I think I enjoyed this one more than the first!

“A Dream so Dark” takes us back to Wonderland to face off against this who wish to see Nightmares roam free and create an unstoppable undead army and it be up to Alice and her friends to save the day before the darkness consumes everyone in both worlds.

This book still played a lot to the Buffy like elements especially bringing in more of the mundane responsibilities of normal life while trying to figure out how to stop the darkness without your mother noticing and I really enjoyed seeing more of Alice’s family and what I can only guess is foreshadowing for the next book.

The plot in this was so much fun with a lot of the past being revealed and the parallel journey Addison and a certain character who will remain nameless for spoilers sake had along with Alice and Chess. Seeing both of these duos manage their personal relationships and the betrayals that came about was so interesting and I’m really excited to see how these new revelations work moving forward.

Not sure how I feel about the love story side I feel like we had a lot of doors opening for multiple relationships which is fine but I’m with Courtney on who I ship so I’m a little nervous to see what happens!

This book was such a great read giving us more time with our favorites and branching out adding more characters to the group and along with the threat of madness and destruction patiently waiting to tear away at their ride off into the sunset I can’t wait to see where the conclusion of the series takes us!

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

*This review contains spoilers for book one, A BLADE SO BLACK*

A DREAM SO DARK, sequel to A BLADE SO BLACK, follows where the first book left off: Alice is in deep trouble with her mom, Hatta is on the verge of Madness, and the evil coming from Wonderland is still a mystery. There is so much to love in A DREAM SO DARK, from the action-packed plot, the deeper world building, and the mystery.

Being a Dreamwalker and having to go in and out of Wonderland where time is wonky, Alice is constantly disappearing, not answering calls, and generally scaring her mom to high levels of worry. Alice is torn between telling her mom the truth and possibly putting her in danger (or her mom disbelieving her entirely). I love how their relationship is always a central part to the story: two family members who love each other dearly and would do anything to protect the other. As the danger in Alice's secret world increases, she will have to decide sooner rather than later what to tell her mom.

While there were a few times I struggled to understand what was happening plot wise, by the end, we get a good explanation of what's going on and, importantly, what no one understands yet. Through the twists and turns in the plot, we are introduced to more areas of Wonderland and more information on the other Gates. There is so much rich world building in this story that I continuously found myself hoping we'll get several more installments in this series just to learn more about McKinney's Wonderland and to get to know the new characters better. I've never been a big fan of the original Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, but McKinney's take on Wonderland and the complex, lovable characters she creates in this series have made me at least appreciate the original for being part of this series's inspiration.

While romance takes a back seat to the adventure, the romance(s) is so well done that I can't not comment on it. The central and secondary casts are primarily queer, and Alice has multiple romantic interests. A BLADE SO BLACK alludes to more of a love triangle, but truly, the trope is subverted in this series. Alice doesn't spend significant amounts of time worrying which person she likes the most. She's occupied with saving the world (multiple times) that, while she definitely has feelings for some people, she doesn't have the time to focus or explore them too deeply. There's just enough romance to add in swoons, butterflies, some drama, and set up the potential for more in future books. (And to clarify, romance is in no way treated as anything 'lesser' or unattainable in this series. Just not something there is room to resolve yet).

A DREAM SO DARK takes everything I loved in A BLADE SO BLACK (Wonderlandian adventures, kick-butt fight scenes, hilarious dialogue, and a top notch cast of characters) and multiples it by ten. This is a series you can sink into and stay awhile, and I hope we get more sequels!

This is the second novel and a continuation of A Blade So Black. This book is turbo charged from beginning to end. It picks up nearly the moment the last one ends. You are carried from one intense scene to another, whisked back and forth between worlds, diving into fight scenes, speculating on the identity of the antagonist, falling in love with the characters as you uncover more of their past. You know a book is good when you are a little sad it ended.
LL McKinney also does an amazing job of highlighting the kind of YA content we need; diverse, complex characters with gratifying storylines full of action, magic, love, and just the right touch of Wonderland whimsy.

This series is so amazing and continues to get better. Please tell me the author is writing more especially in this twisted wonderland. Like I need a third book asap. It was so good and I just want more.

I absolutely loved this, perhaps more than the first installment. This time, being familiar with the world and the different players, I was just swept along for the ride, and what a ride it was.

As an African-American reader, it was a unique experience to read what would usually be a fairly standard YA fantasy type novel - girl encounters other world, discovers she has powers in other world, discovers her powers are greater than they should be... is she the one? - and have it peppered with references to people who sound like my mother, my family, and my friends. It's a different book experience than I usually have. I suppose I am saying, in short, representation matters, and I loved the amount of representation in this book.

Aside from all that, it was a great story with great pacing and intriguing characters. Can't wait to read more from the author!

Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for the E-arc copy of #ADreamSoDark.
The outstanding series just keeps getting better and better. Alice is a well-written character that you have to keep turning the page to find out what's going to happen next.