*Warning: May Contain Spoilers*

Okay, so I wanted very much to enjoy this book. I really did. My favorite things in this whole world (aside from my kid and my cats) are "Alice in Wonderland' and "Through the Looking Glass". I read just about every variation on the originals that I can find. My whole house is decorated in AIW stuff. It truly is a passion of mine.

What's more is that I LOVE zombies. Like, truly. I freaking love them. Diana Rowland's "White Trash Zombie" series is one of my guiltiest of guilty pleasures. "The Walking Dead," "iZombie," etc. I love them all. So! "Alice in Wonderland" meets zombies. How can you go wrong?

Well... as it turns out... you can.

So, the first thing that really got to me about this book was only a few pages in. It was on the page before the story actually starts where the author decided to quote the original Alice books by using a piece of the "Jabberwocky" poem. (I am seriously hoping that this particular error, at least, gets fixed before actual publication. If it doesn't, I am afraid it is going to turn a lot more people off of the book.) Anyway.

In the beginning, the author quotes a piece of the Jabberwocky poem from the original Alice mythos. However, she credits this quote to C.S. LEWIS! C.S. Lewis did NOT write "Alice in Wonderland" OR "Through the Looking Glass". The books were written by Lewis Carroll. This was a HUGE turn-off for me, and had I been reading this book just for pleasure, rather than reading it after having agreed to review it, I would have stopped immediately and deleted it from my nook. If you are going to write a book based on "AiW", and you are going to QUOTE the original, at least get the author right.. Come on now.

The second thing that REALLY bothered me about this book was this little puzzle like thing that the author tried to do. At first, I thought it was just a typo. After it happened a second time, I began to wonder if it was intentional. By the third time I saw it, I knew that it was. Okay, so here is the deal. There were just random letters capitalized and bolded throughout the story. I realized, after the third letter, that these were intentional (as I have already said), and that the author was trying to spell something out.

At first, okay, it was a little neat, but then, as it went on, it just got freaking irritating. I was constantly having to go back and look at the previous few letters to see what it was saying, and then I just got tired of doing that, so I stopped. I got as far as, "Have I gone mad? Yes, but let me..." and then I just quit. I assumed it was going to say "Yes, but let me tell you a secret, all the best people are." But then, with some of the letters that were capitalized, I am guessing that I was wrong about what I thought it was going to say. However, I do not care. I was not about to go back and look them all up again.

When I read a book, I want to lose myself in the world. Trying to decipher this little puzzle made that all but impossible! I don't want to have to stop every few minutes and go back to look up the last letter or, even worse, get out a pen and paper and stop and write down a letter every time it is capitalized. So yeah. That was highly irritating. And what is even more irritating is that now, I have no idea what it was spelling out, so I feel like I missed something, but again, I am not about to take the time to flip through EVERY SINGLE PAGE of that book to find all those letters again. I HATED that.

Alright, now... on to the plot. The basic storyline for the book was actually not that bad. I liked the little tie-ins to the original. A mad scientist named Matt Hatta; a nervous, fearful little doctor named Dr. Something (sorry, forget his first name) R. Abbot; a wise little insectile-looking computer geek named Bug, who wants to know "Who Are You" when he first meets Alice. It was fun. Some of these were clever; some were less clever, but still, they were neat and, MOST OF THE TIME, did not feel forced.

However, the story moved much too fast, and the main character made snap decisions that were very unrealistic. For instance, this guy throws me in a random van, locks me in, and disappears. That must mean he is worthy of my trust, and I should stick with him. Ummmm.... no. That was only one instance. There are several times when things just move waaaaay too fast, and it causes Alice to make decisions that no one, even the most naïve and trusting of idiots -- especially living in a post-apocalyptic world like this -- would ever make concerning other people.

It feels very forced. The budding relationship triangle between Alice, Chess, and ... the other one... geez. I don't even know his name... NATE! That is it. You can tell it is going to be a bit of a Bella/Edward/Jacob situation, but there is no building of feelings between the characters because everything happens way too fast and without logical reason. You don't get to see the friendship -- and certainly the love and attraction growing between them -- because BOOM! It is just there all of a sudden.

Also, there are times when Alice is talking or inner-monologuing, and she sounds very much like a twelve year old girl... and not in a good way. I don't mean Alice sounds like a believable twelve year old girl. I mean, the book sounds like it was written by a twelve year old girl who is trying to make Alice speak the way she feels like angsty teenagers SHOULD speak. It is highly irritating.

Finally, the ending was much less than satisfactory. I realize it is leading up to a second book, but still... the ending was WAAAAY too hurried and much too abrupt. I wasn't a fan.

Overall, this is certainly not the worst book I have ever read in my lifetime, but it is nowhere near the top of the list either. I think it definitely had potential to be a great read, but somewhere along the line, it just fell very, very flat.

All in all, it just wasn't my cup of tea. (See what I did there?) Ha.

I have to confess, I've never read Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but the original Disney movie adaptation from 1951 is one of my all time favorites. I remember being sucked in by the magic and wonder of it all as a kid, and reading the first few pages of Sullivan's Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles, I was sucked in by the magic all over again. I was already overwhelmed with sweet nostalgia in the first few chapters as I began recognizing all the references (I suppose they could also be called easter eggs) and I'm sure it has been long enough since I've seen the movie that there were even several I missed. All in all, I felt like I was being given a second chance to see Alice a first time.

I've read several fairy tale retellings in the past year, and none of them held a candle to this book. The author managed to include so many elements of the original story, and yet make it entirely fresh and new and completely her own. She also breathed new life into the oversaturated zombie theme, and took an idea that I think many readers may be sick of, and made it compelling again.

The writing was excellent. Sullivan paints a world in which the reader easily feels as if they have fallen down the rabbit hole with Alice, but leaves just enough to the imagination to complete the scene for themselves. The action kicks off with a bang in the library and doesn't stop until the very end. The action scenes were also well written and easy to follow, and I suppose my only critique would be that sometimes the fighting felt as if it came too naturally to Alice. I was under the impression that she and Dinah mostly ran from Momerath and didn't fight. So when she first begins slicing them up like a machete wielding ninja, I questioned it. I suspect there is an explanation given in (hopefully!) a sequel, but it was a minor issue. In general, I'm a big fan of machete wielding ninjas.

The characters were all wonderful little nods to their original counterparts. You know exactly who is supposed to be who when you read them, and they will each and every one put a smile on your face, from Chess, the boy who appears and disappears on a whim, to Dr. Waite R. Abbott scurrying around looking at his broken watch face crying: "I'm late! I'm late!". I was absolutely giddy when I was first introduced to Bug, the green beanie, purple jacket, orange cargo pants wearing, cigar puffing conspiracist. I also adored Alice, which is important because this is her story after all, in a way that I never really felt one particular way or the other about the original Alice. She's a take charge kind of heroine, who even through all the madness, never forgets her mission, which is to save her sister.

My only real criticism, and it is very minor, is that I felt that the action sometimes overshadowed the parts of the book I loved most. Sometimes the reader is propelled from one magical scene to another by the ever-hungry Momerath a little too quickly. There were parts of this madness I would have liked to have stayed and savored awhile, or have visited again. All in all I was given a sufficient tour of Wanderland, and I hope that because the title includes the word Chronicles, I can expect to see another Alice adventure from Sullivan sometime soon.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who ever enjoyed the original Alice in Wonderland as well as any fantasy and fairy tale lovers, or readers who enjoy action driven books. Thank you to Pen Name Publishers and Net-Galley for providing an ARC!!

So this book was billed to me as sci-fi and fantasy and also horror. Now I don't read a lot of horror (in fact I don't read any horror) so I can't speak to that genre but I would say this falls firmly into the sci-fi category. That really interests me since Alice in Wonderland is such a fantasy novel and retellings/spin off novels tend to lean on that fantasy element (Heartless is one example from earlier this year). I actually thought the concept for this setting was, while not particularly new, very well considered. Sullivan clearly knows Carroll's work well and the Wonderland references scattered throughout were very much appreciated by me.

I did enjoy the character of Alice, which is not something I normally do since so often she comes across as a bit of a Mary Sue. Give her real motivation and a machete and it turns out she's a really great character. Her motivation is clear throughout and though she does get a tad distracted by attractive people at times it's not a full on romance plot so I will, for now, give it a pass.

The supporting characters were also cool, I liked the interpretation of the Queen of Hearts (a tricky character to understand and to get right in a retelling) and the caterpillar. The march hare and the mad hatter were the two characters who best conveyed the 'horror' aspect, they were truly disturbing, but not so much that I wanted to stop reading.

I don't know if it was indicative of my interest in the plot or my desire to work out what the secret message running through the book's text was (I won't reveal it since I don't know if it's going to be in the finished book) but I devoured this book in a day. I was drawn in by the plot and by the characters and I desperately wanted narrative resolution.

I don't know if a sequel is in the works or if this is a standalone, it would probably work as either, certainly the Carroll references have not been exhausted. Only time will tell. What I will say is that if you are interested in an Alice in Wonderland retelling that shuns the whimsy that so often colours Carroll's work in favour of a gritty and unforgiving sci-fi world-you won't be disappointed here. If you're looking for a full on gruesome horror novel this might actually be a little tame for you, but I cannot claim to know what is 'industry standard'.

My rating: 4/5 stars

Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles is publishing on May 16th so, if this kind of thing is up your alley you still have time to preorder it!

Not my typical read but a varied diet is important in the life of a reviewer and it was nice to read outside the box a little.

By the way I received a free digital ARC review copy of Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles from the publisher (Pen Name Publishing) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I wouldn't recommend a book if I didn't think it was worth reading.

Alice in wonderland by J M Sullivan.
Always protect your queen.”

Ever since the outbreak of the Plague, life hasn’t been easy, and for seventeen-year-old Alice Carroll, it just got worse. Her sister, Dinah, has contracted the ‘un-deadly’ Momerath Virus and without a cure, will soon be worse than dead. She’ll be momerath.

Alice must leave the safety of the Sector and venture into Momerath Territory to find the antidote - if it exists. Chasing a rumor about a mysterious doctor with the cure, Alice falls down the rabbit hole into Wanderland, where ravenous momerath aren’t the only danger lurking.

Fantastic read. I loved the story. This is the famous story with a twist. Just like Alice in wonderland but was wanderland and they had a plaque. Just couldn't put it down. Read it at the bus stop on the bus. Just surprised with how the story is. Very cleverly written. 5*. Netgalley and weaponry co-op.

An Alice in Wonderland retelling that can make you questions your insanity to who are the allies and who are not, it is so unpredictable that every pages is a mystery on what's going to happen next in the story.

What a cool and original retelling! The plot was awesome, characters were intriguing, plus I love Aluce in Wonderland. Did I mention zombies? Can't wait to read more from this author.

I always love a good retelling—if it is a retelling with a dark and gritty twist to it, even better. For me, this novel checks off all the boxes. It is a wonderful reimagining of Alice in Wonderland that has plenty of its own creativity and uniqueness, while devotedly paying homage to the original work in clever ways. It even takes the classic zombie plague idea and turns it on its head as Sullivan puts her own intriguing spin on the idea. With a post-apocalyptic setting, a witty and resilient heroine, and an abundance of gory and riveting fight scenes, this debut novel is a magnificent addition to young adult literature.

In this novel, we follow a young girl named Alice Carroll, who is living in a fortified sector with her sister, Dinah, as the world around them succumbs to the Plague that has rapidly broken out. This virus has taken hold of many people, turning them into undead creatures that survivors have dubbed “Momeraths”—rage-filled zombie-like beings that ravage the land and many of the stragglers that remain unprotected in this post-apocalyptic society. The residents of the Sector do not dare venture past the safety of their borders into this frightful landscape.

When Dinah begins to show signs that she has contracted the Momerath Virus, Alice will go to any lengths to find a cure to save her life. After hearing a rumor that an antidote may exist, or at least be in progress, Alice decides to risk everything to venture out into Wanderland—still crawling with Momerath—in order to track down the doctor who purportedly has the one thing that can restore balance to her world. This journey won’t be an easy one, but Alice steps up to the plate, ready to tackle any challenges thrown her way.

I was pulled into this story right from the very start. It takes off at a fast pace and continues to hold on to that until the final page. It is impossible not to get completely wrapped up in this fascinating story, and I found myself tearing through it, dying to see what would happen next. Every single aspect of this novel is beautifully built up—it is easy to fall into the world and let it take form around you. You feel a part of the journey, running right alongside Alice as she navigates all the perils—those both expected and unexpected—of Wanderland.

One of the many reasons that made me fall in love with this novel was that is felt a lot like two of my favorite video games—Alice: Madness Returns and the Fallout series. It was as if these two settings fell together, which resulted in an absolutely incredible reading experience.

On a similar note, this felt very much like a game or a movie due to the wonderful descriptiveness in the narrative. Sullivan is a master at showing rather than telling. Her intricate details assist the reader in visualizing the settings and characters without hindering their own imagination. She achieves that perfect balance that allows each person’s experience with this novel to be a unique one—each mind will add its own little spin on things.

The creation and development of the characters was, by far, one of the strongest points of this novel. I personally adored the way Sullivan showed the key traits of the original works’ characters in their Wanderland counterparts. Alice is an incredibly solid and believable heroine. It was wonderful to see her continually find that strength inside her, and watch her sort of emerge from her shell into a snarky, witty, and strong fighter.

The cast of quirky characters, both villains and heroes alike, were very well-developed and three-dimensional. Though it is hard to choose, I’d have to say that my particular favorites were Chess, Bug, and Dr. Abbott. I thought that she connected them to Carroll’s classic characters in absolutely brilliant ways. It was aspects like this that really left me appreciating how much effort she put into staying true to the original story while making one that was entirely her own.

J.M. Sullivan is a fresh voice in young adult literature, and definitely one who is sure to go very far. Her immense talent for writing shines through in every aspect of the narrative. This novel was a deliciously intense ride through the world of Wanderland, as we follow some well-loved characters on a journey we have never before seen them take. Whether you are a fan of Alice in Wonderland or not, I would very highly recommend giving this novel a read. With twists and surprises around every corner, this is a book that I believe will have every reader finding themselves swept up into Alice’s adventures. I know that I am truly looking forward to reading future installments in this series.

I adore Alice in Wonderland, it was one of the favourite animated films growing up (I probably shouldn't admit this but I haven't read the original book...) so anything related to Alice in Wonderland and I'll want to check it out. This book seemed like an interesting take on Alice in Wonderland, or should I say Wanderland.

The book follows Alice and her sister as they struggle to survive in what seems like a dystopian America where a zombie virus/plague has swept the world and a cure if trying to be found - yes, it does sound incredibly cliche and nothing new.

The writing is incredibly easy and quick to follow, although I did find that Alice's dialogue was so cheesy and the relationship with the love interests, to me, was really corny and very typically YA which I'm not a fan of. However, leaving the corny relationships and cheesy dialogue aside, the world and the other darker characters was so interesting and engaging, especially related to the monsters and scientists involved. Yes, it's not the most original mashup and the twists were very predictable but it was entertaining and I'd be interested to read the rest in the series. I think it would work amazingly as a YA dystopian movie!

Alice in Wonderland meets The Walking Dead. There’s no other way to describe the plot.

This was great; the intrigue, the action, the pacing, the characters. It was very close to being perfect. It actually would have been if I had been able to truly fall for the characters. However, I felt a distance between me and Alice. I couldn’t truly make one with her. I still really liked her though as much as the other characters.
I loved how the author included some of the main characters from the original story into this retelling. The way it was done was very clever.
The writing was really great, it drew me in from the first chapter and I just couldn’t stop reading.
I also loved the “Easter Eggs” thing, the little surprises from the author. It was a fun plus.

I cannot wait to read more books from this author.

Unfortunately, I had to add this to DNF section. I couldn't get into this book and what I did read I felt that the author was trying to hard to place the elements of the original Alice in Wonderland story in her story.

I didn't like how the story was going nor did I particularly like Alice.

Apologies that I can't give a proper review, as I couldn't get on with this book, I got about 25% of the way through but wasn't enjoying the premise. The writing style is very good and I liked the concept but felt that the relation to Alice in wonderland was too forced.

Think Alice in Wonderland mixed with The Walking Dead. This will probably be my favourite retelling of Alice, ever.

Alice and her sister Dinah live in the Sector, a safe place where the Momerath (zombies) can't get in. When the sisters go on a scavenge hunt to a pharmacy and the library, they encounter a Momerath and barely escape. When Dinah falls ill and begins showing the signs of the virus that turns people into Momerath, Alice takes it upon herself to venture out on her own and find a cure for Dinah, before the virus takes her.

Alice was a really good main character. I liked her in the beginning, but I loved her in the end. Alice went from being the afraid little sister thats shy and likes book, to a powerful warrior thats not afraid to kill some zombies and encounter new groups of people if it gets her what she wants. She faced her fears and picked up a machete to kill zombies, somethings she's never done before and was able to fend them off all by herself, I was truly amazed looking back at her character development.

The plot of this story was really fast and intense. I love how the author didn't bore us with pointless details about the world, and had enough action to keep the reader entertained. From the reader's point of view, it was nice not to go over all the boring little details, but from the scientist's point of view, I would have loved to learn more about what the virus actually does to the body, and how it changes normal people into Momerath.
Since this was a retelling, all the classic characters are still here, even though they're slightly changed. My favourite, was probably the adaptation of the Red Queen, into a zombie killing warrior that brought her tribe together at the beginning of the outbreak, as well as Matt Hatter being the leading scientist to cause the outbreak, it was all so very creative.
While I was extremely impressed with the world that Sullivan created, it became a tad predictable at times. I know its very hard to make the story unpredictable when you're writing a retelling, but I would have loved to see more twists and surprises in this book.

The romance... I don't even know if you could call it that. While this book didn't exactly focus on the romance aspect, Alice was introduced to two boys, Nate and Chess. I'm sensing a potential love triangle in the future, but for now, this book remained love-triangle free. I'm definitely excited to see what the author does next with the romance.

Overall, this was a fantastic book. It is definitely something you should pick up if you're going through Walking Dead withdrawal, or if you love Alice in Wonderland, zombies, or really intense action stories. I look forward to seeing more from this author.

The basics of this story are Alice in Wonderland meets The Walking Dead. I am really into zombies, so this drew me right in. I adore Alice in Wonderland as well. I thought it was interesting to see the authors take on the characters, and meet them in their new forms. All your favorites are there in the form of Chess, Bug and Dr. Matthew Hatta.

There is a bit of a love-triangle vibe going on, but the story is more than that. It's about Alice, trying to save her sister, Dinah, from the virus. It's about how far you'll go to protect your family.

There was a small twist at the end though, no doubt leading us in the next book, which I'm already looking forward to getting my hands on.

Seventeen year old Alice Carroll has been living in a safe zone with her older sister Dinah since the outbreak of the plague. Dinah was studying to be a nurse before the plague hit so now she’s called on to help the locals so when there’s a sick baby Dinah does what she can to help.

Dinah has Alice accompany her outside the fence and safe zone to scavenge for supplies but when returning things take a turn for the worse for Dinah. Alice knows immediately that while Dinah wasn’t bitten she must be a carrier of the Momerath Virus and in danger of turning herself if Alice doesn’t find a cure. Alice is determined to do whatever it takes to save her sister and finds herself heading to Wanderland.

Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles to me would best be described as a mix of Alice in Wonderland meets the Walking Dead. The plague in here sounds to be basically the zombie apocalypse has happened in the story shutting the survivors off and fighting from attacks. But when Alice takes off looking for a cure she finds herself meeting a version of all of the characters you would find in Wonderland.

I actually rather enjoyed this rather creative twist with this retelling where you aren’t reading the exact story just redone but something entirely new happening to the characters. While there are zombie like attacks there’s a whole plot of what brought on the plague and Alice fighting her way to a cure for her sister so the book was rather action packed and fast paced. If I had any complaint at all with this one is the end leaves room for perhaps there being another book so it’s a bit of a cliffhanger if there isn’t another one.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I received a free copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles is a fast paced read that I read in a single setting. It's basically Alice in Wonderland meets the Blood of Eden trilogy only without vampires and it's so good. More so than you might first expect.

What I Liked

So when it comes to Alice in Wonderland retellings one of the most important aspects is obviously the characterisation. I've read a fair few recently but this was one of the better for the portrayal of Alice. Yes, this is a more sarcastic and hardened version of Alice, she isn't as curious but in this world, she couldn't really be. She is, however, a bit of a daydreamer, she wanders perhaps more than she should and she cares so much for her sister. She was a great lead character and one you can connect with, even when she's kicking arse. Chess and Abbott were my other favourite characters, Chess is obviously the Cheshire Cat and Abbott is the white rabbit. Both are totally different characters and whilst Chess is fun and has you curious about what's going on with him, you just feel so sorry for poor Abbott.

Another thing I have to talk about is the violence in it. This is a rather violent book, it's not too graphic but for once, the violence is at least semi-realistic. Sullivan talks about the momentum helping people cut through necks and things like that. Sometimes this violence isn't always completely believable but it's a lot more so than usual. I also liked the post-apocalyptic setting of this book, it focused on one city really but they don't claim to be the only city. It's just the one the story is focused on. With the setting, you're introduced the momerath, a form of zombies that come from a plague. Pretty common trope these days but still pretty interesting.

This book was so close to a 5-star read but it wasn't quite perfect.

What I Didn't Like

The very few issues I had with this are that the fighting could get a little bit repetitive and that pulled me out of the book at little at times. I felt my attention fading but I got back into the book easily enough. And as much as I liked the world building there was, I felt like there could have been more on how the plague actually spread. You find out how it started but not how it moved from that point which is a little weird. I'm also sad that my favourite character wasn't the Mad Hatter for once but that's just me being awkward.

There's very little actually bad and really I had to be a little picky there. This is a great post-apocalyptic retelling of Alice in Wonderland and I'll be excited to get the second book.