2.0

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Alice is now 15 years old and her tales of Wonderland has landed her in an asylum. Facing a radical treatment being imposed on her, Alice flees with the White Rabbit to Wonderland and finds herself in the middle of a rebellion. Even more concerning, the rebels want Alice to kill the Queen of Hearts.

I normally like retellings of classic tales (for instance, I LOVED Cinder, Scarlett, and Cress by Marissa Meyer), but I just couldn't get into this book. It started out slow and the pace didn't improve much throughout the book. I didn't like any of the characters, including Alice, and felt the character development and worldbuilding was lacking. People that really loved the original book will probably still like this book, but it just wasn't for me.

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

This book was my first by HJ Ramsay and I have to say I'm conflicted. The synopsis of Ever Alice pulled me in instantly and I couldn't wait to jump into the story. Once I started the book everything felt shoved together and slow. The pacing was snail's pace and the characters, even though I loved them, I wasn't able to connect on the level that I was hoping for. The ending sped up quite a bit and pulled everything together. I was pleasantly surprised at the end. I just wish I would have loved the start of the book.

I found this to be a fun, quirky tale of what happened to Alice after she returned from her adventures in Wonderland. Alice is fifteen and never stopped believing in Wonderland even though everyone thinks she has lost her mind. Her family is so worried that they continue to try and find treatments for Alice. Hoping against hope that she will forget her obsession with Wonderland. When Alice gets a chance to go back to Wonderland to help stop the Red Queen she agrees. Though she doesn't want to kill anyone she really wants to help and is willing to do whatever she can.

I really enjoyed this.

Ever Alice follows fifteen year old Alice after her first time to Wonderland...but she’s in a mad house.

Wonderland and the story in general (both the original and the retelling) are both so mad, that at times the whole story feels like a dream. The author does such a good job at crafting a story that could truly fit alongside the original tale but is still unique enough to be its own. It’s humorous, and witty, and I really enjoyed reading about all of the old characters, and meeting new characters.

I found the story did drag a little bit, and the beginning was difficult to get into. There was also a bit of romance, that I wasn’t a fan of, but overall it wasn’t really present enough to be a problem.

Overall, I would recommend this to a younger audience, either late middle school or early high school. I myself, fall quite a bit out of that range and still enjoyed it.

I was a little nervous when I started reading this, I’ve never been that comfortable with modern uptakes on the old classics. However, this actually blew me away, a fantastic (almost) sequel to the original but way way darker!! A very clever read

Ever Alice was an ARC that I was really interested in reading, the concept really appealed to me, especially because Alice is a little older in this one and is a little more aware of everything that is going on around her. I was interested to see what impact that was going to have on the story and all of the characters. This book definitely didn’t disappoint, I think there was so much going on within this story and I really loved where the story was headed. I do have a small complaint which would be that everything happened really quickly and some of the stuff wasn’t really developed and explained well. But I did really enjoy reading the story!

I loved revisiting all of the characters and hearing about how some of them ended up. I will say that it Ever Alice was a little confusing in the sense that the different characters were given “proper” names and they were a little hard to keep a track off. Also I think that the most confusing element of the story for me would be the Mad Hatter element of it all. I loved him as a character in the original but his change of character was never explained and I struggled to reconcile who he was and his reaction to Alice’s arrival. I think in terms of all the characters they fell a little flat in one way or another but I think the plot pulled the story through.


I think the best bit of Ever Alice would definitely be all of Rosamund, or the Red Queen. I thought that she was hilariously written and some of the one liners she had were really funny, I also think that she was one of the more developed characters and I really found I enjoyed her parts of the story more than others! I also really enjoyed the writing of this book, I think it did a really good job of following Carroll’s original writing style and mimicked the madness of Wonderland perfectly.

I don’t have many complaints about Ever Alice, because I actually really enjoyed reading it. I think my big gripe with the story would definitely have to be the characters. I mentioned above that they all fell a little flat to me, and although the plot and story pulled them through I felt as though they were a little rushed. I wanted more time with them all to learn about their motivations and what was going on with them personally.

I would recommend Ever Alice in a heartbeat! I really loved the plot and revisiting Wonderland, the book kept me hooked even with some slightly 2D characters. I hope there is another book to build on everything that happened in this one.

I love Alice and this was such an amazing take on the classic tale! I loved the plot, the pacing, everything!!! If you love Wonderland, then read this!

Have you ever read a book that made you feel as if you were going mad? Ever Alice did exactly that for me. H.J. Ramsay’s take on Lewis Carroll’s classic story was, as said by the people of Wonderland, most unimportant.
After Alice first returned from Wonderland, she was promptly “tossed” into an insane asylum and labeled as mad by both professionals and her family. As a last ditch effort, her doctor decided to contact a specialist for an invasive surgery to “fix” Alice. At the last minute, Ralph, previously known as the White Rabbit, comes to whisk her away to Wonderland. However, there is one condition. Alice must help the Aboveground Organization kill the Queen of Hearts.

I generally enjoyed my return to Wonderland. The world-building had a lot of same whimsy and backwardness that was set up in Carroll's original, mixed with the character building that is common in more modern novels. The plot was twisty and a bit dark, and I liked that you never could really figure out what was going to happen next.

The addition of Rosamund's (the Queen of Hearts's) point of view was refreshing, and was probably my favourite part of the novel. We got to see what made her tick and why she constantly wanted to behead people—and whether there were consequences to her actions. It rounded out the story nicely and gave a little more depth that I feel Alice, as a character, was missing.

The "real world" plot around Alice and the asylum made the story (strangely) more believable, and the conclusion went somewhere that I never expected. I was thoroughly impressed.

My one big criticism is that the author couldn't quite mirror the similes and the language that Carroll perfected, and sometimes I had to think about it so hard that it brought me out of the story. For that reason, it took me much longer to read this book than it should have, because I kept getting pushed out and didn't feel compelled to go back into the story.

If you're a fan of Alice, however, even just the movies, I think you would appreciate where Ramsay takes the story. That's worth it in itself.

3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Red Rogue Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Ever Alice was a wonderful reimagining of Alice in Wonderland that builds off of the classic written by Lewis Carroll, and takes place years after the original story, when Alice is now 15 years old.

Alice's family did not believe her stories about her original trip to Wonderland, and after visits with many different doctors, her tales eventually land her in an insane asylum (1800s style). When at the age of 15 Alice is told she may be able to get released, following an experimental procedure at another asylum, she agrees, but is rescued at the last moment by the White Rabbit, who takes her back to Wonderland on one condition - she must agree to kill the Red Queen.

I thought this novel was SO well done. It includes all the flavors and original Wonderland ridiculousness of the original Alice, but with court intrigue, romance, scandal, and treachery involved - plus the continuing question of madness.

I love Alice in Wonderland and I love retellings of classics. I thought this was well done, a little twisted (which I liked) and exciting. I think it's always hard with retellings to get a really good balance between giving fans what they loved about the original story while trying to keep things new and exciting, and this book definitely does a good job with the new and interesting. I could see how this twist on the story could be hit or miss.

I enjoyed reading this Alice in Wonderland retelling. As a reader, it constructed a question in my mind if Wonderland did exist or if Wonderland solely created inside Alice's mind. It is quite difficult not to have that question cross your mind, however, as you proceed through the book you will be surprised with an unexpected turn of events.
This retelling is unlike other retellings. It is not your classic expectations when it comes to retelling. This book is quite dark yet exciting.
Adventure, thriller, and retelling all in one.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsay. I’ve voluntarily read and reviewed this copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ever Alice takes us back to Wonderland. Alice is now 15 years old and has been placed in a mental institution for all her talk of Wonderland. In the meantime in Wonderland the Queen of Hearts keeps herself busy with daily beheadings. When the White Rabbit convinces Alice to come back to Wonderland, he wants her to do one simple thing: Kill the Queen of Hearts.

Ever Alice is a dark and intriguing spin on Alice in Wonderland. The writing is fast paced and the story build-up is done nicely. The switch of POV between Alice and the Queen of Hearts makes for a compelling story. The Queen of Hearts is a great villain even funny at times, which makes her POV the most interesting to read.

The ending was absolutely amazing. Dark and twisty, it makes you question everything - which is the great thing about being in Wonderland ofcourse!

I did miss the whimsical, magical and weird bits about Wonderland but the dark and twisty bits made up for that. Highly recommend if you enjoy reading retellings

As always my thanks to Red Rogue Press and NetGalley for an eARC of H.R. Ramsay’s ‘Ever Alice’ in exchange for an honest review.

In 1888 Alice Liddell, now aged fifteen, cannot forget her childhood experiences in Wonderland and continues to talk about them. Her family becomes worried about her mental health and have her admitted to an asylum. After her doctor decides that she isn’t responding to treatment, he takes her to Switzerland for an experimental operation. Yet she baulks at the last minute. The White Rabbit had been appearing to her and urging her to return with him to Wonderland in order to overthrow the Queen of Hearts. She had rejected his appeal. He appears once again and helps her escape at the last minute.

The premise of this sequel to ‘Alice in Wonderland’ sounded like something that I would enjoy. I read to about 30% and found that I wasn’t feeling particularly engaged. I then skimmed further before deciding that it wasn’t working for me. I did read the final chapters as I wanted to see how it resolved. I was disappointed. It might be due to it being aimed at a Teen/YA readership, though I have enjoyed a number of YA novels.

For me it lacked the whimsical, surrealist nature of the original. More of a problem was the language as it just sounded too modern rather than late Victorian. The narrative continually switched between the perspectives of Alice and of Rosamund, the Queen of Hearts and it just felt choppy.

Then there were the anachronisms, especially in Wonderland. The most distracting was the introduction of a Marilyn Monroe-inspired character, who proceeded to perform a version of ‘Happy Birthday’ a la Monroe’s singing for JFK dressed in a way that certainly was not in keeping with the period. I found it jarring.

I did note that the Swiss doctor who treated Alice, Dr. Gottlieb Burckhardt, did indeed pioneer psychosurgery in 1888. I felt that in some ways Alice’s perceived mental illness and the Queen of Hearts’ dangerous paranoia could have opened up some quite interesting avenues but this wasn’t really explored.

Clearly this was a project that meant a great deal to Ramsay and did work for many readers, but I just wasn’t one of them.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsay from NetGalley and Red Rogue Press

"…a wonderfully whimsical and fun story inspired by Alice and Wonderland …"

The author has created a brilliant and unique take on Lewis Carroll’s, Alice in Wonderland. A unique plotline, quirky characters and an interesting interpretation of the characters Carroll is famous for. Ramsay creates a humourous story about 15-year-old Alice whose parents are concerned with her rantings about her friend “the white rabbit”. Her parents fear that after a near-drowning, the trauma has caused her to lose her mind and as a result commit her to an insane asylum for treatment. Alice endures the asylum and after a while, when just on the verge of being released home, a nasty nurse exposes Alice by sharing her journal filled with rants about the white rabbit and a place called Wonderland. At a loss, the asylum staff decide to take her to see a doctor famous for curing individuals with a surgical procedure. After seeing other patients Alice realizes this procedure isn’t going to be as easy as she is told, luckily at the direst moment, her friend the “white rabbit” appears and whisks her away to Wonderland where her adventure begins.

Filled with humour, this is a wonderfully whimsical and fun story inspired by Alice in Wonderland and although a YA novel I would recommend to young and old alike.

I enjoyed the new take on the story and the idea of showing what was happening to Alice after the years that she’s been back from Wonderland. Another thing, that I personally enjoy in books, was the way the chapters were written, with variation between Alice’s or The Queen’s side of the story. It kept a nice pace throughout the book. I also liked the ending, but I don’t wanna give any spoilers away!

However, I really struggled to keep on reading and had to persevere through sheer will power to finish it. The book didn’t make me excited to read it, I felt bored quite a lot of the time. The story itself took quite a long time to pick up speed and develop into something. At times, the story felt like it was really stretched out in order to fill up some pages. It felt fairly repetitive at times and slow going, even though there weren’t any hefty descriptions.

The story also didn’t make me root for any particular character. They were all quite one-dimensional and not very elaborate. Just a bit bland in general.

This is a story that takes place after wonderland. Alice is a 15 year old who has been committed to an insane asylum after she comes back from wonderland.
She then meets the white rabbit again and is taken back to wonderland thrown into a plot to murder the queen of hearts.

I enjoyed this book it was an interesting twist on the classic tale.
I didn’t however really connect with Alice as a character her mannerisms generally annoyed me unfortunately.

The best part of this book for me was when we got to see things from Rosamund’s POV. I thought she was a fantastic character as the queen of hearts I’m not sure if it was supposed to be funny but her inner monologues and the way she snapped at people made me laugh out loud I thought she was a brilliant villain.

I gave this book three stars because of those glimpses from the villain but as much as I loved Rosamund and her chapters I didn’t feel engaged when Alice’s POV came round. It also wasn’t really anything new I love Alice in wonderland but I’ve read quite a few reimaginings now this had the same kind of vibe as the book called Stain by A.G Howard which I really enjoyed but didn’t quite meet the same benchmark for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

*thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for an honest review*

3 / 5 stars

The author took everything that I love about Alice in Wonderland and ramped it up to 11. Characters I really didn’t care about before, I cared for them now. They had depth and stood on their own, something I feel like the original missed out on. Felt adult, if that clarifies things. It wasn’t totally perfect, no book is, but I love the retellings phase that we’ve been going through lately and would think Lewis Carol would appreciate the love that people have been throwing his work.

Sadly this book just didn't work for me. I haven't found an Alice book that I've enjoyed ever, but I was so hoping this one would be the one, sadly it just wasn't. The writing style just wasn't for me.

My friend found this on NetGalley and knew it was something that would be up my alley. I love love, love fairytale retellings. While Alice in Wonderland isn’t my favorite fairytale I still wanted to read it. I have read Heartless the story of how the Queen of Hearts got her horrific reputation. This one is told from the perspective of Alice herself and the Queen of Hearts as well. I couldn’t wait to start it.

As I started this book I knew that it wouldn’t be like any sort of retelling that I was thinking it would be. Alice is considered crazy because of her wonderful tales and drawings of Wonderland. Her parents have sent her multiple doctors all claiming that they could fix her and everything will be back to normal. They finally decide to take her to the insane asylum that is promising to fix her and get her back to normal. The whole time I was reading this I was getting madder and madder at the parents for locking their 14-year-old daughter away in an insane asylum because she was different than other kids. So what that she wrote stories and drew pictures of things not of this world? She had an imagination that should be supported. I understand that it was the time frame the story took place but still. The story jumps chapter to chapter from Alice to The Queen of Hearts. At times that is super annoying because just as you get into a groove with the one storyline it chases.

The story is well written. The book is exciting. Has all the elements of the original Alice in Wonderland, The Cheshire Cat, The White Rabbit, even the Mad Hatter. Each of those characters has their own storyline. They have jousting events with licorice whips, they have sword fights with real swordfish. The author left me wondering where the book was going with how the story was being told but it left me gasping and shedding a few tears when she finally dropped the shoe so to speak with how she addressed Alice’s healthcare in the asylum. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of fairytale retelling, or even someone who wants a good fantasy based book. I will be keeping an eye out for more by this author in the future.