...(book review) chronicles of alice by christina henry

Having just completed the final book in the Chronicles of Alice series, I wanted to share my respect for this author's incredible retelling of the classic story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol.

Christina Henry is an author of Horror and Dark Fantasy, and every book in the Chronicles of Alice series is evidence of that.

The series began with book one of the chronicles, 

ALICE published in 2015.

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Alice is a dark, fantastical introductory novel to what has become an epic series that I am recommending to everyone with a love of this genre. The story has already taken a turn when we realise that Alice's family, unsympathetic and disbelieving of Alice's experiences, have resorted to locking her away in a mental institution from which she is bound to escape.

The rabbit warren of streets in the old city is corrupt, and mobsters such as the Walrus and the Carpenter claim territories that Alice and her fellow inmate/escapee Hatcher have to navigate. 

The creative advancement of Lewis Carrol's traditional characters fascinated me, carrying through to the second novel 

RED QUEEN published 2016.

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Alice and Hatcher emerge into lands that were supposed to be a lush, green refuge from the unsavoury characters of the old city who have so long pursued them. But the green fields are nothing but ash.

They advance on a quest to find Hatcher's daughter, wandering into the clutches of the mad White Queen and her goblin.

Alice has to harness more of her own magic, and learn what she and Hatcher are both capable of.

The books conclude with the greatly anticipated 

LOOKING GLASS published 2020.

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The final book consists of four novellas titled Lovely Creature, Girl In Amber, When I First Came To Town and The Mercy Seat.

Lovely Creature was my favourite of these novellas, following a young girl called Elizabeth who bears uncanny resemblance to Alice. 

We discover more of Hatcher's mysterious past in When I First Came To Town, before he became the mad Hatcher and ended up alongside Alice in the asylum.

And Alice and Hatcher continue their search for somewhere safe to spend their days, encountering danger and magical obstacles at every turn in Girl In Amber and The Mercy Seat.

When reading Looking Glass, I did so unaware that it was in fact the last book in the Chronicles. I suspected there was more of Alice's story to tell, but I like that a little is left to the imagination, and I was nonetheless satisfied by the way the book climaxed.

I recommend all of Christina Henry's dark retellings, not just the Alice series, but I will save her other books for another blog.

I hope you'll take my recommendation of this series if dark twists on traditional tales are your cup of tea. I've been captivated by every word in these books, and I hope you'll be too!

Zuzu 🖋

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