Christina Henry

"The land outside of the Old City was supposed to be green, lush, hopeful. A place where Alice could finally rest, no longer the plaything of the Rabbit, the pawn of Cheshire, or the prey of the Jabberwocky. But the verdant fields are nothing but ash--and hope is nowhere to be found. Still, Alice and Hatcher are on a mission to find his daughter, a quest they will not forsake even as it takes them deep into the clutches of the mad White Queen and her goblin or into the realm of the twisted and cruel Black King"--

Red Queen

Zoe Jayne

No man in the New City could love her as Hatcher did- of that Alice was certain. It was deep and all-consuming but somehow never suffocating. It was unselfish. It did not ask for anything and yet he made no secret of his need. There was no one in the world like Hatcher, and if she hadn't been mad, there would be no Hatcher for her. 

This has been sitting on my tbr for ages, I picked it up this morning and didn’t realise it was a sequel. So my opinions are obsolete. 

A dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland, fast paced and enjoyable I was very confused not knowing much since I hadn’t read the first book but I enjoyed it enough to know I would of rated the first book pretty highly. I enjoyed the writing style and the main character Alice. 

jaz ☁️

This has been sitting on my tbr for ages, I picked it up this morning and didn’t realise it was a sequel. So my opinions are obsolete. 

A dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland, fast paced and enjoyable I was very confused not knowing much since I hadn’t read the first book but I enjoyed it enough to know I would of rated the first book pretty highly. I enjoyed the writing style and the main character Alice. 

Lewis Carroll

The Red Queen

This book!!! What an adventure omg. Christina Henry's books are always so magical and whimsical but so dark and I can't get enough of them, this was so good!!! Idk how she comes up with these ideas but she better never stop because I want a retelling of every fairytale from her asap!

Amina Madadi (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ)

She didn’t have to be Cheshire’s ideal of a Magician or Hatcher’s ideal of a lover or her parents’ ideal of a daughter. She could be Alice. 

First of all, did I like Red Queen as much as Alice? NO
Now, did I enjoy Red Queen as a book? YES

After escaping the asylum and defeating the Jabberwocky, Alice and Hatcher left the Old City, promised green lands, blue skies and hope once out of the walls, they find none, every single inch of these lands has been turned to ash. As Alice and her companion venture furthermore, they face one horrible sight, some of their friends, burnt, with a look of extreme horror on their faces.

Alice and Hatcher kept moving, still on their mission, finding Hatcher’s daughter, and so, they make it for the mountains. But first, they needed to cross the forest, with its giants and wolves and Goblin. To make things worse, Hatcher’s lured away from Alice who’ll be on her own until she gets out. 
When Alice manages to leave the forest, she walks to a village, who’s inhabitants are very secretive and terrified, from one of them, she learns the story, about the mad White Queen, the Black King and the Lost ones, determined to save the sacrificed children and Hatcher, who became a creature of the queen, Alice decides she’ll take her chance confronting the queen and break her wicked rule on these lands.

The two books can’t be compared. Alice was about what happened, the Rabbit, The Caterpillar, Cheshire, The Jabberwocky, and Hatcher, always by her side, protecting her. The Red queen is more about Alice and how far she’s willing to push her limits and harness her magic with no one to rely on to protect her, I loved the way she looked at things and in spite of all what happened to her, she still could see a ray of sunshine in the world, the way she faced her fears and no matter what, she never lost sight of what’s right.

To be honest, I didn’t see any exceeding amount of romance, if we can call it romance, Alice and Hatcher care deeply about each other, they survived through oppression, fear, horror and pain and this, I think, bound them in an unusual way.

  No man in the New City could love her as Hatcher did—of that Alice was certain. It was deep and all-consuming but somehow never suffocating. It was unselfish. It did not ask for anything and yet he made no secret of his need. There was no one in the world like Hatcher, and if she hadn’t been mad, there would be no Hatcher for her

The land outside of the Old City was supposed to be green, lush, hopeful. But the verdant fields are nothing but ash—and hope is nowhere to be found. Still, Alice and Hatcher are on a mission to find his daughter: a quest they will not forsake even as it takes them deep into the clutches of the mad White Queen or into the realm of the twisted and cruel Black King. The pieces are set and the game has begun, and each move brings Alice closer to her destiny.

Ada 

I cannot begin to explain how much I want to give this 10 freaking stars to the right and straight on till morning!!! This was honestly THE BEST retelling fantasy I have ever laid my hands on. The writing is spectacular, for both this one and for its prequel, ‘Alice’. This is imaginative horror at its finest, and they are the type of books that you just fly through. 
The world building was not overly complex, which is so difficult to get right in fantasy. There was horror here, appealing to the classical, illusion type of fright and creating a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. They say it’s a good book when you’re done and you feel like you lost a friend; I never believed that to be anything other than gibberish, but I feel absolutely devastated that this series is almost over. I hope one day the author continues the series, I will happily read 10 books placed in this universe! 

danielle bush

I liked this just as much as Alice. It wasn't quick as darkly twisted, but there was still some messed up stuff.. Alice is coming into her own, starting to trust in her own magic. Alice and Hatcher are making there way east to look for Jenny.. However along the way they get seperated and Alice learns that she can do things on her own. She realizes that she hasn't been alone as long as she can remember. Even in the hospital Hatcher was on the other side of the wall.. 
and while Cheshire does occasionally peak into alices head, he seems to be well.. as helpful as he can be.. Alice makes her way with the occasional help from others all the way to the palace of the White Queen.. 
I don't want to give to much away but I really liked the way it ended.. It felt like Alice and Hatcher deserved some sort of happily ever after. Especially after everything that happened to them. 
I am def going to be checking out more books by Christina Henry

Diehl, Marie-Krisin

I read my first book by Christina Henry one year ago. It was the red queen series and I absolutely fell in love with it. There were some parts were I gasped and held my breath. This book is my absolute favorite and it’s not a simple recommendation you give some of your friends. It’s THAT book recommendation.

Zoe Smolen

A great sequel to a fun reimagining. I really enjoyed the Red Queen and following more of Alice's adventures in this alternate telling. 

Thanks to Penguin for a copy!

Sarah Jackson

I wasn’t really a fan of this book. The reason I enjoyed the first (Alice) so much we’re all the Alice in Wonderland references Christina Henry snuck into a new story. This though felt like a completely new book, not a sequel - with barely any references to Carrol’s story. 

I won’t go into the plot... because nothing really happened but the thing that frustrated me the most was the lack of chapters. There was a part 1 and a part 2, each with 150 pages in between. No chapters made it really hard to follow the story - as there was no natural break. So whenever I picked it up, I had to reread the previous pages to know where I was.

Wren Hardwick

I honestly don't know what to say about this book.

The writing was really well done just like Alice. The two main characters, Alice and Hatcher, were pretty much the same as they were in Alice. 

But the story itself was vastly different.

I just didn't get the gory, haunting feeling I got from the first book. Why didn't my skin crawl as much as their adventure in The City? Wasn't the Forest/Village/Queen's Castle suppose to be an upgrade from the last book via creepy? Because I felt a downgrade.

I actually had to push myself to finish this book. I hate saying that. I really wanted to love it. Because I swore, and still do, by Alice (the first book). 

Hatcher was like gone most of the book. Alice was ..weird. And not in the way that she was in the first book. She was basically singing the High School Musical song "We're All In This Together" to everyone around her. She doesn't know how to use her magic but she ends up using it better than anyone else who has been using it for hundreds of years?

I also wanted like a big epic thing with the queens. The Red Queen whole thing (if you read the book you'd know what I am talking about) was weird. I wasn't very completed with it.

I wish the goblin had more of a story. And the giants. The town that they run into in the beginning of the book was LEGIT. But it only lasted like ten pages..

I guess I just really expected a lot from this book and when it wasn't as beautifully haunting as the first book, I just couldn't anymore. I'm really deeply sad about this. I was so pumped. I literally counted the days down until this book was at my doorstep. 

I'm just... I can't... I... ugh.

Jess Wragg

5⭐️

“You better start believing in the impossible, Alice, for the impossible will keep happening.”

Wow...what a dark and disturbing retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Red Queen is the second story in The Chronicles of Alice series. @authorchristinahenry does an incredible job at creating a sinister world from the classic story. 

Alice is a beautifully complex character, who is desperate to escape her past and move on with her life, but she doesn’t seem to be able to get the break she needs. Alice gets separated from her companion, Hatcher, and has to undergo trials and torment on her own. Facing the White and Red Queen, amongst other horrors. 

I love how the antagonists in Christina’s books are all smoke and mirrors, and always a victim of their own evil. So many hidden messages and morals to learn. 

I will definitely be reading more of these books. 

⚠️ Trigger Warning - Rape and Child Abuse ⚠️

Plot - 5/5
Character Development - 5/5
Pacing - 5/5 
Escapism Factor - 5/5
Emotional Connection - 5/5

Red Queen

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