I really really wanted to like this book. When I read the synopsis it sounded really good. I mean Alice in a insane asylum...how creepy is that? Honestly it just fell short for me. I didn't really have an idea what was going on for most of the book. Alice in Wonderland is such a quirky and just super weird book and the author tried to capture that but it kinda got annoying towards the end. It didn't really capture the original magic of the book. It was just frustrating. I did enjoy the ending. I think it captured that creepy feeling that I wanted. But overall the book was just ok for me.



*I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Ever Alice is a delightful twist on the classic Alice in Wonderland! This book has many of the characters we've all grown up with and loved, plus a few more to add magic to the story. I truly enjoyed the alternate view from the author, as I'm sure many people have often wondered what happens to Alice.

I like a good retelling and Alice in Wonderland is always a good one because it can be bent in so many ways. I personally loved the strangeness of the world and how it actually made me feel like I was there and I could see everything, but in some parts, it became a bit monotonous and that is a bit of a down point for me.
Not bad overall

I have to start by saying that the reason I got this book was because I am a huge fan of anything Alice in Wonderland. I eat it up. Because of that, anything fiddling around with my beloved story will be under intense scrutiny. Not that you can’t change things and have fun. Wonderland is almost always changing in the most absurd ways possible. That’s what’s awesome about it. But you have to do it right.

This book did it right. Yay!

This book picks up Alice’s story as a teenager, still working on wrapping her head around what happened in Wonderland. Her family doesn’t believe her and has been sending her to an asylum, which gets worse when she is going to have surgery in order to try and fix whatever is “wrong” with her. I hated that part, but it was in line with what people would have thought in that time period. It was definitely realistic.

A direct contrast with the chapters in Wonderland, which was great. I thought H.J. Ramsay had a perfect voice, coming very close to mimicking the absurdity of the original novel. Up is down, left is right, and no one questions the Queen of Hearts. The chapters alternate between Alice, who gets rescued from the asylum and brought back to Wonderland by the White Rabbit, and Rosemund, the Queen of Hearts who is trying to stop a plot to take her throne.

The story really plays up the question of whether this is real or whether it’s in Alice’s head until the very end, when you find out the truth. Many of the original characters are there, like the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and Bill the Lizard. There are also some new characters we get to meet, like Thomas (the Prince of Hearts) and Constance (the Queen of Spades). It makes the story familiar while still being very new and exciting. For me, it was a really good blend.

GoodReads rating: 4 stars. If you like Wonderland, you should really enjoy this.

Ever Alice is a book that has left me entirely unsure how to feel about it. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of my favorite books so I am always excited to check out a new retelling or story inspired by it that’s set in Wonderland. Ever Alice hit a lot of those notes and completely satisfied me in some regards, but in other areas I felt disappointed and felt this book missed the mark.

Ever Alice is essentially a follow-up to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It takes place some years after Alice’s initial adventures in Carroll’s books when she is back home with her family and attempting to come to grips with what happened during that adventurous period. Unfortunately, Alice’s family finds her insistence that the stories about Wonderland are real worrisome and eventually send her off to an asylum, which of course does nothing to help her. From here, the story takes off and through unforeseen circumstances, Alice is able to return to Wonderland.

To start on a positive note, I thought Ramsay’s depiction of Wonderland was absolutely wonderful. I think she captured that incredibly unique sense of oddness and absurdity that makes of the world of Wonderland extremely well and managed to turn it into her own story. Everything in this world is upside-down and often centered around opposites--for example, someone’s bout of good fortune might be described as extremely ‘unlucky’ rather than what we would normally call lucky, and commenting that it’s a truly dreadful day actually means that it’s a beautiful day. Similarly, added details such as everyone loving tea that tastes of oily fish or rotten eggs (and topped off with butter!) and actual animals that talk and characters such as Marco Polo that are actual eggs a la Humpty Dumpty style made me excited to see--almost never do I see retellings where the White Rabbit is actually a rabbit, Cheshire is actually a cat, and so on and so forth. A lot of retellings that I read seem to maintain a certain amount oddity, but they never quite capture that sense of absurdity that Wonderland embodies.

The characters were also both promising and disappointing. Ever Alice switches between two POVs: Alice and that of the Queen of Hearts, Rosumand. Alice was very much the embodiment of a somewhat shy and naive girl who is thrust into situations she is unprepared and manages to make the most of them and find her way. She tries to do good even when she is being pitted to do the opposite, and her development and gradual understanding of her strength and purpose were well done and enjoyable to watch.

In contrast, however, was Rosamund’s character. At first it seemed as though the author was going to make the queen a one dimensional villain with transparent goals and a lack of any interest in her as a person. Then, a little ways into the novel there started to be some more aspects of her character shown and I started thinking that she might have some sort of storyline that would make her more engaging. She was always horrible, but she had some more intriguing qualities and small side thoughts that make me think there might be more to her than meets the eye. Unfortunately, Ramsay always seemed to bring Rosamund back to her one dimensional figure and not explore her development further. I wasn’t expecting a redemption arc to make me like her, but there was so much potential for her character that I feel wasn’t explored enough.

Where this book really lost my interest, however, was with the plot. There was so much wasted potential in this story, and I don’t mean that to sound nearly as harsh it sounds. I didn’t hate this book by any means and elements of the plot were well done, but on the whole it simply lacked a major source of intrigue and coherency. Compared to the world-building, the plot was completely lackluster. There seemed to be a lot of things constantly happening, but when I look back on it I can barely even think of what events specifically moved the plot forward.

The last thing I’d like to briefly mention is that I had a hard time even figuring out what Ramsay’s target audience was supposed to be. I first assumed this was an adult book, but once I started reading it I thought the writing style seemed young due to how Ramsay set up the story and some of the actions and dialogue of the characters. However, there were also certain events and themes that occurred that felt much more mature and not for younger audiences, so I can only conclude that is for young adult audiences.

**Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review**

Ever Alice, takes place a few years after Alice makes her first trip to Wonderland. Back in England, she is admitted to an insane asylum for her inexplicable madness. Soon enough, Ralph, the White Rabbit, comes into her conscious to whisk her back into the rabbit hole to save Wonderland from the Red Queen.

The most unique aspect of the novel is how the writing fits with the original Wonderland story and the characters’ dialogues perfectly complement the mad and confusing nature of the world. The story line is simple enough; a revolutionist group brings Alice back to kill the Queen of Hearts. The murkiness is where the true allegiances are and who is good and bad.

The story isn’t very complicated nor are the characters. Rather the whole appeal of the book is the world building.

I enjoyed reading about Wonderland and seeing how Ramsay illustrates and develops the world. Here, she tries to stay close the original while adding a few flairs here and there to bring in more . The Kingdom of Clubs was more or less the rival kingdom to the Kingdom of Hearts, whereas the Kingdom of Spades has more of unknown origins, and the Kingdom of Diamonds is a mystery of its own. Also, I loved that the whole story takes place on a chess-like board (eg Hydrangea 20, Calla Lilly 8, etc), paying tribute to Alice Through the Looking Glass.

This is a nice interesting read that I think most Wonderland enthusiasts will enjoy. Ramsay stays true to the writing style and does and amazing job in creating an extension of the world.

I was not interested enough to finish the book. Lacking plot and character development. Descriptive enough to get me past the first chapter, but not enough to complete.

4.5 stars. Whimsical, fantastical, and true to the original while still being incredibly imaginative on its own.

Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsay is a whimsical and fantastical read. It holds true to the original Alice in Wonderland while still being incredibly imaginative on its own. As a true lover of everything Alice, I was skeptical at first...as retellings tend to be very polarizing. Sometimes they're wonderful and sometimes they're painful. I'm glad to report that in this case, it was an incredibly enjoyable read.

This is not a true retelling, as it pick ups the story from where Carroll's original tales left off. The narrative is necessarily dark, enhancing the darkness of the original and propelling it from a children's read to a young adult tome.

The characters also remain based on the original, though some have obtained new names and the structural organization of Wonderland is slightly altered. Additional supporting characters have been added that have places in other tales or nods to the real world. Alice herself is still somewhat childlike, but there is a bit more reality to this story than the originals. She is still a very imaginative girl, but there has been some growing up in the character.

This story is fun and clever and remains a clear nod to the original stories. It is a good imagining of the continuation and a good read for an Alice lover.

Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsay was an incredibly enjoyable read for me. I had an excellent time reading it and found myself thoroughly entertained. Because of this, it also read very quickly and easily. This one is one that could find itself a place on my permanent shelf and could likely earn itself a reread in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I am not a person that likes to DNF books, but I am going to have to do this here. I am giving this book 2 stars because I really liked the idea of an Alice in Wonderland continuation where Alice ends up in a loony bin. However, the pacing of this book is horribly slow. It took me two weeks just to get 30% of the way through. I think it is admirable that the author seems to have mimicked the original Alice in Wonderland style so well, but it made it very difficult for me to read.

I think Alice in Wonderland superfans would most likely get a really big kick out of this book and race through it, but it totally stalled for me. I set it down to read and review some other books and while I do want to know what happens in the end, I don't want to slog my way through the rest of the book right now to find out. I may pick it up again in the future, but for now it's a non-finisher.

I’m not a huge Alice in Wonderland buff, but I do love retellings and continuations of classic stories, and that is what originally drew me to this book. My interest was peaked to see what has happened to Alice, now age 15 after her adventures in Wonderland.

And boy, was I in for an emotional rollercoaster! I find stories that are not based my own relatable reality really draw you in and make you more invested, and this was definitely the case. The Wonderland speak made me work to read the story and keep up with the characters and also made it easier to relate to Alice’s discomfort and confusion. Being written by opposing first person accounts from both Alice and the Queen of Hearts point of view added another dimension to the story and the up and down emotions of the book.

I don’t want to give two much away, but this was a very relevant fan sequel for the Alice fandom. I highly recommend this book snd just want to say that the ending gave me a very emotional reaction and left me thinking out Ever Alice for a while afterwards.

Ever Alice by H.J. Ramsay is due to release August 1, 2019.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Red Rogue Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#EverAlice #NetGalley

There’s a Wonderland exhibition going on right now, so obviously I’ve got to read something Alice-related while waiting for my friend to finish Alice in Wonderland so we can visit. Ever Alice sounded like it was right up my alley, so I was really excited to read it.

As you can expect, Alice’s tales of wonderland did not go over well. Perplexed, her parents sent her to doctor after doctor until she landed in an asylum. Desperate to get home in time for her sister’s wedding, Alice agrees to go for an experimental treatment (which sounds like a Lobotomy to me). At the last minute, the White Rabbit reappears and asks Alice to go back to Wonderland, where she must kill the Queen of Hearts.

At the same time, Rosamund, the Queen of Hearts, sees traitors everywhere. And with a bull out for her after she executed her husband for treason, she cannot afford to let anything slip.

My first impressions after reading this were: this is a really topsy-turvy world. I’m not sure if I was this confused after reading Alice in Wonderland because that was quite some time ago. It’s not just the world-building, with the way words mean the opposite of what they normally do and the absurd practices (the tea sounds disgusting), it’s also the way everything seemed disconnected. I knew of the plot to kill the Red Queen but like Alice, I was extremely confused by everything else.

I was also very confused by the love story. [MILD SPOILER ALERT] Alice and the prince fell in love almost immediately and it seemed pretty mutual despite him having previous paramours. But, it was such an insta-love story that I couldn’t buy it – in fact, I don’t think the book gave me any reason to buy their romance story, so it was one of the parts that I really didn’t enjoy.

In addition, I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It was pretty cool until they went back to the real world. I’m not going to give any specifics, but it felt like a cop-out for the explanation of Wonderland.

But what saved the book for me was Alice and Rosamund. Alice was probably the most normal person there and her reactions were exactly like mine. I thought that her internal struggle – on whether to kill the Red Queen – was very well-written and the book captured her confusion perfectly. And although Rosamund was the capricious, crazy Red Queen, I found that I had quite a soft-spot for her. It’s clear that she’s got some serious problems and I would have loved for her to be able to face herself. It didn’t happen, sadly, but I thought that she was an interesting character and I wanted to find out more about why she became that way.

Overall, I enjoyed this. Sadly, the ending and the insta-love spoiled quite a bit of my enjoyment, but if that doesn’t bother you and you want to go back to the unpredictable world of Wonderland, then I think you would enjoy this.

Overall, I did enjoy the story. I liked the popping back and forth between Alice and the Queen of Hearts. It was jarring at times, but the headings at the beginning of each chapter told you who you were with. (Though the headings themselves could be difficult to read in some places.) Seeing the Queen slowly devolve further and further into madness was the highlight for me.

BUT the clincher, the world. Wonderland is absolutely stunning and we get to learn so much about it without it being an info-dump. Throughout the entirety of the book we learn little tidbits here and there and wow, I could take a whole other book to just explore the different kingdoms. Please let just drop me off at the Kingdom of Hearts and I’ll take the rest from there, because I want to see it all.

I enjoyed the story. The dual POV was done very well and the world setting is just fantastic. Alice was Alice, I found I actually preferred the Queen’s character to her for a majority of the story just because the Queen’s story, and her unique POV was so well written. Alice just wasn’t endearing until after another character’s death when she actually decides to do something and that was three quarters of the way through the book. The ending of the Wonderland story just wasn’t satisfying, but the bit of darkness afterwards was just right.

I would definitely recommend this as a solid, quick and good read for lovers of YA Fantasy.

3.5⭐️

Ever Alice is a “what could have happened” Alice in Wonderland retelling. Alice has been placed in an asylum by her parents because she continues to believe in and talk about Wonderland. In Wonderland, the Queen has continued the madness of beheadings and paranoia. The white rabbit brings Alice back to Wonderland to try to help the rightful Queen take her place as ruler of Wonderland.

The characters were fun and Wonderland was as quirky as in the original tale. I think it is a great concept for a book. I am a big fan of retellings and sequels. I just kind of felt like the story dragged on a big and kind of fell flat for me. There is usually a build up, the main part of the story and conclusion...I just didn’t feel like the main storyline lived up to its potential. I did enjoy the book and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys Alice in Wonderland retellings or just retellings in general. I guess I just had really high expectations and this was just a bit shy of those expectations.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Title: Ever Alice
Author: H. J. Ramsay
Pages: 356 pages
Release Date: August 1, 2019
Genre: Fiction, Fairytale Retelling
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Stars: 3.5
People of Color?: N/A
LGBTQ?: No
Bechdel Test? (Depiction of Women): Yes
Trigger Warning: Alice is often restrained and forced to do things against her will, such as medical procedures, as well as a prisoner in a mental hospital. She is also restrained and sentenced to death in Wonderland.

I received a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alice has grown up but not out of her insistence that Wonderland is real. She’s 15 and her parents are distressed that she continues to talk about Wonderland. It’s both odd and has embarrassed them. They seek help from a doctor who places her in a mental institution. It becomes difficult to tell what is real and what is in her head. The author does a good job in her depiction of Wonderland, especially the Red Queen. Alice is give a mission by the White Rabbit to kill the Queen in order to save Wonderland. Things get terribly complicated as Alice decides to live for herself rather than for her family or to satisfy her doctors. This complicates her mission. After arriving in Wonderland, the POV switches between the Red Queen and Alice. The last few chapters had several great twists that I did not see coming!

Likes: Wonderland was well depicted! I liked some of the silly depiction of the Red Queen’s life as well. The end was also really interesting!
Dislikes: The story moved rather slowly at some points. Although I liked the Red Queen, sometimes her chapters would not move the plot forward and sidetracked the story.
Recommended for: I would definitely recommend this for YA and up!

I didn’t finish this book. I couldn’t get into it which was very disappointing for me as I love Alice retellings. I don’t know if it was the writing style, or the story itself I’m sure it has great potential but I couldn’t finish it.

“We’re all mad here.”

These cryptic, confusing words from the iconic Cheshire Cat have been part of our vocabulary since Alice in Wonderland first came out. As Alice travels through Wonderland, we see that everyone in Wonderland is indeed mad, and Alice is the only one who’s sane… or is she?

Ever Alice opens with Alice, now fifteen, locked in an insane asylum by her own parents, who don’t believe her wild stories. Betrayed and hurt, Alice clings to her belief in Wonderland, drawing pictures of the White Rabbit and hiding them from the doctors. Then one day, the White Rabbit returns and Alice follows him back to Wonderland without a second thought. However, this trip doesn’t promise to be a lighthearted adventure. Anything but - in fact, the White Rabbit has come to ask her to kill the Queen of Hearts.

This novel is told from two points of view, switching back and forth between Alice and the Queen of Hearts herself. Called Rosamund, the Queen of Hearts is an intimidating personality. Like in the original, the Queen comes across more as a petulant child than as a true terrifying villain, but her unpredictability does bring a level of fear. Rosamund is extremely paranoid, suspecting everyone of being out to get her, ready to sentence anyone to death at any moment. In her first chapter, we watch her behead her own husband after accusing him of being a traitor. Only a few chapters later, she learns he wasn’t really a traitor, and yet she feels no regret.

When Alice arrives at court, she is given a position as a lady’s maid to the Queen. Being with the queen at all times gives her more opportunities to kill her - but also more chances for the Queen to order her execution. Can Alice carry out the plot and save Wonderland, or will the Queen win, as she always has before?

Throughout the book, as Alice spends more and more time in Wonderland, she starts to wonder if Wonderland is really where she belongs. Is she really mad? Can she return to England, or is it a place that will never truly accept her for who she is? Is she really mad enough to belong in Wonderland?

I was really excited for this book. I thought it had a lot of potential: I’ve always loved Alice in Wonderland, and retellings, and I thought it would be interesting to see a deep, psychological take on the story, especially one involving an insane asylum. And the book definitely did explore it in some interesting ways. I really liked the worldbuilding of Wonderland - everything was completely topsy turvy. People say the opposite of what they really mean, the bedding is lumpy and scratchy, and the tea tastes like fish. Talking animals coexist with humans. The author really had fun with making Wonderland as wild and wacky as possible, and while it is confusing at first, it really does add to the feeling of madness that I think the author is going for. The Queen was an interesting character with a fascinating and terrible backstory that I really wanted to explore. Even after finishing the book, my mind crawls with questions about her… why is she so suspicious of everyone? What made her this way? Why does she get so much joy from beheading people? The novel only scratched the surface, however. I think my one biggest critique of the book is that I wish the book had dug deeper into the psychological aspect and explored Alice and the Queen’s psyches and the Queen’s backstory in particular a bit more. So I don’t think it fully lived up to its potential. However, I still found it to be an interesting and enjoyable read, and after getting only a few chapters in, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. For fans of classic retellings, Alice in Wonderland, or just a good psychological fantasy story, this story is for you.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Red Rogue Press for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

Alice and Wonderland is one of my very favorite classics. I remember reading Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass over an over as a kid. Now that I am an adult I often seek out retellings because I find it fascinating to see what people kind of interesting takes authors will do with the story.

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. There was an almost off kilter feel to the book where everything thing feels slightly askew. If there was one complaint to be had it would be that though the story is about Alice she often feels like a supporting character to the story instead of the main character. That being said this was a fun read.

I love Alice in Wonderland retellings and this was no exception. I loved the world, the characters, the story. I had so much fun reading it and I definitely will be rereading this in the future!

Sorry not for me at all. It started off ok but then I got bored. Shame, I really wanted to like this one butbut felt a bit forced.

This was such a fun book to read! Truly delightful retelling. I loved the spin of Alice being in an asylum, I found that it made things more interesting and drew me in right away. I loved how familiar everything was, and all the nonsense. The nonsense words, the weird tea, the culture. It is just fun to let your imagination go wild while keeping up with the story. I loved the little nods to things here and there, like Marilyn Montague singing “Happy unbirthday to you”. If you’re a fan of retellings, you should give this a try!