Tag Archives: Red Queen

Review: Ever Alice by H. J. Ramsay

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
Ever Alice by H J Ramsay shows silhouette of girl holding a teapot

Ever Alice
H. J. Ramsay
Red Rogue Press
Published August 1, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About Ever Alice

Alice’s stories of Wonderland did more than raise a few eyebrows—it landed her in an asylum. Now at 15 years of age, she’s willing to do anything to leave, which includes agreeing to an experimental procedure. When Alice decides at the last minute not to go through with it, she escapes with the White Rabbit to Wonderland and trades one mad house for another: the court of the Queen of Hearts. Only this time, she is under orders to take out the Queen.

When love, scandal, and intrigue begin to muddle her mission, Alice finds herself on the wrong side of the chopping block.

My Review

I think the idea of EVER ALICE is really clever. It seems completely plausible to me that if the Alice from the original story came back from Wonderland and tried to explain her adventures to her family and friends, they would send her to an asylum.

That premise also gives EVER ALICE a darker, creepier feel. This Wonderland feels much more like something created by Tim Burton rather than Lewis Carroll. Several scenes show victims of the Red Queen’s conspiracy theories getting beheaded. She chooses food and drinks that become increasingly gross.

Something felt missing for me in reading the book, though. I wanted more from Alice. She’s a passive character, constantly getting caught up in other people’s plans. Even when she finally (about 60% of the way through the story) commits to a course of action, she still relies on others to lead her to the solution to her problem.

I liked that the story isn’t as simple as a girl falling through a rabbit hole into another world. (Though I guess that doesn’t sound all that simple.) I liked that it left me with questions about what Alice really experienced. All in all, I’d say EVER ALICE wasn’t the best fit for me as a reader, but it was an interesting leap from the original story.

If you’re looking for a reimagining of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, I recommend Umberland, the second book in the series by Wendy Spinale.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Alice and her family are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
One character reads cards, tea leaves, and palms to predict the future. The Cheshire cat appears and disappears. Ghosts appear and speak to living characters.

Violent Content
Several descriptions of beheading.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of EVER ALICE in exchange for my honest review.

Upcoming Reviews on the Story Sanctuary (April 2015)

Lists, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Over the next few weeks, The Story Sanctuary will be home to reviews for some great new releases as well as some catch-up reviews on recent or past releases. Here are a few you can expect to see…

When You Leave by Monica Ropal

This was one of those stories that left me pining for another chapter. Really great characters and tension. Very angsty story, which is so often what I crave in YA.

Between Shadows by Kathleen Cook Waldron

I had the pleasure of meeting this author and talking about the book with her late last year. Her description of the story and its characters were so intriguing that I’ve been thinking about them ever since. Can’t wait to crack the cover on this one!

Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee

I found myself drawn to it because it’s so different from my usual reading pick. Boxing and political intrigue? I’m so game.

All the Rage by Courtney Summers

Apparently NetGalley flagged this one for me because I loved We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (which I definitely did!) So I’m nervous – it’s usually a bad idea for me to go into a book expecting it to be like another book – but hopeful. Sounds like it’s got some deep psychological exploration in it, and I’m always up for that.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Twitter has been abuzz with praise for this novel. It’s sort of X-men meets fairy tale. Loads of political drama, intrigue and betrayal.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

This is a book that caught my eye on another reviewer’s to-read list. The cover is really intriguing, and I find myself really curious about a story in which the goblin is the good guy. There aren’t too many of those.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

This is one of those rare series in which I’ve read all the books leading up to this one. I’m super excited to read it. Meyer brings really imaginative story world to every book in the Lunar Chronicles. I’m as interested in Queen Levana’s history as I am in how Meyer constructs Levana’s world.

Fix by Force by Jason Warne

I’ve almost picked this novel up several times, and this month I’ll finally read and review it. It’s a coming-of-age plus drug battle type story, another of my known literary weaknesses.

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