are covered in lots of flaws which finally makes them grow stronger against the force. But honestly the scary part will look extremely real to the readers since there is a logic with all the complexities that the author added into her story, especially the rape and sexual abuse part. Overall, this is a terrifying novel that will take the readers on their creepiest roller-coaster ride of their lives.

Verdict: Urban fantasy as well as horror fiction lovers must read the season's most scariest as well as darkest book.

Courtesy: Thanks to the publishers for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book. 
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Author Info:
Christina Henry is the author of the national bestselling BLACK WINGS series (BLACK WINGS, BLACK NIGHT, BLACK HOWL, BLACK LAMENT, BLACK CITY, BLACK HEART and BLACK SPRING, Ace/Roc) and the forthcoming ALICE and RED QUEEN (Ace Trade). She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.
Visit her here


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1 comment:

  1. I read the original Alice in Wonderland book but I actually didn't like it as much as I presumed I would? Which is why I have been throwing myself into retellings, because they seem like they would be more fun! I hope this is one of those ones :3

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