"A Blade So Black" by L.L. McKinney is a thrilling and imaginative reimagining of Lewis Carroll's classic tale, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," infused with a fresh and contemporary twist. In this gripping urban fantasy novel, McKinney introduces readers to Alice, a young black woman living in Atlanta who finds herself drawn into a dark and dangerous world filled with monsters, magic, and mystery. At the heart of the book is Alice's journey of self-discovery as she navigates the treacherous realm of Wonderland, confronting her fears, doubts, and insecurities along the way. McKinney deftly explores themes of identity, belonging, and empowerment, as Alice learns to harness her inner strength and embrace her destiny as a formidable warrior against the forces of darkness.

Alice is trained to fight the monsters that appear in the dream world known as Wonderland. With her fighting skills and the magical weapons available to her she'll rip the Wonderland denizens to shreds ... if she's finished her homework.

Fighting off the Nightmares (as the Wonderland monsters are called) could be a full-time job and then some, but Alice also has more mundane things to keep her busy as well. She's fighting to keep up her GPA and keep her over-protective mother at bay, and find a way to stay connected with her high-maintenance friend.

But the Nightmares are getting stronger and Alice's trainer, her mentor, has been poisoned. There is an antidote, but it's deep in Wonderland - deeper than she's ever been. Getting there and back again will be a challenge, and there's no room for being late.

I'm a sucker for anything based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland which on one hand makes sense because I like the Alice stories so much, but on the other hand I tend to think - "Do we need another Alice in Wonderland?"

This is a very dark adaptation with a rather typical YA fantasy flourish - a young girl has to face dangers that her parents couldn't even begin to fathom, then turn around and do the 'mundane' things in life (like homework) without letting on. It's just a little bit of a tired trope but there's clearly still a readership out there for this sort of story.
While I enjoyed making some of the Alice in Wonderland connections throughout the read, there's really no reason for this to be connected to the original Alice stories. Change a couple of names and it stands alone as a dark, urban fantasy.

I like the grittiness of this story and it's difficult to not make the connection that if Alice from the original story were Black her adventures in Wonderland would have been darker and more dangerous, like this. I don't want to make this about race, but it's kind of there.

As for this being a dark take on the Alice story, I'm still inclined to favor Christina Henry's Alice, but I am curious to see how this plays out in the next volume.

Looking for a good book? A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney is a modern, dark take on the Alice in Wonderland story. YA readers looking for something edgy will enjoy.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE this series. I picked it up in 2023 to get prepped for a book tour with the finale in the trilogy being released and having a bisexual MMC and Black FMC was so cool. We love seeing that in a YA setting. Also this series drops you right into the action. No crazy half book build up before anything happens :)

I enjoyed the "Alice in Wonderland" vibe to this. Alice was a total badass. That's not to say she didn't do things that annoyed me, but I mean, she's 17. So, it all makes sense. Navigating Wonderland with Alice and friends was fun and vivid.

The stakes were high, and the villains were written very well. This was easy to get through. It felt like the pages just flew by. The representation was beautiful, and I loved it. I was lucky to have the second book in the series so that I can find out immediately what happens next!

A Blade so Black had some cool ideas. What didn’t work for me, I didn’t feel much of a connection with the characters. They felt very surface level and didn’t have much depth to them. I’m hoping as I continue with the series, there will be more character development. You would think I would be a little excited about a Buffy in Wonderland premise but the story underwhelmed me.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This book was very interesting. I am a lover of Alice in Wonderland so I was instantly drawn to this book. In this urban dark fantasy take on wonderland young Alice faces nightmares for the first time following the tragic death of her father. That night she meets Hatta. As time jumps she begins training on how to defeat them. As a Dreamwalker Alice meets the normal crew from Wonderland including Dee and Dum twins who are fellow dreamwalkers. Alice struggles with her attraction for chess a high school schoolmate and Hatta. With her overprotective mom involved Alice’s life is never without drama. Definitely worth reading I’m on to book 2

A Blade So Black is the urban fantasy retelling of Alice In Wonderland that I needed as a teen. Alice is on her way to a Con that she was supposed to be going to with her dad but he’s gone. She’s all in her head on the way to the Con when a terrifying creature, called a Nightmare, attacks her her. She’s saved by a mysterious man who turns into her mentor. Her mentor teaches her about the Nightmares and trains her to kill them. While is apart of a small group of people trained to kill the Nightmares, she’s also a normal teen at home. A teen trying to balance her best friend, her feelings towards two different guys, and an overprotective mother. Her mother has every right to be protective when a young Black girl was just killed by police in their neighborhood and Alice starts staying out and not checking in with her. Alice thinks she’s found a way to balance her real life in Atlanta and her life in Wonderland until her mentor is poisoned and she must return to Wonderland to cure him. There are many obstacles in Wonderland and when her real life and it combine all hell breaks loose.

I book kept me on my toes. I was throughly engrossed in it the entire time. Alice is just a normal Black teenager dealing with the challenges that life throws you when she’s thrown into a completely different world with more challenges to deal with. While it did cover heavier topics such as police brutality and death of a loved one, it wasn’t the entire focus of the story. I know those topics can be too much for some people so it was good to see them added to the story in a way that was essential to the storyline but not the sole focus. This book is apart of a trilogy and does end in a cliffhanger so I diving right into the second book. I must know what happens next.

This modern retelling of the classic Alice in Wonderland was simply AHHHH-MAZING! WITH A BLACK MAIN CHARACTER?! Sheer genius L.L. McKinney!

This story is set in Atlanta, GA and I will admit I watched Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland for a refresher prior to reading this book. Could easily be finished in 2 days, but I dragged it out to 5 days and listened to the Audiobook as a read-a-long. I am glad did since I am a newbie to the wonderful world of Fantasy! WHAT A WELCOME IT WAS!

Let's talk about the cover! I have it digitally and in paperback and let's just go ahead and agree that the Kindle. cover isn't as exciting as the physical copy. Upon receiving the physical copy the book just screamed at me, taking my breath away. AND THE MC IS BLACK?! The book screams "read me" and because of the vibrancy, and the MC on the cover, I was more than proud to carry this book around.

The story itself flowed. I loved the aspect of Alice's mom was not forgotten and also Alice having human friendships that do hit a snag is refreshing to see, but to see how she handles it all is so refreshing.

The author did an amazing job. capturing emotions (raw ones) and several times I had to clutch my proverbial pearls and had to put the book down because it was just that good!

Alison (Alice) opens the book rushing through the streets near Georgia State University in Atlanta, where her father was declared dead. As she approaches this alley, Alice doesn't realize her life was about to change forever.

When the very first Nightmare came, Alice about lost her life, but now as she crosses realms from reality to fantasy, Earth to Wonderland, she has learned to take care of herself with instruction from her mentor, Addison Hatta, who she falls for and the two have a cute romance that does not overpower the story!

Readers will quickly find a cast on characters that sound familar such as Dimitri and Demarcus Tweedlanov, the Queen of Hearts, and even the original Alice from the orginial story is mentioned.

Being chosen to fight creatures in a new world can be dangerous and exciting, but after Hatta is poisoned Alice has to find the antedote by voyaging deeper into Wonderland than she has gone before. Hard truths and alliances are made to save the life of the one who holds the key to it all.

I definitely recommend this book and am starting the Sequel!

I want to thank HOV book tour and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. A Blade so Black was such a great start to a trilogy. It was great to see how McKinney took a classic and made it her own. Can't wait to see how the rest of the books play out in the series.

I was hoping I'd enjoy this book but I just realized that this genre does not work for me. I am sure someone else would enjoy it if they are a fan of the genre.

As a fan of Alice of Wonderland, I was really intrigued by this concept. I loved this modern re-telling of Alice in Wonderland that still had the same heart, lovable characters and so much fun adventure, while still delivering heart-warmning moments between characters.

I started this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't want to rate a book that I wasn't able to finish.

Slow to start, but it picks up speed and turns into a fascinating, action-packed, and compelling story. I was impressed with the writing, and enjoyed the characters and their dynamics.

I absolutely LOVED this take on Alice in Wonderland!!! I loved Alice here, I loved the diversity, the representation of mental health, I love absolutely everything about this!

Though I wasn't familiar with the urban fantasy genre before picking up this book, I have always loved retellings. I appreciated the new take on Alice in Wonderland, and exposure to a new genre!

I love retellings, so this Alice in Wonderland retelling was especially intriguing. The cover is eye catching, and I appreciate the diversity in this story; especially important in YA! The actual plot was alright, but it did have a few interesting moments! I liked the main character, and thought she was very compelling!

Fantastic fantasy! Love the representation. The characters are fun, smart, and so enjoyable to follow along with. The story is action packed and so enthralling!

Interesting premise. Likable/hated characters. Cool plot. I would recommend this story to others. Some spots I found that didn't hold my attention, but overall, I still liked it.

I love love love Alice in Wonderland so when a book comes out based around it I have to check it out. While I found the book enjoyable it didn't quite do it for me to set it up as a 5 star read. I will definitely be checking out LLs future books tho!