Hello, I will be adding this review to my blog, instagram, and goodreads on July 22nd, 2019. It will also be added to Amazon and Barnes & Noble (if applicable) on the publication date. Links will be added when they are live, thank you.

Title: Ever Alice
Author: H.J. Ramsay
Genre: YA Fantasy/Retelling
Publication Date: August 1st, 2019
Rating: 2 stars

eARC provided by publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

->Click for Synopsis<-

Alice's tale of Wonderland put her in an asylum. She decides against an experiment and finds herself in Wonderland again with the White Rabbit. It's a whole new adventure and hopefully she can keep her head.

I am a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland. I have read it multiple times and have multiple editions. Unfortunately, this book wasn't what I was expecting and not in a good way.

The plot was an interesting take on what happens after for Alice. It was different than other retellings and I appreciate a new spin on it, especially with the added part about the asylum. Even with the unique additions this retelling had the plot felt slow. The writing was meant to resemble the original story but it just wasn't the same silliness I have grown to love.

When it came to the characters, the original cast was present, some more than others. The Mad Hatter didn't feel like his unusual self in this which was really disappointing as he is one of my favorite characters. New characters were added but they lacked in depth for me.

Overall, it was an original retelling but it lacked in certain areas where more details were needed. Although it wasn't for me, I still think that other Alice fans would love this interesting and unique retelling.

Not my favorite read. I was excited because I love the original, but this story didn't grab me at the beginning so it was difficult to finish. The ending was unexpected, but getting there was like trudging through muck.

Hello! I really enjoyed reading this book however I did have problems with the formatting for the kindle.
Overall I enjoyed the themes and because I am a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, it was completely up my alley.
Although I wouldn't blame the writing of the book, it did take me a while to get into the book due to being on kindle. But I would love to pick up a physical book to see if my enjoyment of the book improves!
Would recommend this book for people who are fans of the Alice in Wonderland world. Very quirky!

I'll be the first to say that I'm pretty biased when it comes to anything revolving around Lewis Carroll's imaginative world of Wonderland. So when the opportunity to read Ever Alice before it's publication date came to me, I jumped at it.

My first exposure to Alice and the rest of Carroll's cast of characters was through the Disney animated film, which was released in 1951. Of course I wasn't alive when it was released but I can remember watching the film when I was as young as 5 or 6 years old. I remember distinctly because I had this notion the film was actually called 'Allison's Wonderland', and would prance around claiming that this was my movie. Being a child who loved the color blue,  having fair blonde hair, and who was named Allison after her paternal grandmother Alice, you can see where I got that notion from. Once I was old enough to read, I quickly realized that it was not 'My Movie' as I had always thought, but my fondness for the characters and the story had already been established. Moving away from the Disney interpretation of the story though, I jumped into both Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, and have held a respectable obsession with the stories for the better part of my life. I mean come on, my sweet 16 birthday party theme was Alice in Wonderland, complete with 'Eat Me' cookies and I blue dress for me. Hell, I've even tired to convince my sister that my Bridal Shower should be Alice in Wonderland themed, don't tell me that wouldn't be fun.

*Note we're getting to some potential spoilers*

Anyways, now that you know my life story and why I love a good Alice retelling, you can appreciate my bias a bit more, which is the whole reason I bring it up. Back to the Ramsay's story though, it's definitely not for people who want a 'whimsical' read. I know, I know, Wonderland is all about whimsical and nonsenical story telling, but keep in mind  the whole premise of Ramsay's story is to answer the question, "What if Alice was really mad, what would 1800's England society have done with her?" And the answer to that, is put her in an freaking insane asylum, because someone who demonstrates paranoia, delusions, and signs of hallucinating would most certainly be put away.

The story picks up 15 years after Alice's first encounter with Wonderland. She's been locked up in an asylum after her parents have grown tired of Alice's stories. When her doctor decides to give an experimental treatment a try, the white rabbit shows up just in time to save Alice and bring her back to Wonderland. Once back in Wonderland, Alice discovers things are worse than when she left and it's up to Alice and the Aboveground secret organization to stop the Red Queen before it's too late. The story line itself was okay, in the sense that it was engaging, fun, and held true to most of the original stories. I enjoyed the main characters having different names, ie. The White Rabbit's name is Ralph and the Mad Hatter is William, while they still kept their same defining characteristics. 

The narrative alternates between Alice's and the Queen of Hearts, which I generally favor multiple POV's.  I throughly enjoyed the dynamics between the two and also getting a glimpse into The Queen of Hearts' headspace. Ramsay did an excellecnt in character building between the two and I found myself getting increasing annoyed with The Queen, simply because she is without a doubt, mad. 

The thing I didn't really enjoy about the story line though, is how much I kept thinking back to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie. The conflict between the Queen of Hearts and the Queen of Spades (white queen) felt predictable and as if I'd seen it before. The fact that I simply love the characters (& Ramsay did portray the characters well) and the ending is what saved this book for me. Though the ending did feel a bit rushed for me (there were a handful of things I need more answers on), the last couple of pages sucked me right in. 

If you're an Alice in Wonderland Ramsay said in her Author Note, that she "figured it would stay under the heading of 'never-to-see-the-light-of-day'." I for one am glad that it did see the light of day. It kept the whimsical, off it's rocker vibe from the originals while playing with where the lines between fantasy and reality blur. I promise you will be left wondering which reality is real.

A rather dark Wonderland story. Ever Alice follows Alice back to Wonderland. In this book, Alice is a young teen whose parents sent her away to get help. Her stories of Wonderland concern them so she is sent to an asylum for treatment. In Alice's mind Wonderland was real and she is sad that her parents don't believe her. Alice's hopes of going home are shattered by a promising treatment that may possibly harm her. The White Rabbit saves her by taking her back to Wonderland with the intentions of her to kill the Queen of Hearts.

The story is told from alternating view points of Alice and the Queen of Hearts. I really liked the portrayal of the Queen, quirky and witty. This is a great tale of those who love Wonderland. Highly recommend!

It was another cute stroll into the world of Alice and Wonderland. I say "another" because I feel like it has been touched on before, but I love the familiarity of it. I would buy this book due to my adoration of the subject alone.

If you love Alice in Wonderland then you'll love this. II haven't read the books, but I've read other retellings and watched the movies.
This on had a unique twist, that I'm not going to go into detail about because you HAVE to read it!! It felt like it was kinda written as a sequel to the others. It was pretty good, I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either. I'm glad I read it.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

I struggle with retellings but this sounded intriguing and I wanted to give it a go. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me. It was slow and dull, and I didn't finish.

Thank you Netgalley for the copy of this book in exchange of my honest review

What happened when Alice came back from Wonderland? I think the concept of the book sounded amazing just from the start. When she got home, Alice´s parents thought her stories were really cute and that she was a child with an incredible imagination, but when the years keep passing and Alice turned older, the stories never stopped and they weren´t cute anymore. Alice´s parents decide to take her to an asylum and she won´t come out until all this wonderland talk is over.
So the years pass and Alice goes through a lot of heave treatments until she decides she won´t talk about it anymore because it won´t help her get out, and the doctor finally believes her, and its about to release her when a hideous nurse finds Alice´s notebook with all her draws from Wonderland so he knows she was faking it. Now he decides to take her to Switzerland, to a clinic where a "new procedure" will help her get cured, in just one day. Just before she gets surgery she runs out to Wonderland, where things are much more worse than she remembers, the Queen of Hearts is crazy and wants to behead everybody who crosses her, and Alice will be part of a team in charge of saving Wonderland once and for all.

A few things to note here, if you don´t like Alice in Wonderland, you won´t like this book at all. The autor managed to make the writing much more similar to Lewis Carroll than any re-imagination of Alice I have read before. All the mad sentences and songs, language, everything was much Carroll like and I really enjoyed that from the story.
The story is told from two different points of view, one from Alice and one from the Queen of Hearts, one chapter each, so we follow the story from both sides and it does get a little confusing at times. There were some twists and turns that I did not expect in this book, and some of them made me a little weary, the story is really violent, and there is a huge political drama involved and you will never know who the good ones nor the bad ones are.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot with exception from the ending. To be honest, I´m not sure how the writer was going to finalize this story but it felt a little bit rushed and it did left many things unexplained, hence 3,5 stars for me.

As I'm sure I've mentioned in several of my posts, I love retellings. This book follows Alice briefly during her life after Wonderland and then her return. She is living in an asylum and she still can't convince herself if her adventure in Wonderland was real or insanity. This book had me chuckling with its slapstick humor and satire. It was written in a peculiar way that represented the absurdity of the Red Queen and how she ruled her kingdom.
Alice is convinced to join the Queen's court to get her close to overthrow the Queen of Hearts. The writing was entertaining and the story is reminiscent of overall quirkiness of the movies directed by Tim Burton. Alice has to earn the Queen's trust and avoid suspicion while trying to accomplish her mission.
The story didn't end how I would've preferred, but the entire story overall was really enjoyable. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys retellings or even anyone looking for a quirky and humorous story.

Thank yo the NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

The story was not for me, maybe is because I didn't really enjoyed the original Alice in Wonderland and I picked this book as a second try to that story (I'll stay with the movies). The writing style is easy to read, the plot is really good, I really enjoyed how Alice is seen as a mad person (something that would happen in real life). How the story is told from two perspectives and the creepy factor that the doctor and nurses brings to the story. I like how every character has their own name, not just "The White Rabbit", "The Queen of Hearts", etc. I wish I would have enjoyed it more, because is a really good twist on the story, but as I said, I'm not really a fan of Alice in Wonderland (the book). And I think this would be the last book I read about this story, but I have to say, I was enjoying this more than the original.

Oh how I've missed you, my beloved characters from Alice in Wonderland! Ramsay absolutely brought you all back to life in her wonderful novel "Ever Alice". My only complaint is the lack of sleep I got due to reading until the wee hours of the morning... And now that I've finished it, I can't stop thinking about it. Great read! Highly recommend!

Reading "Ever Alice" brought back the nostalgia I always feel regarding one of my Top 3 Classics of all time. Being back into this world, surrounded by such mesmerising characters was a blast. The storylines are, however, more mature, more realistic so to speak. I keep loving the innocence of the original, but I admit that this new Wonderland has grown on me. The plot twists, the new Court members, the fact that the author wasn't afraid of changing old characters' personalities into more adult and biased ones - it got stuck to me in a way I wasn't expecting.
And of course, it wouldn't have been the same if she hadn't add those two prolongue scenes. Without adding spoilers, they have quite a baffling feeling on the reader, just as Carrol version has - the perfect finale inkling.

When Alice fell through the rabbit hole, she discovered a world filled with mystery and quite a bit of nonsense. She battled jabberwockies, talked with animals, and met a queen. But what happened when she came back?

Ever Alice picks up where Lewis Carroll left off. Alice has talked about Wonderland non-stop since her return and her parents are concerned. They’ve taken her to doctor after doctor until they have no choice but to commit her to an asylum. But Alice knows she’s not crazy. Every bit of Wonderland was as real as the padded walls around her. And when the White Rabbit shows up once again to lead her to Wonderland, she is convinced even more that what she’s seen is real. But the Rabbit hasn’t come back to invite her to tea or to walk through the gardens. This time, he’s back with a mission, one only Alice can do. He wants her to kill the Queen of Hearts.

H.J. Ramsay doesn’t skip a beat in this beautiful, nonsensical retelling of a classic. While keeping the integrity of Carroll’s characters intact, she makes it her own as well. It’s easy to get lost in the wonders of Wonderland and I’m reminded of my childhood and discovering Wonderland with Alice for the first time. Ramsay delivers more than just a new chapter in Alice’s story. She reminds us that sometimes reality isn’t all it seems and it’s ok to go back to Wonderland.

**I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.**

Ever Alice attempts to explain what happened to Alice after she left Wonderland. It's something most fans of the classic story have likely wondered. I'm not a huge fan of the original, but I decided to try this one anyway. I struggled through the slow beginning and got bored with it several times throughout the story. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this story any more than the original. Big fans of Alice in wonderland will enjoy this one. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

So if you liked Danielle Paige's Dorothy Must Die (which I liked the first one) then you will enjoy Ever Alice.

Yes we are talking about that Alice! Her tales of Wonderland did not give her a happy ever after instead she is locked up in an asylum, and is agreeing to a procedure that is of course experimental. Of course she changes her mind and runs off with the Rabbit and returns to wonderland where she now has to actually take out the Queen.

In a weird way, the beginning of this reminded me of the idea behind the TV show "Wonderland" or what ever it was called. It was the spin off of Once Upon a Time.

I love that we get both (Alice and the Queen of Hearts ) perspective. I have loved retellings like this (Huge fan of Wicked)
Is this book lifel changing um no. It's not supposed to be! Its a entertaining catch up on what Alice has been up to!

I wanted to enjoy this but sadly missed the mark for me, it was slow to start and by time it picked up I found I wasn’t interested, couldn’t keep me involved. The characters didn’t feel fully developed probably due to constantly switching points of view didn’t seem to be long enough to build them up, the characters just seem a weak copy of the original books

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest review

Ever Alice felt like a sequel to the original Alice in wonderland books. It was interesting to read perspectives of both the Queen of Hearts and Alice which was something I haven’t seen done before. I enjoyed reading about the somewhat bizarre customs of wonderland in Ever Alice and I loved the chaos of the court of the Queen of Hearts. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

I wanted to love this book and was really intrigued by the plot...a more grown-up Alice undergoing crazy procedures at insane asylums and escaping to Wonderland at the final moment. It sounded as if it had so much potential, not to mention a familiar setting with well-beloved characters from one of everybody’s favorite childhoods tales. I’m all for retellings or original spin-offs of fantastical classics, but this one missed the mark for me. I was quite bored through much of it, if I’m going to be honest, and it took too long for the story to pick up.

Things that worked, however, included the alternating chapter POVs between Alice and the Red Queen, the familiarity of the setting and characters, the respect towards the original story, and the whimsical writings that are reminiscent of Lewis Carroll. Perhaps one day I’ll give it another go, but this just didn’t do much for me.

"All ways were her way, and whatever way she wanted, she generally got, even if only in the end."

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Red Rogue Press. Trigger warnings: death, decapitation, violence, surgery, body horror, blood, poison, mental illness. Spoilers will be clearly marked.

When Alice returns from Wonderland, her parents find her stories charming for a while, but as she grows older, they eventually land her in an asylum. Just before undergoing a cutting-edge new procedure, Alice escapes to Wonderland with the White Rabbit, where things are worse than ever. The Queen of Hearts has beheaded the king and anyone else who dares to cross her, and she’s convinced that her entire court is trying to betray her. Alice finds work as one of the queen’s attendants, where she tries to make her new life work, but a group of underground rebels urges her to put an end to the mad queen once and for all.

Alice in Wonderland is my favorite fairytale, so I might be overly critical of its adaptations. I can never pass one up, but Ever Alice isn’t one of its better incarnations. A writer can take all the nonsense words and Wonderland references they want from the original tale, but the best adaptations take ownership of that source material and make it into something new. While Ramsay is clearly well-versed in the original stories, with plenty of nods to Carroll’s writing, there’s very little being added to the Alice mythology here. Combine the original story with the Tim Burton movie, plus some Return to Oz (1985) vibes in the beginning, and you’ll get Ever Alice. There was never a point where I felt fully immersed in the world or characters.

And that’s the second major issue. The chapters alternate between Alice and the queen, Rosamund, but neither feel like fully developed, three-dimensional people. Rosamund’s chapters are almost pure nonsense in a blend of paranoia and self-centeredness (a near-perfect imitation of Burton’s Queen of Hearts, I’ll admit), and Alice doesn’t seem to have any particular qualities. She doesn’t want to go back to the asylum or lose her head, but she doesn’t do a lot to prevent either of those things. Her romance with the vapid prince is fairly silly, as is most of the plot, though the ending in Wonderland is funny in a morbid, slapstick kind of way. I enjoyed the portrayal of the loyal White Rabbit, but other than that, the characters are shallow copies of the source material that never have a chance for real development. I didn’t care for the ending twist (more after the spoilers mark), which was really just a coffin nail. Recommended for diehard Alice fans, but not much else.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

In terms of bad endings, probably the only thing worse than “none of this is real” is “I gave my main character a lobotomy”, and Ever Alice, unfortunately, has both. I’ve never met a story where this strategy worked (Shutter Island? Definitely not. Sucker Punch? Maybe, but only if you’re following the main character’s motivations really closely.). It mostly just made me feel like I’d wasted my time with the rest of this story. Alice in Wonderland often walks the edge of was it real or was it just a dream/hallucination, but more work needs to be done to make that a satisfying conclusion rather than a cheap plot twist.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.