My honest review:

I'm sorry but I can't get my mind wrapped up into this story. Maybe it's me but I'm not into reading retellings of fairytales. This is a darker version of Alice in Wonderland and when I was a child, I didn't like this story either.

The text is well written but just not a story for me. It's my first DNF this year.

Dreamwalker by Bruce Martin is a spellbinding adventure that plunges readers into a realm where magic and menace are woven tightly together. The story follows Alison Wilde, a seemingly ordinary young woman whose life turns surreal when she’s thrust into the enigmatic Netherworld. Bereft of her earthly memories, Alison must confront her fears and navigate a landscape teeming with nightmarish creatures, shadowed by the constant presence of deception and illusion.

Martin’s prose is richly descriptive, vividly painting the eerie allure of the Netherworld and making it feel at once enchanting and perilous. Alison’s journey is more than just a descent into a world of myth and magic; it’s a quest for self-discovery in a reality where little is as it appears. As her companions guide her, readers quickly sense that their motives are as layered as the world itself, building tension and mystery. The book’s darker forces emerge as the plot thickens, suggesting that Alison’s fate is not simply about survival but has profound implications for the universe.

The pacing balances bursts of action with moments of introspection, letting readers fully appreciate Alison’s transformation from an uncertain outsider to a powerful force. Martin skillfully uses Alison’s fragmented memories and unfamiliar surroundings to highlight the disorientation she feels, adding a psychological depth that resonates as the story unfolds. The suspense of not knowing who to trust or what dangers lie ahead will keep readers on edge, and the stakes feel satisfyingly high as Alison’s true potential—and its implications—become clear.

Overall, Dreamwalker is an engaging blend of fantasy and suspense. It offers an enthralling look at fate, identity, and the boundaries of reality. Fans of dark fantasy with nuanced characters and richly built worlds will find this an unforgettable journey.

While not marketed as a retelling, it did work as one. Interesting enough premise but could have had better execution. Good pick for those interested in dark fantasy!

I was intrigued by this books cover and title. I honestly thought it would be a folk horror/ fantasy ....it wasn't. Rather it is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland with an even darker mood than the original. While I personally enjoyed the surprise direction that the story took it does seem rather odd that there was no indication that this would be a retelling. There were many imaginative re imaginings of the original characters and some fun twists. I did enjoy the world building and was taken a back by the sudden and abrupt end of the book /novella. I wish the story had a more satisfying conclusion. I am no stranger to serial stories but again, like the surprise of the fact that this is a retelling, I felt blindsided and it did result in a lower enjoyment overall. A big thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me access to an advanced copy of this title free of charge. I'm leaving an honest review voluntarily.

I went into this book having zero idea it was a dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Alice is in an accident and slips into a coma, which is how she access Wonderland in this story, where she meets up with the mad hatter, Hatter, who is an assassin?! I truly thought that was a neat little twist. Some parts of the book are a little confusing, but it just caused me to want to read more to gain a better understanding. The book did end rather oddly, I am hoping that there is another book in the future to pick up where it left off.

All and all I gave this book 3 stars. I’d like to thank NetGalley, Bruce Martin, and the publishers for providing this eARC. This is my honest review.

This book is not what I expected at all, although it was a nice shorter read with a fun spin on Alice in Wonderland.

This original story surrounding the Wonderland lore is intriguing and offers a darker twist on familiar elements. However, I feel that much is left to be desired, as the narrative would have benefited from more depth. The shorter story format feels limiting for a concept with so much potential.

The worldbuilding, especially in the first part, felt rushed. It seemed more like I was being told the story rather than being immersed in it. This lack of gradual development made it difficult to connect with the world and characters fully.

That said, *Dream Walker* serves as a promising start. It introduces captivating ideas and characters, but it would greatly benefit from expansion into a longer format to flesh out a richer premise. With more time to explore the character development and the world of Wonderland, it has the potential to become something truly remarkable.

A big thank you to Net Galley and Cranthorpe Millner for this Advanced Reading Copy of this story in exchange for my honest review.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Dream Walker is a short, dark Alice In Wonderland retelling. I was really excited for this book based on the description, however I really struggled to get through it.
The writing style and dialogue felt super flat and disjointed to me. And I didn't care for any of the characters.
The concept had so much potential. But unfortunately it was not executed well.

I finished Dream Walker by Bruce Martin, and honestly, it’s a 2/5 for me. The premise is cool—a dark Alice in Wonderland retelling—but it’s not marketed that way, which felt misleading from the start. It throws you into this Wonderland-esque world with a twist, but instead of leaning into the potential of that, the story gets bogged down by info-dumping and awkward dialogue.

Alison, the main character, was hard to root for because she flip-flops between being cautious and straight-up rude, without much reason. And while the world has vampires, werewolves, and other creatures, the use of Native American folklore like the Wendigo felt out of place and handled insensitively. Plus, the book just... stops. No real conclusion or big confrontation, which left me wondering if I missed something or if it's supposed to be part of a series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Cranthorpe Millner for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Dreamwalker by Bruce Martin is a dark Alice in Wonderland retelling that has an interesting concept.
Alison is going out with her friends when she is hit by a car in a mysterious accident. She wakes up to find herself in a version of Wonderland, which was made famous by Lewis Carroll. Alison is “dreamwalking” in wonderland with her real body still in the real world in a coma. She and Hatter (an assassin) make their way through wonderland causing chaos and trying to get Alison back to her body.

This novel has promise, as the plot line was fairly interesting, however, I really think it should be advertised as what it is. There is no mention in the blurb that this is a retelling, causing disappointment before even getting into the story. I am not a big retelling reader, so it was jarring to be put in a world I already knew. It seems as if it would have been easy to change characters names and some descriptions as they were mostly changed anyway and had new characters already added. As other reviewers have said, there is also a lot of information dumping and lots of telling instead of showing. The first scene in wonderland is the Hatter just explaining everything to Alison, which is not exciting. The dialogue feels stilted and the characters call each other by name more frequently than in real life. I personally did not like the main character Alison. She didn’t seem to have consistent personality traits. One moment she was cautious, the next she was being brash and insulting other characters. I think my major issue with this novel, however, is the use of Native American culture as characters and plot points. As a British man, maybe Bruce Martin doesn’t know, but it’s not cool to use NA folklore in books that have nothing to do with Native Americans. The honorific Chief also seems used in a manner that is not sensitive. It also doesn’t seem as if he understands the nuances behind the Wendigo and just thought it would be a cool character to add to his book full of vampires and werewolves. My last issue is that the book just stops. There is no sense of things wrapping up, no conclusion. The whole novel seems to be leading up to a confrontation with the Red Queen, and yet that doesn’t happen. And the epilogue is just confusing, are there supposed to be more books? Is this a series? There are lots of questions. Honestly, if I did not receive an ARC of this book, I most likely would have DNF’d it. The author has promise but needs to hone his skill some more.

This book is relatively short and the otherworldly aspect pulled me right in. The main character is complex and sympatic. I had a lot of sympathy for her and her journey is challenging and surprising. I would recommend this book to experienced readers of the fantasy genre.

A very whimsical and creative retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story. I loved the implication that the story of Alice in Wonderland existed and was based on the Netherworlds. Certain plot points and storylines were hard to follow up, and I wished there was more lore regarding the legend/prophecy of the chosen one as well as more lore regarding the Netherworld as a whole. It would have been nice to read more about each of the realms their leaders and allies/enemies. A few of the battle scenes and talking points seemed a little rushed, but this was an overall enjoyable and quick read. Hopefully there is a sequel, as the main conflict in the story is not close to being resolved.

This book surprised me. I didn’t expect a retelling of Alice and wonderland at all from the synopsis. This is a darker, creepier version of Alice in Wonderland, that I think people who enjoyed Grimms Fairytales will like.

The character descriptions were great, but I struggled and zoned out in places due to a lot of info dumping in one place. I also felt like there was a lot more dialogue between characters “telling” the story over the story itself actually “showing” the reader what’s happening.

I did enjoy the story progression. It was clear and easy to follow from chapter to chapter and I think it passed at a well rounded pace.

The characters themselves were great. I love the idea of the Hatter being an Assassin, I don’t know why but it just makes sense to me. As above, I think more showing rather than telling when it comes to the characters appearance would have made the novel more immersive, as it was a lot of description.

Overall, I think this is a nice short novel for people who like retelling of fairy tales, especially if you like things a little darker!

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgally for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in return for a honest review.

“Dream Walker,” by Bruce Martin

First of all, the author did a disservice to himself by not marketing the fact that this is a dark Alice in Wonderland retelling. You find out really soon so it’s not actually a spoiler. Good thing that I’m also a fan of horror. Anyways, it’s an Alice in Wonderland retelling but dark filled with creatures like vampires, werewolves, demons, etc. I immediately hated the FMC for being a pick me girl, but she gets better after she goes to the non-human realm. Unfortunately, I find that some authors make their main characters so unlikeable at the beginning so by the end they can say they “developed” but it’s not much in reality because they were so annoying at the beginning, and I got a little of those vibes. Regardless of all that, I did like the book and found it interesting. 4 out of 5 stars.

-Alice in Wonderland dark retelling
-Vampires
-Werewolves
-Demons
-Chosen One
-Multi POV

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story went in a direction I really wasn't expecting and was an okay read but I ultimately ended up dnf'ing as I couldn't get pulled into the world

I really enjoyed this as a opening chapter in the Dream Walker series, it had that overall feel that I was looking for. It had that horror element that I was expecting and that the lack of memory was horrifying. Bruce Martin does a fantastic job in writing this and left me excited for more in this world.

Definitely not what I thought it was going to be but I loved it anyway! Loved the cover. It gives off spooky vibes which is great for spooky season

I was surprised to discover this is an Alice In Wonderland retelling since that wasn’t mentioned in the description. But I love classic retellings so this seemed to be right up my alley.
Unfortunately I ended up DNFing this book at 50%.
The first chapter didn’t really hook me in and then the second chapter contained a massive info dump. In my opinion the writing wasn’t the best and the story felt very weird and random and not in a good way. It was quite confusing. The dialogue didn’t feel very natural. There was a lot of telling instead of showing. I found it very difficult to become immersed in the story or really find any sense of place. I think the whole premise was really interesting but was poorly executed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc to review.

If you like your fairytales a bit darker, your characters deliciously crazy, and a story that takes you on an adventure of twists and turns, then Dream Walker is the novel for you. It is an Alice in Wonderland retelling, but rather than being the atypical mystical crazy but sweet fantasy take that a lot of authors do for this subgenre (and nothing wrong with this; I personally am a big fan of the classical retelling versions!), it presents a dark unsettled view of Wonderland. Imagine if all the characters and magical creatures that you expect to see in classic Wonderland, are just not quite right... like looking into a mirror and feeling your reflection is not quite your own... Dream Walker gives this vibes. It's an eyrie tale where Wonderland has become "Netherworld".

I would have enjoyed it more, if the author had taken it even darker, which from his writing style, I feel he could pull off really well, but I believe it is a young adult novel, so that wouldn't be an appropriate direction to take it in. I feel if you are a young adult reader, your rating for this novel would reflect on the higher side.

As typical of young adult novels, the characters were put into difficult situations were they had to rely on themselves and friendships to overcome the odds. It was quite heartwarming in these parts, and made the twists even more dramatic.

If you found the Cheshire Cat and co in Alice in Wonderland cute, and fancy a creepier version, then give this book a go. Perhaps a good way to ease yourself into the spooky season? - it releases perfectly 2 days before Halloween!