Oh I really loved this one!! The writing was absolutely gorgeous, loved the atmosphere too—it kept me unnerved even before the final gruesome twist was revealed. Marion was an interesting protagonist: a combination of some good values and sympathy, other times (particularly in the second act) a fascinating exploration of corruption and obsession. The bloodmaid dynamic was done well, with the show of the hierarchy and how Lisavet’s manipulation tore them apart easily being a strength of that. However, I do wish the other bloodmaids could’ve been explored a little more, as their individual personalities weren’t touched on a lot and it was more how they functioned/acted with Marion.

Some of those mental images…eugh they’ll stay with me for a while. I went into this expecting (and really only knowing about) toxic, sexually-charged sapphic madness—which, okay, we certainly got—but then came out more throughly disturbed with a book than I’ve been in a while?! Kudos to Alexis Henderson! The horror was horror-ing.


Overall, definitely some of the goriest and most lush gothic writing I’ve read. 

3! The premise was interesting, and I loved the representation, but the execution was..so-so. Firstly, because we didn’t spend a ton of time in Wonderland, especially with other residents, the world-building was done through exposition and not in a more organic way. I forgot which chapter it was, but most of it was just Maddi doing a lengthy backstory explanation on the different queens via mirror images. 

Secondly, I didn’t like the romance! Alice has a lot of different people she crushes on in the book, which is fine because that’s what teenagers who get crushes do, but it resulted in this…weird pseudo love triangle?! Like, she almost kissed Chess, but spends the entire book thinking of Hatta. At least pick somebody, geez! (And then there’s her crush on the knight lady from the white queen’s kingdom, which I thought would go somewhere but no she got paired with the princess lol. But that wasn’t too surprising? Ok, those two were kinda cute but should’ve gotten more on-page time together.) 

(But also..her and Hatta have a mentor-student dynamic, and I’m a little unsure how Wonderland Immortal Aging even works, so I’m not the only one who thinks that’s a little weird right?)

It also took too long for the plot to really kick off, I think. It isn’t until halfway when Hatta gets poisoned, and then a lot of said plot revolves around a MacGuffin. Point is, it doesn’t feel very solid, especially with the weaker Wonderland worldbuilding. I’ve heard the second book is stronger in this regard, hopefully that is actually the case! Again, an Alice with a darker story and more Buffy vibes is interesting. 

Last gripes: Some of the writing felt more tell-not-show, didn’t like the one use of “orbs” instead of eyes, how did Alice just…never hesitate to get back out of the house or at least think things through a little more after her no-nonsense mom kept catching her sneaking out and got mad at the later and later times she got back?! Alice please be so fr LMAO

Anyhow! Overall though, this wasn’t a bad read, it’s not a ⭐️3 in the same way “Belladonna” narrowly avoided a 2.75, but it had its fair share of flaws and I was hoping for the story to feel stronger in its structure.