Review – Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles by J.M. Sullivan (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Horror
Length: 360 pages
Publisher: Pen Name Publishing
Release Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1941541524
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Wanderland Chronicles
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“ALWAYS PROTECT YOUR QUEEN
Ever since the outbreak of the Plague, life hasn’t been easy, and for seventeen-year-old Alice Carroll, it just got worse. Her sister, Dinah, has contracted the ‘un-deadly’ Momerath Virus and without a cure, will soon be worse than dead. She’ll be momerath.

Alice must leave the safety of the Sector and venture into Momerath Territory to find the antidote – if it exists. Chasing a rumor about a mysterious doctor with the cure, Alice falls down the rabbit hole into Wanderland, where ravenous momerath aren’t the only danger lurking.”

I got this book to review through NetGalley. I was immediately interested in the fact that it was an Alice in Wonderland retelling. I was a bit unsure about the whole zombie theme to it. It ended up being an interesting blend of Resident Evil-like post-apocalyptic zombie tale and Alice in Wonderland re-imaging. This is the first book in a new series (I thought it was stand alone but it’s not).

This was a well written novel and overall I ended up enjoying it. I liked the characters and thought that the way the Alice in Wonderland content was blended in was well done and very tongue-in-cheek. It’s definitely a dark retelling and reminds a bit of the Alice: Madness Returns video game. You could also compare this series to Showalter’s Alice in Zombieland; I thought this book was much more well done than the Alice in Zombieland series.

The writing flows well and is engaging; I found myself drawn into the story and this ended up being a quick read for me. There were some inconsistencies that I struggled to get over. For example Alice is supposedly very bookish and introverted; yet suddenly when she gets to Wanderland she is able to sword fight and kick zombie butt…I was kind of like “Huh, where’d she learn that from”. Some of the reveals about Chess also bothered me.

The parallels between this book and the original Alice in Wonderland series are well done. Right away Alice is led through Wanderland by Chess, a nimble boy who frequently disappears and is cryptic. The doctor she chases through the city is named after the White Rabbit and another of the researchers is named Matt Hatta. I enjoyed hunting for the parallels and loved how they were hidden throughout the story.

I did not realize that this is the first book in a series, so this book has absolutely no resolution and pretty much ends right in the middle of things…just a heads up.

Overall while I did enjoy this book, I am not huge into zombie survival novels right now so I am uncertain as to whether or not I will continue with the series. I would recommend to those who enjoy post-apocalyptic zombie tales or are obsessed with Alice in Wonderland retellings.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– YA Reading Challenge