I have wanted to read Alice for ages stumbling across it on Twitter and purchasing Lost Boy, the Peter Pan reworking, at the same time.
I mention reworking but sequeal to Alice in Wonderland is probably a more accurate description of Henry's tale. I thought it a very clever idea - a tea party gone wrong leaving Alice mentally disturbed/traumatised by what has happened to her. The White Rabbit is present as is the Cheshire Cat , although as evil gang lords there is little to liken them to Disney's interpretation of the Carroll classic.
Whereas I loved the concept, I thought the book floundered in the actual telling of the story. There seemed to be a lot of walking around interspersed with very brutal, descriptive passages. Some very powerful scenes (particularly the Alice/Hatcher scene at his grandmother's house upon their escape) followed by some very weak sections. The villains were portrayed as pure evil yet their confrontations with Alice and Hatcher were tame in comparison. Would Hatcher really have sat back and let someone else do the job to the Walrus? Would such an advanced magician like the Jabberowocky really have come undone the way he did? Was it a teenage book? -No far too violent, was it adult book? No not really developed enough to be fully fledged and Alice came across as too childlike, too teen hero-esque.
I didn't emphasise with Alice and really disliked how Henry made her a killer. Fair enough in a 'me or you' situation but as the book progressed her killings became unprompted and almost unnecessary, yet the reader was supposed to accept this from the main character in the book.
The group commented as to how the book possibly harked to Carroll's twisted relationship with Alice and the fact he was reportedly on LSD at the time of writing. This would explain a lot of the magic elements of the book but I'm not sure if this was Henry's intention.
We also talked about how the book portrayed social barriers, the keeping down of the slums, feminism and how it mirrors today's society but again I'm not sure that was Henry's intention.
Alice reminded me of a number of books, Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials, Judi Canavan's The Magician' Guild, and others I couldn't put my finger on but please, don't hold it up there with books of those esteem.
I will read the Lost Boy, hoping it's an improvement on Alice but I won't buy The Red Queen, I don't care enough about the missing child, or Alice to want to.
It scored 6 with very wide ranging scores (2-9)
Oue next book is Names For The Sea by Sarah Moss
I mention reworking but sequeal to Alice in Wonderland is probably a more accurate description of Henry's tale. I thought it a very clever idea - a tea party gone wrong leaving Alice mentally disturbed/traumatised by what has happened to her. The White Rabbit is present as is the Cheshire Cat , although as evil gang lords there is little to liken them to Disney's interpretation of the Carroll classic.
Whereas I loved the concept, I thought the book floundered in the actual telling of the story. There seemed to be a lot of walking around interspersed with very brutal, descriptive passages. Some very powerful scenes (particularly the Alice/Hatcher scene at his grandmother's house upon their escape) followed by some very weak sections. The villains were portrayed as pure evil yet their confrontations with Alice and Hatcher were tame in comparison. Would Hatcher really have sat back and let someone else do the job to the Walrus? Would such an advanced magician like the Jabberowocky really have come undone the way he did? Was it a teenage book? -No far too violent, was it adult book? No not really developed enough to be fully fledged and Alice came across as too childlike, too teen hero-esque.
I didn't emphasise with Alice and really disliked how Henry made her a killer. Fair enough in a 'me or you' situation but as the book progressed her killings became unprompted and almost unnecessary, yet the reader was supposed to accept this from the main character in the book.
The group commented as to how the book possibly harked to Carroll's twisted relationship with Alice and the fact he was reportedly on LSD at the time of writing. This would explain a lot of the magic elements of the book but I'm not sure if this was Henry's intention.
We also talked about how the book portrayed social barriers, the keeping down of the slums, feminism and how it mirrors today's society but again I'm not sure that was Henry's intention.
Alice reminded me of a number of books, Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials, Judi Canavan's The Magician' Guild, and others I couldn't put my finger on but please, don't hold it up there with books of those esteem.
I will read the Lost Boy, hoping it's an improvement on Alice but I won't buy The Red Queen, I don't care enough about the missing child, or Alice to want to.
It scored 6 with very wide ranging scores (2-9)
Oue next book is Names For The Sea by Sarah Moss
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