Name: Ever Alice
Rating: 2.833333333333333 (6 reviews)
ISBN: 9780996923941

H. J. Ramsay

Ever Alice

Jana Jenkinns 

Didn't captivate me as much as I was hoping, but still enjoyed the read enough to finish it.

Eryn Bradshaw

Eight years after Alice's adventures in Wonderland, she has to return again in this retelling by H.J. Ramsay.Alice, now 15 years old, can't stop talking about Wonderland. Her parents can't figure out what to do about it, so they send her to an insane asylum. When she finds out her sister is getting married and the only way to attend the wedding is to be cleared sane, she does everything she can to make the wedding. Her doctors decided to take her to Switzerland for an experimental treatment that they hope will quiet her talks of Wonderland. Before the procedure, Alice decides she has to escape and not get the procedure done. To her surprise, the White Rabbit helps to whisk her away to Wonderland again and asks for her help in a plot to kill the Queen of Hearts.Two perspectives
Ever Alice swapped point of views between each chapter. One chapter would be Alice and the next chapter would be the Queen of Hearts. I thought at first this might be interesting to get two sides of the story. Maybe get a bit of Alice needs to kill the Queen but does she really sort of thoughts going around. But nope. Didn't get that. The Queen's side of the story was dull. She constantly had conspiracies about things going on around her. She didn't really have anything going for her that made her side of the story interesting. Chapter after chapter, it was the same issues with her.

Unfortunately, Alice's perspective wasn't much better. I've never read a book where the main character just lets things happen to them. 
If the Queen was dull, Alice a complete bore. She didn't push the story forward any, she was just there. She was a fly on the wall that only really observed the story and had next to no effect on what happened next.Whimsical Wonderland
Now, I didn't read the original Alice in Wonderland. I've read excerpts and seen the Disney adaptions along with a couple of retellings. I should read the original sometime, but that's beside the point. I've always felt Wonderland is whimsical and a bit upside down. I didn't really get that in Ever Alice. Words were changed for opposites (what an unpleasant day) and things were odd like putting butter in tea that tasted awful, but it just didn't feel light and whimsical. This book is a little bit darker, but the setting just wasn't Wonderland for me.Slow at the best of times
The pacing of the book just didn't sit well with me. It just seemed to constantly drag on and on. It might have been because the Queen's side of the story was repetitive or because Alice was a lifeless blob, but I wanted something a bit faster that gripped me. Alice is brought to Wonderland to KILL THE FREAKING QUEEN! Give me some action, some planning, some drama. But Alice doesn't even want to kill the Queen at first. She's just content being a handmaid to the Queen and letting the White Rabbit continue with his plot.Just wanted more...
The idea of the plot was good. I wanted Alice to be this little badass kicking down doors, finding herself in Wonderland, and just taking control of her life. But it wasn't that way. The execution was poorly done. I wasn't drawn to the story or the characters and, to be honest, I just didn't care. And the ending... I think the surprise twist ending honestly made me dislike the book even more. It just felt like anything the book could've amounted to was squashed in the ending. The ending definitely seemed planned from the beginning and the build-up to it was lacking. I was just left feeling like "oh... okay... yeah I guess that just happened."Ever Alice gets a whooping 2 Stars from me. The plot gave it so much potential and it just fell so flat. The characters had nothing going for them, nothing that made me want to keep reading. I've decided to go watch the SyFy Alice mini-series again to enjoy an Alice retelling.Red Rogue Press provided a copy of Ever Alice through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this book!

Megan Leprich

Thank you so much to Red Rogue Press and NetGalley for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

I have tried so many times, 4 to be exact, to read this book and I’m finally admitting defeat. I love the story of Alice in Wonderland and I thought I would really enjoy this. It’s not what I would call a retelling, it’s more what happens to Alice after she returns from Wonderland. The idea of a book about after Wonderland sounded amazing but this book lacked so much. It wasn’t as fantastical or whimsical as the original and the dialogue was so boring and all over the place.

I feel if you’re going to write a continuation of a classic you should at least attempt to make it as great as the original.

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

Written by H. J. Ramsay, this is a continuation of Alice in Wonderland, but Alice is believed to be mad by all and is put into an asylum.

The writing style of this novel was perfect for a continuation of Alice in Wonderland from the perspective of Alice and the Red Queen. As such, it is maddening how everything goes I circles! The style is that of the 1800s/turn of the century but is understandable, which is key to making this novel feel contemporary. 

The characters were done justice, but still felt a bit flat. But, I am not the biggest fan of Alice in Wonderland so that should be taken with a grain of salt.

Overall, I think this was a good read for anyone who loves Alice in Wonderland and wanted to see her go back to Wonderland. This novel also presents an opportunity for an excellent discussion on how the ending can be interpreted.

Ever Alice

Reviews

Highlights