I am totally bummed by this one. I wanted to read it so bad, but by the time I got around to it....I could no longer get it!! Disappointed in myself, but I will be looking for it! Thank you for the early access!

An interesting twist in the Alice in Wonderland retelling. It sort of reminded me of Gen Showalter's Alice in Zombieland chronicles. Even had the love triangle trope as well. The big problem is the mental heath representation was grossly inaccurate and harmful.

A good retelling with some fun twists on the original. Just missing the something that made me love it.

I absolutely love Alice in Wonderland especially when it takes a spend to the more darker or conflicted turn. I am always on the lookout for new tellings of Alice in Wonderland and this did not disappoint!

How doth the little crocodile improve his shining tail…?

Apparently with a bleakness as black as night, and a book review that just says:

Fail.

Look. The first book in Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles isn’t necessarily bad…it’s just …not great. I found it boring, dull, overly dramatic and cheesy, and felt that I had already seen/read this same plot about thirty other times. With that ridiculous zombie movement that hit Hollywood and every book shelf a few years ago, it’s hard not to feel like you have read EVERY single zombie story out there. But when I saw this, I had to request it from Netgalley because I LOVE an Alice retelling.

I’ve read the twisted versions, and I’ve read the sweeter versions. I had even read another Alice/zombie version years ago, Alice in Zombieland, and absolutely loved it. So naturally, I assumed this was going to be another series to add to my love of Alice in Wonderland retellings.

I found Alice to be…okay. Her character felt simple and not fully developed, almost like the author was just riding the coattails of the Alice that we already know and love and assuming they wouldn’t have to put much effort into giving her a full-blown personality makeover. I found that I enjoyed how much she talked to herself, which reminds me greatly of the original character, because it gave another instance for the reader to find out what was happening instead of us just “sitting in her head” and “watching” through her eyes. But the constant moments of her jaw dropping when the moment BARELY called for a jaw drop, or her saying things like “awesome” and “how interesting” without being given a chance to see WHY those things were “awesome” or “interesting” was just…EXHAUSTING.

As I continued to read, it seemed that none of the characters really had much substance or excitement spewing from their made-up pores. Chess was a slightly interesting character, with a creative name, and I liked that his character was left shrouded in mystery for a good length of the story. In my opinion, he was probably the most interesting of all the characters just because it seems like he had the most thought put into him by way of snarky comments and pet-names for Alice. There IS a love triangle in this story that involves Alice, so if you’re ALSO starting to tire from these shapes, then beware. It’s a romance crammed into just a few days, so enjoy if that’s your sort of thing.

My grumblings and negativity aside, there were some positives in this story. You’ll notice while reading there are random bold letters in different words and paragraphs. If you want to take the time, like you KNOW I did, then it will spell out a little message. I found it a cute little touch for this story, and a little treat for the reader if they caught on…even if it didn’t spell out a clue to the story, I still found it intriguing. Another positive was the action and fight scenes that were spilling from the pages. There was a LOT of exciting moments for Alice to show off her skills, even though I’m still wondering how she learned all those deadly and murderous moves.
OH, SHE JUST KNEW HOW?!

For sure. I get it.

Anyways…I was hoping this story was going to blow me out of the water. Instead, it just blew up an inflatable water toy for me and I floated around a pond for a while. It wasn’t horrible, but it didn’t keep my attention or really grab me in at any time. I had little invested in the well-being of these characters by the end of the story and even went as far as skimming most of the last half of the book just to end it. Hopefully the next Alice story I read, which is waiting patiently on my Netgalley shelf, will be a little better.

This is a very entertaining and original twist on the Alice in Wonderland story. An extremely fun read with possible sequel potential.

While Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles is a great book with an intriguing premise and interesting characters, I had the feeling this was a book I had read before. And I had, I had read a very similar book called Alice in Zombieland and they felt so similar and reading them close together didn't help. However, I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a creepy book around Halloween.

DNF. Unfortunately just didn't end up being the book for. Apologies for not being able to deliver a proper review.

I think this book is so adorable! I grew up with Alice in Wonderland, and this was just perfect. It reminded me a bit of American McGee's Alice, but had it's own twist on it.r

I was a bit dubious going into 'Alice" The Wanderland Chronicles". I have read quite a few loosely based Alice in Wonderland type of books and had only one that I truly enjoyed. Now I up that to two books. This was an unusual take on the world of Alice and a most welcome one. I enjoyed the story line and the story itself. I am actually hoping the author will write another story in this interesting world and if not I look forward to reading more books by the author.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley for free in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really creative, well-written retelling of "Alice in Wonderland" (if her mother was Michonne from "The Walking Dead"). The second half of the book got a bit battle-heavy for me, but besides that, it was a fun read.

Not the best Alice retelling. I guess zombie things aren't really my forte.

Fast-paced and fun read!
A retelling of Alice and about a plague count me in to read it! Even though it was nicely set up, however, this one was just a mediocre read. The love triangle I felt had no bearing to the read and actually took away some of the enjoyment for me. It also felt a little too "convenient" to have both the main characters relate specifically back to the Red Queen and the one to save everyone from the plague.
Overall, it was a cool read-just not the best/imaginative story regarding zombies-but still great for a fan of Alice in Wonderland or like urban fantasies-I just prefer more kingdom and far away lands fantasy,

Thank you to the author, J. M. Sullivan, and the publisher, Pen Name Publishing, for this opportunity to read and review this book. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

**I received this ebook for free in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley. Thank you to the author, J.M. Sullivan and her publishers for this opportunity.**

((This review may have a few spoilers.))

Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles by J.M. Sullivan is another retelling of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland. Alice Carrol is a seventeen year old girl living with her adopted sister after a recent plague takes over the world. Being the only two in their family left, the two sisters make due and scavenge for resources in near by towns. When a fellow surviving family asks for Dinah's help with their just sick newborn, the turmoil in Alice's already destroyed life falls again. After a trip for the city to find food and medicine, the two girls are attacked by a memerath--a zombie-like human affected by the Plague. Dinah gets sick the following day. Panicked, Alice goes on her own adventure to help save her sister from becoming one of the memeraths. She makes her way to Phoenix, Arizona where she's read that there's a doctor who has found a cure or antidote that could help save her sister. Along the way, she makes new "friends" and uncovers the truth of the memeorath plague.

This story is far from being the most unique and inventive story I've read. To be honest, I'm usually the type to avoid most things zombies--their real life potential is terrifying, thank you very much-- and Alice in Wonderland. I grew up on the 1950's Disney classic. Even as a kid, I always found it strange and often boring. Though, to be fair, I'm also the person who thinks that no one really likes Alice in Wonderland, and they all just really like it for the Cheshire Cat. But what do I know? I might just be biased against it. I still have yet to finish reading the original story that I had started several years ago. I'm not even sure I have the book anymore, but I digress.

With my dislike for these two things, it's a wonder why I picked up this book in the first place. Maybe I wanted to get out of my comfort zone to try and see if I could read something that didn't involve a head strong female winning back her kingdom and uncovering secret powers that she didn't know she had, or the other million of plethoras of sassy, strong, independent women that have been filling the young adult scene. Or maybe I had one too many to drink one night and thought "hey, why not?" I think I'm going to go with the latter on this one.

Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles is not by any means a bad book. It took me a while to read it, but it did keep me intrigued enough to keep going through it. Alice's character was not all Ithat bad. It was almost refreshing to have a female lead that was not so completely head strong or over the top sassy. She's probably one of the more "realistic" characters I've read in a while. She's caring enough to try and to do anything she can do to try save her sister; she's not overly boy crazy with the world having had fallen apart around her. There is a bit of an annoyance in her curiosity, but I guess that's in part of having to do with the ties to the original Alice in Wonderland story.

I do wish that there was more to the characters in the story. some of them do seem really flat. I think the main issue I have with it at this moment, is the villain. Or one of the villains. This story plays with two different villains-- Dr. Matthew Hatta and the Red Queen, or Queen of Hearts, I forgot what she was called in this. Matt Hatta (Mad Hatter) is a doctor that is responsible for the momerath plague. He was an overly ambitious doctor who was determined to find a way to better human live. When was his trials goes wrong, he finds it to be a blessing and human's next step in evolution. He was a good balance between possibly genius and absolutely crazy. I enjoyed him as a bad guy. The queen, however, is a different story. she is one of those who tries to come across as good and wanting to help cure the plague. But she's a little off. I'm still not a hundred percent sure which side she's supposed to be on, and I think that's a lot of the problem. Even the epilogue didn't really with much.

Other characters weren't too bad. Some were bland, others were entertaining. I do wish that Sullivan had tried to be more creative with the names and try to switch up the roles of the original Alice characters. As it is now, we have Chess, who's meant to be the Cheshire Cat, Bug who's the catipillar, Waite Abbot who's the white rabbit, Matthew Hatta as the Mad Hatter. The Queen's knights are called the Jokers. This part of the story all seems a little lazy for me.

To be honest, I probably would have enjoyed this story more if it lost the Alice in Wonderland attempts. A lot of it seems forced and relies too much on the story to keep it going. The quotes and mentions might be more appealing to someone who might have actually enjoyed the original story, but for me it was a miss.

This story also does lead up into what will probably become a series. I think I might skip out on continuing this when it happens.

I mainly was hooked by the beautiful cover of Alice. So when I picked up the book I wasn`t prepared for zombies. I don't like zombies and I am pretty sure I would never have read this book if I knew what was coming. That said I couldn't help myself - I liked this book. Alice is such a cool and snarky kind of young woman with her machete and there were so many great references to the original story of Alice in Wonderland as well. A bit gory too, but, well ... there are zombies on the loose so one has to deal with the blood. Also, there is Chess. A young man with a tendency to disappear whenever things get serious. I really liked him and his snarky tongue.

If you are into fairytale retellings and zombies too, this might be the right book to choose. There was a small letdown for me near the end when the author decided to bring in the dreaded love triangle. Because of that I am not sure I want to read the next installment of the Wanderland Chronicles, but I will keep an eye on it. Maybe I get lucky and the second boy simply disappears without further ado.

I got this book to review through NetGalley. I was immediately interested in the fact that it was an Alice in Wonderland retelling. I was a bit unsure about the whole zombie theme to it. It ended up being an interesting blend of Resident Evil-like post-apocalyptic zombie tale and Alice in Wonderland re-imaging. This is the first book in a new series (I thought it was stand alone but it’s not).

This was a well written novel and overall I ended up enjoying it. I liked the characters and thought that the way the Alice in Wonderland content was blended in was well done and very tongue-in-cheek. It’s definitely a dark retelling and reminds a bit of the Alice: Madness Returns video game. You could also compare this series to Showalter’s Alice in Zombieland; I thought this book was much more well done than the Alice in Zombieland series.

The writing flows well and is engaging; I found myself drawn into the story and this ended up being a quick read for me. There were some inconsistencies that I struggled to get over. For example Alice is supposedly very bookish and introverted; yet suddenly when she gets to Wanderland she is able to sword fight and kick zombie butt...I was kind of like “Huh, where’d she learn that from”. Some of the reveals about Chess also bothered me.

The parallels between this book and the original Alice in Wonderland series are well done. Right away Alice is led through Wanderland by Chess, a nimble boy who frequently disappears and is cryptic. The doctor she chases through the city is named after the White Rabbit and another of the researchers is named Matt Hatta. I enjoyed hunting for the parallels and loved how they were hidden throughout the story.

I did not realize that this is the first book in a series, so this book has absolutely no resolution and pretty much ends right in the middle of things...just a heads up.

Overall while I did enjoy this book, I am not huge into zombie survival novels right now so I am uncertain as to whether or not I will continue with the series. I would recommend to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic zombie tales or are obsessed with Alice in Wonderland retellings.

I was intrigued when I read the blurb for this book. Basing the story of Alice in Wonderland and turn it into a zombie book . Now I have read many a retelling of Alice but this one took me to a totally different mind set . Imagine having all the characters that are in Alice in the apocalypse . So let me introduce you to Alice and the gang .
 Ever since the plague has spread life has been hard for Alice and her sister Dinah . When her sister gets sick she has to venture out of their safe haven to look for a cure . But will she survive to get back to save her sister . 
     The characters are classic Alice with a twist . The author takes us to a place where you can't trust anyone and everyone is hiding something .  Alice kind of annoyed me at the beginning because she was so naïve and trusting in everything . As you get into the story we see her grow into a confident ass kicking machine . She grows up so much in the book . Chess is my favourite character , he is the Cheshire cat in human form . He is flighty and always talking in riddles , aggravating Alice . Yes I know you are wondering is the Queen in this story , yes she is not really nice . Dr Abbott reminds me of the wizard and does such a good job. The rest of the cast is there also helping or hindering Alice in her travels .  
    I really enjoyed this book and the concept of the apocalypse . I read this book in a weekend ,The author takes us on a journey that will have you sitting on the edge of your  seat. The characters were well written and complex and you will fall in love with Alice and Chess. But I felt like in a few spots it dragged just a bit but once the story gets going there is no stopping them . I really got into the story at chapter 3 and then couldn't put the book down . I can't wait to see where the author takes these characters . So if you want a different retelling of Alice and you like zombies and the apocalypse . This will be the story for you . Put it on your summer reading list
I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review .

oh dear.

things that aren't original:
- alice in wonderland retellings
- zombies
- alice in wonderland retellings with zombies
- zombies caused by a Plague
- LOVE TRIANGLES
- love triangles where one boy is blond and the other is a brunette
- one dimensional villains
- the main character trying to save their sister

what this book had:
- all of those

of course, a book can make unoriginal concepts work if it's well-written. unfortunately, i found the writing very mediocre, and the love triangle (one of my ULTIMATE PET PEEVES) was completely unnecessary. i didn't think any of the characters had any personality, and the antagonist was 105% evil which is very boring. there was also some truly shitty representation with mental illness, with a character with PTSD being described as "crazy". nice one.

i'm not going to lie i did skim-read the last third because i just wanted it to be over already.

the only alice retelling i've liked is Alice in Brexitland so maybe i should just give up on the whole concept. i really loved tim burton's film so i've been trying to find more cool retellings but to no avail...

This is actually my first ARC I was approved for and I’m so glad that it was a good read, because if I had to have a bad read for my first approved ARC, that would have bad memories, but anyway, let’s carry on.

So this book is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland and it has bloody zombies, what more could you want from a story? I love retellings, or at least good retellings, and this one was definitely well done. From the amazing characters to all the wonderful references and then of course the best: the gruesome parts – which I loved as *spoiler alert* the first sentence of the book was literally someone’s head exploding – like, hello, could we get more books with someone’s head exploding?

As much as I did love the inclusion of Dinah, as most Alice retellings do not really have Alice’s sister in them (or at least the ones I’ve read, which aren’t actually a lot, so that reminds me to read more of them – but actually, I shouldn’t, because then I’ll probably start having ideas for an Alice in Wonderland retelling, and really DB, you have more than enough book ideas). But I’m pretty sure that Dinah is Alice’s cat. I can’t exactly check in my copy as my sister stole it when she went over to America (how rude), but I did check the movie and apparently the cat’s name is Dinah – and on that note I’m sad that the cat doesn’t go with Alice to Wonderland.

The characters were amazingly written. They were real and made you care for them. And I loved all the Wanderland names – mostly Chess, for obvious reasons.

So one obvious reason for reading this book is all the references – so definitely read it in order to catch all of them (which I love to do). Even if there were some unintentional references or references that the author chose to put in, hoping that someone would catch the very small reference – I got them – or at least I hope.

So is momerath the singular term or is it like moose?

Quotes:

Always protect your queen

- Please let’s have this on a t-shirt because I would sell a family member (I have thousands of cousins, it’s super easy) to buy this.


The Max Recovery overrides the desire for frivolity and refocuses the brain on what basic instinct requires.

- OK, but I’ve studied the basic needs and things (thanks, Maslow) in communication and psychology and know that the bottom of the hierarchy is, yes, hunger, but there’s also water, warmth, rest etc. – so if the Max Recovery does put the focus on the basic needs, then the momerath should not only focus on the hunger, but also on their other basic needs.

I probably enjoyed this book way more than I should have. It was fun, fast paced and the writing was pretty darn good for a debut YA author. But I think many will have mixed reviews...

Wonderland and I: a quick background
I love Wizard of Oz, my husband loves Alice in Wonderland (so much so he is working on half sleeve tattoos that are both Alice themed, awesome right?!). When I read [book:Dorothy Must Die|18053060], a couple years ago, I hated it. Steampunk + Oz = me stoked; but I was sorely let down. BUT Oz is a childhood escape place and maybe it's a bit sacred to me. In contrast Wonderland is a place I know of that is fun but not really nostalgic for me personally. So to read a re-telling or inspired by Alice book with a bunch of things all weird and different was fun for me.
I'll confess my husband helped with many of the references to Wonderland places and characters (my personal favourite is Dr. Waite R. Abbott, both the name and the character were my favourite) and of course our lead gal is named Alice. There is a super cute easter egg throughout the text that I was amused by (be sure to highlight in your e-reader, have stickies for marking pages or keep track in notes on your smartphone; in order to easily 'get it'). There's lots of Lewis Carroll nods and I'm sure a scholared Alice fan would pick up more than I did. You'll have to read it if you want to discover them all. ;)

The weak points
I have given this four stars, but it's more a 3.5 for me. I appreciate that it was a fun, quick and action packed read. But I can't completely overlook some major faults that will possible cause others to give up on this book. This list is typical of a debut author, nothing here can't be fixed and I do think J.M. Sullivan likely has a career ahead of her as a decent YA novelist.
But here's the things that bugged me:
- the overall plot was fine, but a bit cliche. Alice goes out to find a cure for a plague/virus for her sister, runs into trouble on the way, is somehow important, blah, blah, blah
- Alice is able to randomly fight really well with a knife (though can't shoot a gun) and seems to miraculously get out of sticky situations with minimal harm (when you consider what she is fighting against)
- Convenience is certainly well used. While some of it is explained by a reveal or two near the end, overall it's just a lot to accept. If you're looking for realism this is not the place, it's Wanderland after all (haha)
- Our characters are somewhat one dimensional but have lots of room to grow which could be good if this becomes a longer series.

The positive points
These are big positives to me as they hit on a lot of my pet peeves. Convenience is a weakness that is on my pet peeve list however so you can start to maybe understand why this is such a mixed review. The good:
- The possible love interests, yes plural, are both intelligent, interesting, and there is ZERO INSTA LOVE. I can't tell you how big of a pro this is for me in YA books these days. Clearly there is opportunity for relationships to develop with Alice but it's set-up so that we don't go there in this book.
- Wanderland is clearly a world building set-up book and introduction to this alternate Wonderland, and the world building is pretty darn good. It's clever with it's Alice references, and overall well thought-out considering it's a 'zombie' YA book. Kudos to Sullivan for thinking about the science of a virus and giving us a clear idea of origin and even some basic genetics. It's very high level but enough to convince me that there was some thought that went into it and that's enough for me at this level of story
- It just reads fast. I dunno what it is but it's a page turner. I am crediting this to good writing. I didn't want to stop reading it and even put my other book completely aside to finish this. Not something that happens all the time. It was a nice to read, fun and exciting book. Maybe it fit my mood right now, which desperately needed escapism reading but I'm going to give the credit to Sullivan and her writing.
- It's a dystopian novel and I am a bit of a suck for them (lol)

Overall
If you want a fun action book that is written well, has lots of Alice/Wonderland references and don't mind some plot holes/conveniences or a couple one dimensional characters then I think you'll enjoy this book.
BUT if you love Wonderland and are a purist DO NOT read this book. I suspect you will hate it just like I hated the dystopian take on Oz. Some worlds for some people just cannot be revisited or used in a way that will pay homage or do justice to the world as we have built it up in our head. And that's okay.
If you know nothing about Alice then Wanderland probably won't hold up for you as a stand-alone world. A lot of the charm is how clever Sullivan is in her use of Wonderland and drawing parallels. Without this I'm not sure it holds up as a basic zombie dystopian novel.

I however enjoyed it and look forward to another book in this interesting Wanderland world. It hasn't been confirmed as a series but the Epilogue sets it up to be nicely and so I will watch for book 2.