If you are looking for a dark Alice in Wonderland retelling, then this book is for you! I found this story very unique and liked some aspects of it but I found it too gory for me when I read it. I don't mind gore and horror every once in a while but at the time, I wasn't feeling this novel too much but I do think there will be many whom will enjoy it.

The story of a late teenager/young woman who finds herself stranded in a strange land, not knowing if she’s alive or dead, “Child of Nod” is sort of a retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, although it gets far enough from it that it’s not -that- close. It also draws on famous fairy tales and on mythology in general, but here, too, more as an inspiration than for full retelling purposes, so that the book stands on its own here. There’s madness, and horror, and memories, and strong imagery (like the Queen of Blades—this one screams to be drawn), and side characters, too, that I found oddly endearing, such as Dog.

The tone is overall quite dark, in that who and what Alice meets are usually not friendly, and even when she meets people who help her, the latter also have their own darkness to contend with: one suffers from leprosy, another is very likely dying from cancer, the Hunter himself didn’t exactly have a shiny childhood, etc. Nod as governed by the Red Queen is clearly not an enchanting place and there’s always something ready to devour something else around the corner. So, not a story for kids.

The story was definitely interesting, but I had trouble at times with the style (some sentences being abrupt and repetitive), and with the pacing. 90% of the book is spent on Alice’s travels through Nod, with brief insights into the lives of a few people she meets along the way, and by comparison, the final scene and the aftermath got very little screentime, and the ending felt rushed. I would’ve preferred something more balanced here, as well as seeing Alice’s journey and the other characters’ stories more solidly interwoven.

Conclusion: 2.5 stars

Child of Nod – WOW – its Alice in Wonderland contemporary version. Just add some shreds from ancient myths, Brother’s Grimm fairy tales, Neil Gaiman and some other high flying fantasies, and make it all in really dark colors and really grisly scenes and that’s the Child of Nod.

It’s clever and sharp and macabre, but so interesting.

Did not Finish - 15%

Just in case there weren't enough Alice in Wonderland spin-off or inspired by teen books out there; C.W. Snyder brings us her take on the beloved tale. The Child of Nod brings Alice into Nod (essentially Wonderland) which appears to be some sort of land of the dead. We start out with Alice dropping down some sort of hole and being carried off by water. Sound familiar?

*Yawn*
I broke my usual rule of reading at least 30% of a book before giving up because I honestly could not keep my eyes open. Snyder's writing is too matter of fact for me; she lacks a real deep essence to her writing that I want in fairy tales. There needs to be a spark of magic early on to really drawn us into the world construct; unfortunately Land of Nod made me nod off.

Errors Galore
I know writing is touch. And finding a good editor is even harder. And yes Land of Nod is published by a small house that likely doesn't have a lot of resources (or money) for writers to drawn from in order to get a good editor. And that's okay. Amazing stories don't have to be perfect. But they do need to have basic grammar and spelling check ran on them. Almost everyone other page I was finding an error or needing to re-read a sentence that was awkwardly phrased. Never underestimate the need for a good content editor AND a good technical editor.

Overall
This just felt like a yawn fest and with so many great books in my queue I decided not to stick it out. Additionally, if you are going to write a novel based on the premise of a famous story, you had better be sure it's solid. Everyone knows the story of Alice and would be far more impressed if you took that construct and really made it your own. It's certainly possible that as the Child of Nod carries forward it gets better. I'm okay not ever knowing and moving onto the next Alice in Wonderland inspired novel. It's not like there is any lack of them.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who was dead."
A dark Alice in Wonderland retelling, you definitely need to be the right sort of headspace to read this weird book. I liked that there are other bits of fairy tales and mythologies in there as well. DEFINITELY not for kids, as there are some rather gory and very dark bits.

“‘To be precise, I’d say you’re in the village of Hamlin. To be realistic, I’d say you’re exactly where you need to be.’”

I received a free e-copy through NetGalley from the publishers at Curiosity Quills Press. This was another recommendation from Roberta at Offbeat YA and an Alice in Wonderland interpretation, so there was no way I could pass it up! Trigger warnings: death, violence, gore, body horror, serious illness, cannibalism.

Alice is dead. Well, she’s pretty sure she’s dead. She’s arrived in a strange afterworld called Nod where characters from mythology and fairytales gather, but even the afterlife isn’t safe. Someone is hunting her, and the chase leads her to various regions of Nod and its inhabitants, some dead, some not, some trustworthy, and others with their own agendas. Throughout her travels, it becomes clear that Nod has been corrupted by its Red Queen, and it may be up to Alice to restore the balance.

Not surprisingly, this is a very weird book. It’s pretty much on a whole other level of weird. It has a number of interesting concepts in it, but I never felt like they were adequately pulled together. In theory, I like the idea of having characters from all different stories and mythologies (Cain from the Bible, the Piper of Hamlin from fairytales, the Fates from Greek mythology), but in reality, there wasn’t enough explanation or overlap to justify throwing them all together. It felt like a pastiche in the worst definition of the word–a pulling from various sources without any understanding or sensitivity to their contexts and no attempt to bring any further understanding to those stories. Why is Cain the only Bible character present? Why include Cain without invoking the mythology of Cain, such as the Mark of Cain or the murder of his brother? In other words, why is this character the Biblical Cain and not just any random character with that name?

For all the cool ideas in it, it’s also incredibly slow. There are a lot of overzealous scenery descriptions. (Not Tolkien-level zealous, but I get it, it smells like earth and trees pretty much everywhere.) There are a lot of short chapters, chapter breaks, and shifting perspectives that make it difficult to get into the story, since we’re constantly being jolted right out of it. There are frequent detours into the histories of minor characters, which are interesting but… so what? They’re only loosely connected to Alice’s situation, and their colorful backstories often don’t provide much insight into their current actions. Again, I felt like there wasn’t enough work being done to connect all the many layers of this story. Alice is the main character, but she’s possibly the flattest of all of them. We have no insight into her age or physical description and very little into her history or motivations. There’s no sense of character development. With one exception, I have no idea how she feels about anything that happens to her.

Misgivings aside, the horror elements of the story are very well done. They’re by no means the main point, but I enjoy a story that doesn’t shirk from the grotesque. From a man who contracts leprosy from his tattoos and a queen with swords perpetually stuck in her back (AWESOME) to a madman who’s forced to eat his wife’s corpse, Child of Nod has some very gruesome and vivid imagery going on. I can see by the reviews that this turned a lot of people away from the book, but it was basically the only thing that saved it for me. (Because I’m disturbed, obviously.) It has one of the weakest epilogues I’ve ever seen; the novel has almost no closure whatsoever, and I’m not sure I have it in me to continue with the series. For twisted Alice interpretations, I’d much sooner go with Christina Henry’s Alice and Red Queen.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who was dead."

That opening line had me hooked immediately on this book and is pretty much what made me know that I wanted to read it.

Child of Nod turned out to be completely unexpected from what I thought this book might be. This book is pitched as darker take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in which Alice ends up in Nod, a corrupted fairy tale land on the other side of death. I knew that this would be a darker story, which is what drew me to it initially, but I had no idea just how dark and gory it would be or what exactly it would be like. This is hard book to even describe and rate because it just felt so different from most books. It's definitely one that I plan on revisiting

Going into this book, I wasn't really sure what age-range it was being marketed towards, but I assumed it was possibly young adult, although the cover could have been anything from middle grade to adult. I have to say that this is definitely not written for kids and leans heavily toward the adult side, which was perfectly fine with me (I'm always ready for more Alice retellings at any age range). It's definitely dark and also rather creepy, so if that's not your thing then this book might not be for you.

This is a very atmospheric book that focuses a lot on descriptions, images, and emotions. There's not a large amount of action, but the narrative itself is still surprisingly gripping. That being said, there is still plenty of plot development and this book was never boring. Child of Nod a slow-paced book that seems to focus more on development of the characters themselves than it does on large events.

Alice herself was a particularly intriguing character. The weird thing about this Alice is that about halfway through I realized that we, the readers, never really get any backstory about her life because she can't remember her past. It's not often that I read books from the perspective of someone who we don't really know much about, and I was also surprised that it didn't really bother me at all. I enjoyed getting to know Alice based on her present circumstances and how she reacted to things as they happened to her. Alice is sweet, but there's much more to her than that; she's exceptionally curious and eager to find out exactly what she's doing in Nod.

There are a couple of other characters that this narrative focuses on that were extremely interesting figures to follow. I did find myself slightly confused at times when trying to remember the identities of various characters and occasionally forgot who was who. This might not have been a problem if I had been able to easily check back to figure out who was who, but since it was on my Kindle I couldn't do that easily so I just kept reading until I got the hang of things. I still really enjoyed reading about the backstories on these characters, and it's within these backstories where some of the darker and more horror-esque moments occurred most often.

Child of Nod is a book that I still need to think about and consider the thees and what this book was meant to be about. I also think that this is one of those books that I would prefer reading as a physical book because I kept wanting to go back and check thing or just reread certain parts, in addition to the fact that I personally find atmospheric and description-heavy books are just easier for me to read. Regardless, Child of Nod will definitely make you think and it is one that I do recommend.

Overall, I've given Child of Nod four stars!

This was an interesting book, and the cover foreshadowed that XD No idea what the cover had to do with anything, but it definitely drew me in. All of the insight into the side characters was very different, but also a little bit confusing. I ended up getting the backstories confused when names were mentioned. I liked figuring out who was behind the names though, and how they came to be in Nod. It's not every day you read a book from the perspective of a dead person.
Quite a lot happened in this book that made me feel uncomfortable and a little queasy. I'm not sure why it's tagged as a horror book, but it was quite gory and more than a little bit strange.
The whole book did feel a little bit rushed though, and not very fleshed out. Oddly enough, I felt like I got to know every character APART from Alice. I quite liked Zee until <spoiler>we got his back story and it turns out he ATE HIS WIFE?? Raw? So disgusting.</spoiler> And then <spoiler>he burnt down their house?</spoiler> I feel like we got too much backstory in proportion to how much we actually read about each person. It didn't seem right. Wish I could connect with this more.

This was quite literally one of the coolest books I've ever read that I just couldn't get into. The premise and ideas of it were sensational but for some reason I wasn't hungry to keep reading it.
It incorporates so many elements of storytelling going as far back as having characters from the bible, to Greek and Viking lore, common fairytales (Snow White, Red Riding Hood), and favourite children's stories like Alice in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz, etc. Each has a slightly modern and paranormal twist to it.
The story is told from different characters points of view so you begin to understand not only their role in the land of Nod, but in some cases, how they got there in the first place. I also found it fun to try to figure out how each character was connected to which story.
I'm not sure why I couldn't really dig into this book but I liked it well enough to give it 3 stars. It looks as though this may be a series so I'd definitely check out the next one simply to see what stories the author decides to draw from next.
Many thanks for the free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for the honest review.

Sorry but I couldn't get into the book at all. I tried though, I'm so sorry for my ADD brain.

A twisted version of Alice in wonderland that involves zombies

I want to mention I was first attracted to the cover of this novel. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. Sure enough, upon reading the description...I was not disappointed.

This book is a very creative and unique retelling of Alice's Wonderland. I loved the idea of the story and world itself, but for some reason, I could not get fully into it. I failed to connect with the character Alice. I followed her on her journey to the Red Queen, but I couldn't seem to bond with her or feel what she experienced. I think this may be caused by the fast pace the story began with. There was no background story, the action just began. As a reader, I had no time to connect with characters.

I really enjoyed that the reader is given small bits of information as the story progresses. You are given flashbacks or new details that shed light on the plot, but never deter you from the main narrative. Many different stories are melded into on int his dark, fantasy retelling. weaving many intricate pieces together is difficult, but this story did it well.

The world building was amazing. The beings discussed were depicted with immense detail, very vivid in my mind. Though I do not mind the gore, some might. This book is very gruesome at times.

This book is an intriguing retelling of Alice in Wonderland, with gore, zombies and so much more. This is one of the most imaginative books i have read anf i found the plot extremely engaging and thoroughly enjoyable

A dark and disturbing vision of the afterlife, that takes me back to the fairy tale favourites of my childhood, this book grabs the reader from the off and the relentless pace never stops until we get to the surprisingly satisfying conclusion..
Taking inspiration from numerous mythologies as well as from the fairy tale genre, the author creates a bizarre and off kilter world for us as readers and takes us on an epic quest along with his heroine Alice, and her various companions, while building a wonderful tension.. At times the action was so fast paced that it was a little difficult to follow what was going on, especially in the earlier parts of the book, but as the story unfolded and more of the world it takes place in is revealed, several story threads are very effectively drawn together.

A Darker and Edgier Alice

Here's what strikes me as an important thing to know about this entertaining book. It is very twisty, but you always understand what's going on. You start out in the dark. Then you get just enough exposition to take another step. And then another step. Every digression loops right back to the main thread. Every flashback or apparent detour just serves to move you a little bit further along, or to make some important connection. Alice always has some sort of companion who makes just enough of a cryptic comment or observation to keep you on track. That means that as you read you have plenty of opportunity to marvel at the sights and subtle jokes and connections, but never at the risk of losing the main narrative thread. It's refreshing to find a fairy tale reimagining that is both full of rich, twisty bits and yet still clearly plotted and crisply told.

This is not one of those reimaginings that takes a classic and just reworks it to change the setting or add something the author felt was missing, (violence, sex, a political or gender statement, zombies). Rather, it seemed to be that the author here took the idea of Alice, stripped out the funsy whimsy, and then added lots of new ingredients to mix up a much different sort of stew.

So, instead of falling down a rabbit hole our Alice is shot and pushed in front of an oncoming subway car by a villainous character working at the direction of an even more villainous character. Off we go to meet Acheron, cross the Styx, and head out on our quest. But here's the thing. Just a bit in we meet Cain, (who wasn't in the Wonderland books I read), avoid the Great Hunt, (ditto), search for the children of Hamelin, (ditto), chat with the Fates, (ditto), and meet a fair number of undead sorts who feel more like zombies than Wonderland folks. Heck, even "Nod" is from a different comic strip.

That's all O.K., though, because this book is strong on its own and doesn't need to be a parody, a knock-off, or a reimagining. Alice's quest is interesting, mysterious, legitimate, and vaguely mythic. Alice is a no-nonsense, self-reliant, not easily rattled heroine who is more than up to the task of taking over her own narrative, which makes her tale worth following.

This is all enhanced by the author's restraint. There's a lot of atmosphere, but it's sketched in with a combination of broad strokes and little details. We aren't burdened with some laborious world building. Characters are cryptic and none of their connections to Alice or to other stories are underlined or italicized. (If you don't notice when Alice arrives in the childless town of Hamelin, well, no one is going to beat the point home to you.) Alice is also a bit deadpan and understated, so we don't get a lot of drama or angst or emoting. She just has some sort of existential problem here and she's going to soldier on through it, and she's starting to get a little fed up.

For what it's worth, this book has a surprising amount of gore and horror, but also a light touch with dialogue and some very amusing and wry supporting characters. Every now and then Alice screams and laughs in the same paragraph. Talk about "balance".

So, this was a fun read that was much more rewarding, and much more deeply crafted, than I expected, and it struck me as a fine and happy find.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Alice, the Alice from Alice in Wonderland is dead. This is not going to be clear when you start reading this book, but then it shifts to her killers point of view, and all is revealed. The books is not perfect, hopefully some of the things were polished before the printed version, but it the horror aspect make it an interesting read.

I'm sure some people will enjoy this, but it was not what I was expecting and I just couldn't get into it. I liked the idea of the story and the world, it's great that the author created a land where a bunch of different afterlifes are all kind of patched together and I liked how we had characters from all of them like Cain, Cerberus, and Fenris. I caught some Alice in Wonderland references [obviously] but I'm sure there were more that I missed because I'm just not super familiar with the source material. However Alice herself just seemed kind of two dimensional and I never really connected with her or came to care how her or the ongoing plot at all.

Also I went into this basically expecting like ...a whimsical [if a bit dark] middle grade level story and that is definitely not what I got. Just for example, somewhere in the middle there's a flashback where a guy gets locked in his basement and has to eat his dead wife's corpse before he gets let out and while I wouldn't mind that if I was reading like ...a mystery thriller or horror novel or something, I felt it was so out of place here with what I was expecting from the cover and summary of this story that that is pretty much the point I gave up all hope of getting into this. It just wasn't for me.

Child of Nod is NOT an Alice in Wonderland spin-off. Child of Nod follows a character, who happens to be named Alice. Alice is dead, pushed off a train platform. She finds herself in this strange world being chased by someone. This book is really strange. There were several times I wanted to put the book down. It was so boring and lacked any real substance. There isn't any suspense or drama. You don't really understand why Alice is even being chased until the very end and that excuse really falls flat. Also, 52% thru the book, the author introduces a new character. The new character isn't even important to the storyline. It is really a shame. The ending also ended abruptly. I would not recommend this book.

Alice wakes up on the other side of life. Death is a strange, strange place, filled with mythical creatures from different lores. She doesn't know what she has to do, or where she has to go. Thankfully, Dog is there to accompany her.

And even though one would expect death to be the end of the line, for Alice it is a new beginning. She is still being hunted down, creatures and human beings trying to capture and kill her (yes, for a second time). Along her way, some will try to help her, others hinder her, and the reader will take a glimpse behind those characters' stories, as well. What is the ultimate fate of Alice? What is she searching for?

There was a promising beginning in this story. You can easily tell from the start that this is a form of Alice in Wonderland in a darker, more serious and very different retelling. Which would be absolutely great, save for some details that take away from this smart plot. I feel the need to mention that there is a spot or two where the book becomes too graphic. There's one particularly hard chapter, with which I would be fine if it was just emotionally tough. Sadly, it is far too descriptive, verging on the edge (or even slightly passing it) gore. There can be horror scenes and fear provoking sets without that kind of descriptions, in my humble opinion. I also felt that some parts of this story needed more explanation.

Aside from that, the myths woven in the plot are very well constructed and detailed, thus forming very good pieces in the puzzle of Alice's death and fate. The construct of balance in a strange realm is very well described and justified, and there are some quite unpredictable parts hidden in the plot. Moreover, most (but not everyone's) characters' actions are justified due to their past.

All in all, it was an interesting story. However, as a reader I felt it needed fewer hard descriptions, more explanations around the heroine's life.

I totally got pulled in by the cover which was awesome, but having read it I think the cover was for a different book. It's an interesting story, but ultimately frustrating. It uses Alice and other iconic names, but it doesn't seem to use the characters that those names represent. This does not seem to be the Alice from Wonderland so why call her Alice? I have no idea what a continuation of this would entail.