Noooo. NOOOOOO. Tell my why both Christina Henry books I've read so far have been flops. I own three more of her books. What does this mean?

I am so sad. There is so much room here for horror and oddities. Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland shows that even with a family-friendly premise, the story can be weird and off-putting. This seriously just shouldn't have been a retelling at all. The connections to the original fairytale exist almost in name only, with some of the most iconic and charismatic characters (or elements of characters) being left out.

So much of the horror of this book felt included for shock value, which is disappointing. This is a very  adult book (see trigger warnings and take them seriously, please), but that doesn't always mean horror has to equate to needless violence or trauma. With the exception of one character introduction with the Caterpillar, which I found to be very effective and horrifying, I thought most of the horror elements thrown at the wall didn't stick for me.

In rapid-fire bullet points, here are some of my other gripes, since I can't be bothered to spend any more energy on this book:

This could have been promising, but any positives I have are vastly outweighed by poor execution and unnecessarily tying in an IP that in no way enhanced the content of the story. Don't waste your time.