A new twist on Alice in Wonderland, this book takes you into another dimension with an updated main character. She is a spunky young black woman who is not to be taken lightly. I love the power Alice is given in this novel! You might like this book if you enjoy fractured fairy tales.

I personally had with the book: the writing and the actual story wasn't as on point as I was hoping it would be. I didn't really like the characters or the "quest" of the book. Unfortunately, to me, the characters all felt like they were written from a basic bag of trope. I also never got into the plot, and the world building wasn't that great. Perhaps it's because the writing wasn't particularly excellent, but as it's LL McKinney's first book, I am sure she will grow as a writer in future books. This book wasn't especially well-crafted in my opinion, but everyone has their own unique taste in what they like to read.

The cover of this is amazing, and the twist on Alice in Wonderland is very well done.

It will appeal to a lot of people, but particularly to African American teens who are just flirting with the idea of enjoying fantasy fiction.

Not at all what I was wanting, but I was hesitant starting this. I'll have to avoid similar stories in the future.

Oh man, this book was FUNNY. As funny as it was action-packed, and the incorporation of all the familiar Alice in Wonderland elements was genius. I love me a sassy, courageous girl MC!

Readers expecting a strict retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland featuring an African American protagonist will find themselves a little disappointed. On the other hand, if readers expect to read something a little more like Colleen Oakes’ Queen of Hearts trilogy or A. G. Howard’s Splintered series, they will be more inclined to embrace the plot. Allison “Alice” Kingston has a foot firmly planted in two places: Atlanta, Georgia and Wonderland. Those two worlds collided when Alice’s father was killed and the Nightmares started. With the help and training of Addison Hatta (Hatter), Alice goes in to Wonderland and vanquishes the Nightmares; however, the Nightmares are starting to intrude more and more frequently in the human world. While Alice is in Wonderland fighting nightmares, life in the human world goes on, and Alice’s absences are increasingly impinging on her time with friends and her mother. Additionally, violence and murder happening in Alice’s human neighborhood have her mother on edge and exercising her parental prerogatives. Things come to a head when the Black Knight infects Hatta with a poison, creating a final quest for Alice as she attempts to set everything in Wonderland--and Atlanta--to right. Uneven plotting and characters who behaved capriciously kept this from being one of my personal favorites (I am more of a fan of Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone), but less discriminating readers will like the urban setting, the magical realism and the homage to Alice in Wonderland--even though they may not like the abrupt ending that is, no doubt, leading to a sequel.

DNF. It felt too much like a bad remake of City of Bones. The dialogue was off; the characters were bland. It just didn't seem worth finishing.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. A Blade So Black is an action packed modern day telling of Alice In Wonderland taking place in Atlanta

This was fun! As a general rule, I loathe portal fantasies, but I appreciated the attention the author paid to a) having an actual curfew & school as a monster fighting bad ass and b) actually making the world building make sense in a "this world inspired Lewis Carroll" way. Also whatever I am basic but I Ship the Bad Boy ship, let me go down in brooding YA boy flames.

Things also appreciated: lady friends! Entertaining twins! Lesbians!

One Sentence Synopsis: The retelling my Alice in Wonderland and Buffy the Vampire Slayer loving heart deserves and needs more of.

Why You Should Be Reading: First of all and most importantly, why isn’t this a movie already? It’s got a badass black woman who fights creatures in a dark realm while trying to juggle her family and a slipping GPA. Alice feels real. You could be Alice. I could be Alice. He, she, we can be Alice. Her woes as a woman/daughter/student are just as important as the ones that go bump in the night in the form of monstrous creatures known as Nightmares.

And it’s not just Alice who feels real and memorable. The characters that surround her are just as important and well developed, leading to a rich tapestry of storytelling that makes you HELLA INVESTED in A Blade So Black.

P.S. McKinney is already working on Book 2 so you have time to read the 1st one!

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Urban Fantasy, POC Lead

Learn more about the author HERE.

Buy A Blade So Black HERE.

Add A Blade So Black HERE.

I first want to thank Netgalley for giving me permission to read this title. The book was an amazing read. I think that I will most definitely be ordering this book to put on the shelves at our library. I believe that the teens will thoroughly enjoy it.

A magical, fantastical, diverse reimagining of Alice and Wonderland, I was perfect from start to finish!

When I first heard of A Blade So Black, I got excited.
And I mean super excited! Here we have a book that features a black protagonist (we need more POC retellings!) who kicks butt like Buffy the vampire slayer and a retelling of Alice in Wonderland (which I should I get to one day but probably won’t happen).

But L.L. McKinney’s debut novel turned out to be a big bummer.
I didn’t hate it, but I very much could not get past 40% of the book – in fact, I suffered more than I should because I hoped the book would get a lot better later. But it didn’t get any better.

The writing style didn’t suit me.
I think this is another “it’s not you, it’s me,” but omg the writing made me want to sleep more than continuing the book. I found watching the 2018 reboot of “Meteor Garden” more interesting and probably watched an episode or two for every chapter that bored me to tears.

The concept is amazing.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets in Alice in Wonderland in a modern day setting? Hellooooo, please sign me up. This book spells dark and ominous and I definitely got that vibe while reading what I did.

But it was just sooo boring.
I checked out of the book by Chapter Four (but I tried to stay with the rest of the book, I swear!). Wonderland is full of action, but it was the same thing over and over again and got repetitive. Alice is juggling being a Dreamwalker, who can destroy the Nightmares that come from Wonderland, while being an ordinary student with a life, but it was all the same thing over and over again. It never really picked up.

Wow. I'm a huge, huge fan of all things Wonderland but this is a huge letdown. Given the author's championship of diversity, I expected to see more, have more. But it was spotty at best. The love story mimicked the special snowflake Twilight or Mortal Instruments set up. There was NO worldbuilding or consistency. This felt like McKinney was stretching too far for her comfort--as if fantasy isn't her genre?

Being from the south and having friends'/family in the Atlanta area, I was drawn to the real-world setting. Until I wasn't. The writing confused me to no end. What was going on? Who was going what? Where were people? Again, I felt disappointed because this book had been built up so much, and it was one I was ready to recommend. At least the cover is beautiful.

This twisted fairytale reeled me in from the jump and held onto me long after I finished the last page. I immediately went and put it on order for all three sites of my library because it checked off so many boxes that make any YA move right now: strong, female lead? Check. Accurate and positive representation for people of color? Check. Engaging? Check. Beautiful cover art? Check. This book packs a punch and is ideal for any YA collection and YA readers.

This story imagines the possible ripple effects of Alice's long ago trip(s) to Wonderland.

Modern day Alice is distraught by the sudden death of her beloved father. She flees from the hospital and soon finds herself lost and in a dark foreboding alley. When a terrifying dog/beast attacks her, she is saved by a mysterious person. Addison Hatta is surprised to find that Alice can see him. Thus begins a strange and fantastical tale.

I didn't really enjoy much of this book. It seemed as though it was written by two different authors. For the first 2/3 the author tried too hard to push the Wonderland theme and the writing style suffered. The next third, where the Wonderland theme was left to take care of itself, the plot took centre stage and drove the story really well. While a few story lines were drawn closed, the author left me hanging on more, making me wish for the next book in this new series.

A good showing for a debut author, it will be curious and curiouser to see where the next rabbit's hole takes her.

Alice meets Addison Hatta when she is attacked by a Nightmare. Since she is able to see it and him, he recruits her to become a Dreamwalker. She protects our world and Wonderland by killing Nightmares. She's in high school living a double life--here and in Wonderland. This causes trouble because time moves differently there than here. Mothers don't like it when daughters stay out all night.

Most of the story takes place in Wonderland. Alice starts stressing about her double life, but keeps sneaking out. Why she doesn't just tell her mother I don't know. This ends on a cliffhanger, unfortunately. I was hoping for a one and done retelling of Alice in Wonderland.

I really wanted to love this one, but it just didn't work for me. Wonderland only seemed vaguely Wonderland-y, and most of that was because people were named things like Hatta , or the Tweedles. The impetus behind the Nightmares was only sort of explained, and the love interest's personality was just having sparkly eyes and hair and saying "luv" a lot. Also, the mom is not "overprotective", she's terrified because her daughter disappears for days at a time! The best friends were also barely filled out. I know there are still some teens I can recommend this to, though!

Students will enjoy this book's spunky heroine and the world. It has lots of characters to connect to and is lots of fun.

Action packed take on the Alice story, great to see such a kick-ass Alice. There definitely need to be more books like this one.