This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.
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Where else to start, but with the book cover? Gorgeous. Poster worthy. I love it so very much. That's basically the reason this book caught my attention so that's judging the book by its cover. Yeah. I'm guilty as charged. Who would not? Just look at that. Lovable. Enough said.
Anyway, I've skipped doing this book review for a couple of days since I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the book. I love the writing. It's incredible. How the author spun the story from Alice in Wonderland is outstanding. It's not a remake of Lewis Carroll's, but it's actually like a sequel somehow because everything was told years and years after Alice died. I just have few issues with the plot. It has epic twists you would probably be confused of. A lot is happening at the same time and I did not even know where they came from. I think the author wants to own it, but extended her efforts way over the top so it crossed the thin line between exciting and confusing. I must admit, I got bored on the first couple of chapters 'cause I felt lost somewhere and I was like.. "What's going on?" and "How did that happen?". I just somehow figured it out at the latter part or I thought I did. There are so many snags and I can't seem to decide which one to decipher first. I'm not pretty sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but definitely the reason that I kept on reading. I think.
The world building is so vivid, you'll feel you're actually in there and I'm so caught up with it. How the settings is depicted so extraordinarily. She had it into a dark and twisted world that's unthinkable and yet so wondrous. The characters and the creatures felt so real to have a heartbeat. Especially the creatures from Wonderland. They came out of Lewis Carroll's version, but in a spooky kind of way.
Same as the plot, I also felt torn about the characters. The POV is on the main character, Alyssa Gardner. I kind of like her and really thinking about Avril Lavigne when she was described on the book. Particularly how Jeb call her Skater Girl. She's sweet and somehow bizarre. I don't get why she has this thing going on with Morpheus. Yeah. I understand, they somehow grew up together, but that doesn't necessarily mean she'd have this feelings for him. God. She was four or five when they spent time together and she only recalled those memories recently? That's a big why? I get the picture why she was torn in staying in Wonderland or going back to the human realm. That's no-brainer, but the feelings? Please. Jeb is the typical I-have-issues-with-my-own-life-I-couldn't-be-with-you-so-I'll-be-with-someone-else-instead. That's B.S. Yeah. Totally. He is.. sigh. I don't know, but I like him for being overprotective nonetheless. Morpheus on the other hand is a deceitful and conceited moth. I don't like him. At all. To be honest, I feel that this is all about him. If it wasn't for him and his egotistical self, none of this would happen. Torn with self preservation and "interest" with Alyssa. Crap.
I must have said too much. Argh.. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book despite all that. See? I'm torn. Perhaps it's the way it's presented. Beautifully and magically. Captivating and so graphic. Definitely will read the second book to have reasons to hate Morpheus more. Ha! Ha! Recommending this for all mystery solvers out there. This would really give you things to think of.
Next on the series..
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