This book took a while for me to get into, but the last third of it really saved it for me.

I LOVE fairy tale retellings, and I hadn't read an Alice in Wonderland retelling, so I felt this one would be hit my interests. And for the most part it did, it just took a minute to get there.
I loved the whole idea of the book, is Wonderland all in Alice's head, or did she really experience it. I think that's a question that always circles around the Alice story in general and it was fun to see it explored as a little bit of both in this novel.

I don't want to be spoilery and give away the ending, but it wasn't one I predicted or saw coming really until the last couple of chapters. I liked the unexpectedness of that part of the story.

Overall, I think this book is a great reimagining of a famous story, and although we are becoming reacquainted with familiar characters, I found Ramsay's take on it refreshing and a thoughtful read.

J. Ramsay creates a Wonderland that's just as fantastical as Carroll's original, but tinged with slight hints of madness and darkness. People do die. Alice has to make mature choices but it is pretty darn good. 5/5.

Who doesn't love the wacky world of Wonderland? Thanks to Ever Alice, we get to visit it again. This quirky little story tells the tale of Alice a second time, with a twist. Alice is older, she's been condemned to a mental asylum for her belief in Wonderland, and her only way to escape is to follow the White Rabbit back down the rabbit hole. But is it real, or is it all in her head?

I really enjoyed this re-telling. H.J. Ramsay creates a Wonderland that's just as fantastical as Carroll's original, but tinged with slight hints of madness and darkness. People do die. Alice is walking a razor's edge between safety and being beheaded, and her development over the course of the book follows her as she becomes stronger: a leader of an unlikely rebellion. But the story is a joy to read, and new twists on familiar characters- the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, even a fresh perspective on the Queen of Hearts- make it an enjoyable romp.

And that plot twist at the end... it certainly leaves things hanging!

*thank you to Netgalley,  H.J. Ramsay and Red Rogue Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2 stars.

I struggled with this. Really struggled to get through it which is why it took me so long to do so. It was from page one that the story just seemed odd and out of place. The first few pages of a book are ment to let you quietly sink into the story while the world you are entering starts to show itself like a sunrise. Or sometimes in the first pages you get thrown into the story via the deep end. Neither of these happened at all. It felt scattered and I couldn't connect with it in a anyway. Even though the description sounded so positively up my alley, this unfortunately is a miss from me.

I have read several books that are "twists" on the classic Alice in Wonderland story, which seems odd to me, as I'm not really the biggest fan of the original! Ever Alice has a take on the tale that I feel has been done before, and slightly better executed, elsewhere, and in other media. It was an easy read, though, and not an entirely unpleasant way to pass an afternoon. Three and a half stars.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc.

I think that this was such an interesting topic, the book starts out with Alice and it’s been a few years after wonderland. She can’t seem to get over her experience and she continues to talk about them which eventually makes her family send her to a mental hospital in hopes that she gets “better” and that she comes out “cured”. But her family didn’t plan on the rabbit to help her escape and lead her back to wonderland to once again battle the queen of hearts. And once again her adventure in wonderland continues.


I think that for the most part this story was quirky and dark. I did enjoy the story and the direction the author took it. The characters were definitely interesting and not like I would have imagined they would turn out so many years later. While I’ve never been overly fond of Alice in wonderland, i still think this was decent retelling .

I love Alice Retellings, especially if they involve mental health. 

We follow the main character as she is caught in an asylum after being accused of being crazy when she tells the tales of Wonderland. This somewhat-creepy retelling continues back again when she escapes the asylum and enters into the world of Wonderland herself. 

Little does she expect that it may not be the saving-grace she thought. 

We get to revisit the characters turned dark as she ventures around and kinds herself on a daunting mission to kill the Queen. 

I enjoyed the storyline and how it did keep most of the characters but with a darker twist. This deserves the full 5 out of 5 stars.

I am HUGE classic Alice in Wonderland fan. The Wonderland aspect lived up to it's true nature, but not much else. It wasn't a bad read, but was far from what I am most familiar with. I probably wouldn't read it again. There are a few characters in here that I could've done without.

I’m going to start with Ever Alice as the disappointment of the summer for me. I started this back at the beginning of April, and I was excited to get going on it. I’m a huge Alice in Wonderland fan and I love the idea of an Alice re-telling that is supposed to be modern but also old school at the same time. The language used was supposed to be very ‘Lewis Carroll’ and Olde English which, in a modern-day setting intrigued me.
I got about 60% of the way through this and DNF’d. The language didn’t work and the character development was shallow and lacked any kind of depth. It was as though by using the language and writing the same plot line that was enough to make it an Alice re-telling. There were some character names changed and some genders changed, but that was about it. I really struggled with it. Two of the updates I posted to GoodReads sums up my thoughts really… ‘It doesn't feel like a new take on an old story - changing the gender of a character doesn't make it a re-telling if everything else is exactly the same’ and ‘This was blurbed as an Alice in Wonderland re-telling but actually seems to be a Through The Looking Glass re-telling, although I'm not wholly convinced it actually knows what it's trying to be at this point...’

As I DNF’d but got past 50% (just) I’m giving this a 1* out of 5.

Just wow! Ever Alice was an interesting take on a well known story. Almost like a sequel, the story is about Alice, now 15, who has been put into an asylum for her stories about Wonderland. When she decides to undergo an experimental procedure just to be able to go home, she has doubts at the last minute and leaves with the White Rabbit to head back to Wonderland. There we see the Queen of Hearts is indeed still mad, and the characters personalities have changed somewhat from the original story.

What I loved most about this book was that H.J. Ramsay was very talented in keeping the "madness" of Wonderland throughout the story, examples being putting butter in their tea, or preferring that beds are lumpy and blankets scratchy. Hands down one of my favorite takes on a story that is near and dear to me.

I loved seeing in the mind of a villain and this book have you a great look into that. very well done by the author. The story was very well written.

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This felt like a dark sequel to the classic Alice tales and I absolutely adored that. I also really enjoyed all of the political elements of this story. This one wasn't quite perfect for me though. I found that the middle dragged for me and I also found most of the side character to be less compelling than I expected, especially because this is a wonderland tale. That aside this was really fun and dark and whimsical and a worthwhile Alice retelling!

This book was an interesting concept. Alice, a few years older than when we last saw her in Lewis Caroll's book, is having trouble adjusting to normal society. Desperate, her parents put her in an asylum, hoping for a "cure" to her embarassing imaginations. Meanwhile, the Queen of Hearts continues her reign of terror in Wonderland, striking off the head of any and all who offend. When Alice is transported away from the tortures of the asylum back to Wonderland, will she become the Queen's next victim?

Although the concept was interesting, I struggled to maintain interest in this title. The irrationality of the Queen of Hearts sections seemed to be missing the original whimsical nature of the Carroll original. I tried to get through it four separate times and ended up having to give it a DNF at about the halfway mark.

This was not for me. I expected a dark continuation of Alice in Wonderland, and while it seemed to start off like that, the whole middle part of the story was quite a slog to get through, with repetitive scenes of crazy Red Queen and almost shoe-horned sillyness, while our familiar Wonderland denizens are barely recognizable to me. The ending is quite dark and was an interesting twist, but for me didn't make up for the effort it took me to get to it.

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.

Ever Alice is a strange and interesting take on Alice in Wonderland taking place in an asylum. It takes place after the original story which is why people think Alice is mad. In trying to escape, she finds herself back where she began...Wonderland. But now she has a mission, to eliminate the Queen of Hearts. Will she go through with it?

This book was super creative. I love Alice in Wonderland and this story kept the magic happening. The twists and dark turns made me keep guessing until the end. If you like Lewis Carroll, you will love this.

I received this book in exchange for review.

Thank you to Netgalley and H.J. Ramsay for allowing me to read and review Ever Alice. I loved this book! It was such a fun spin on Alice!

Ever Alice is told in alternating points of view – from Alice and the Queen of Hearts. H.J. Ramsay made this narrative style work so well for the story. Heightened anticipation, rapid page turning, indulgent angst; everything a reader could hope for in a story told this way was delivered. The author excelled at making the Queen of Hearts character consistently paranoid and worrisome; she is a stand out figure in this novel, as she should be. In comparison, Alice’s character was set up well in the beginning, but in the middle and even towards the end of the book her personality faltered. Is it because falling in love with the Prince became her personality? Sort of, but that wasn’t the only reason.

Many of the classic figures from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are present in this continuation, although a couple of them (the Mad Hatter, in particular, and one mischievous disappearing cat) have either taken on new personas as they are in service to the Queen of Hearts, or they play roles not exactly expected of their Lewis Carroll forms. While the inclusion of these familiar characters was exciting, the new characters of H.J. Ramsay’s creation really took center stage. The Prince of Hearts, royalty from the other three kingdoms, maidservants and advisers; these new figures gave this story its own legs to stand on, and pleasantly expanded the world of Wonderland. However, this did have an effect on how I saw Alice’s character, particularly when she became a permanent fixture in Wonderland. This version of Alice is technically “new”, but it feels like the author relied on an assumed familiarity of the reader to Alice’s character, rather than developing her persona for this new stage in Alice’s life. By no means was Alice written horribly, she was just more mediocre than expected.

One character who is not mediocre in Ever Alice is Marilyn Montague. Unfortunately, this was not for the better – this character is the biggest downfall of the book. Her only clear role is to provide conflict between Alice and the Prince, which is not necessary because there are plenty of conflicts keeping them apart already. Plus, Marilyn Montague is simply a Wonderland version of Marilyn Monroe – right down to the sultry rendition of the happy birthday song. The story would have been just fine without her.

Whereas almost all of the characters in Ever Alice are dimensional, interesting, and full of secrets, H.J. Ramsay took a more straightforward and smooth approach to the plot – which absolutely works. At the beginning, the reader is quite involved in Alice’s experience in the insane asylum to which her parents admitted her, and then her brief return to Wonderland sparks a whimsical magic akin to Lewis Carroll’s story. Her return to life in the asylum, and then her subsequent relocation to one in Switzerland is hair raising. The new facility practices either neurosurgery or shock therapy or both (it’s not exactly specified, but can be presumed), and Alice is the newest patient. Just as she’s about to undergo her first treatment, who comes to her rescue but Ralph, the White Rabbit, who whisks her back to Wonderland for the rest of the book. From there, the story focuses on the Queen of Hearts’ desire to control of all of Wonderland, while the three other royal houses want her completely stripped of power because of her record of beheading people (including her husband) on the fly and without evidence to any wrongdoing. This plot is superb, and moves along at just the right pace considering the antics, betrayal, and murder that take place along the way.

So although Alice’s character should have been given more vibrancy, there is still plenty of intrigue in H.J. Ramsay’s Ever Alice to make this a fun read for anyone wishing to dive back into the rabbit hole.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

An adaptation of Alice in Wonderland you say? Count me in! Ever since my introduction to Lewis Carrolls' excellent world building, I have loved Alice and her Wonderland. Giving her stories a dark twist makes it all the better. Ever Alice promised a twisted, sinister tale, an evil Red Queen, and a host of obscure minor characters reimagined. While the story delivered all that, it also fell flat in connecting the pieces.

Ramsay switches viewpoints between Alice and the Red Queen. This should've worked but Alice was so boring and the Red Queen had only one defining characteristic - being paranoid. The ending while being a logical twist to Carroll's world, was utterly predictable, taking away the page-turning suspense. Coupled with the fact that the characters didn't carry the story, the book was a bit of a dredge to get through.

To make this book a 5 star read, Ramsay should've made the queen as evil as can be with a hint of chaotic and Alice a strong-willed, stubborn, and flawed girl (not a doormat!). In fact, this novel could've been entirely reliant on complex characters while maintaining the weird and strange Wonderland aspects Carroll already created. There isn't a need for a big plot development.

Overall, I am giving this book 3 stars because it has good bones but failed on the assembly.

Everybody loves Alice.. and Mad Hatter and the Chester Cat and all the wondrous madness! And I was ready to be immersed in this story where Alice escapes the asylum, has to kill the Queen and ends up in danger again because OFF WITH HER HEAD but instead I found myself enjoying the start of the story, the ending of the story and some bits and bobs from the middle. The elements of Wonderland are definitely there. Uncomfortable is comfortable, unimportant is important, disgusting sounding tea is delicious and so on… but with all of the adventure for Alice to have and the big, Mission-Impossible-like plot underlining the story, I still felt the pacing was a tad slow. I wasn’t glued to the book when I wished I was…
Of scandal and intrigue there is aplenty in the court! Oh, and how much scandal and intrigue. We have a Marilyn Montague (the Wonderland copy of Marilyn Monroe down to singing an ‘unbirthday’ song in the sultry, drawn out tones) who wants to get in to the Prince of Hearts pants. Literally. It seemed like. And, we have the unexpected pregnancies – like in a proper telenovela! And, we have the Queen of Hearts who is .. you know, Queen of Hearts. Off the rocker!
When it comes to love? The attempt to make something sizzle in between 2 characters did not feel realistic, it felt more like a tool to use in advancing the plot at convenient times. Then again, they’re all bloody mad at Wonderland and if unimportant is important then maybe love is unlove, you know?! I am questioning myself now.. and for that I take my hat off to the book
Alice herself is a solid character. The introduction of the asylum into this retelling is, in a sense, the logical thing to do to tie in with her first visit to Wonderland and how she ends up there again… But I have to say, with the twist of the asylum I also actually pity the character now. The Wonderland doesn’t seem all the wonderful and quirky no longer. The ending really left me reeling, and sad… Like, stunned silence sad. Hmm…
Ever Alice has a great, and I mean GREAT, fairy tale feeling. It has the vibe of the peculiarity that made us all love the original in the first place whilst also including the darker twists without which Wonderland wouldn’t be the same. No fairy tale would be the same without the darker undertones, come to think of it.
For me, the book was OK I am glad I read this- there was many a time it made me crack a smile, but ultimately, I found I wasn’t eager to return to the story. Maybe because it was too close to the original? Maybe. And maybe this is exactly what will appeal to the wider readership about this retelling!