Joker's making his move and Alice is realizing that April Season isn't all it appears to be. And we learn of a mysterious new character: The Executioner.

Note: Alice in the Country of Joker is the third installment of the Alice in the Country of Hearts series; all of which are based off Otome dating games. The second installment is called Alice in the Country of Clover which must be viewed either in game format or through the spinoffs from the original Alice in the Country of Hearts manga.

This series has 7 volumes. ( )

As Nightmare begins having a Winter Festival in his domain, Alice tries to focus on the “now” and having fun. But she keeps flashing to a dark prison where a second Joker acts as warden. Everyone continues to try to distract and protect her, but things are coming to a head. The volume ends with Alicespotting her own older sister in Joker's prison.

The story feels like it's being unnecessarily dragged out, but I'm still interested in seeing where this goes. Everyone keeps saying that the Country of Joker is a lie, and I want to know why.

Also, I liked that Blood was super blunt with Alice, and she didn't try to backtrack and deny any of what he was saying. The residents of Wonderland are made to love Alice, and she does take advantage of that. And she does end up doing pretty much anything anyone suggests, so she doesn't have to make decisions on her own or think too much. The role-holders are keeping things from her and allowing her to hide from her own memories, but she's not exactly making their job hard.

Blood is one of the few Wonderland residents who pushes back and makes Alice think about the implications of a world were everyone is guaranteed to like her, no matter what she says or does. At the same time, though, he's not really trying to make her wake up and remember the real world. I think it mostly goes back to his history as someone who can remember a time before he became a role-holder – he can see the rules that govern him and the other Wonderland residents a bit better than some of the others.

Still nothing that looks like a romantic storyline, unless you count Blood and Ace's occasional flirtatiousness.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )