I wanted to love it more than I did, but I am always a sucker for anything Alice in Wonderland. ( )

Ugh. Purchased for a lunchtime read, but couldn't get thru the entire hour. The story may turn out to be good (despite other reviews), but the writing was bad enough that I didn't want to wait to find out. ( )

What can I say? I absolutely loved this from start to finish. A retelling of Alice in Wonderland but in a darker way. I liked the characters, every single one of them, well apart from one, I am not mentioning his name.
This is an adventure like no other, Alice can travel from her home town to Wonderland and is assigned to fighting off nightmares and fiends in Wonderland and protecting the Earth from them.
The story is fast-paced and kept me gripped from the very first page. Then ending though, WOW, guess I will have to preorder the next book in the series as I need to know what happens!
( )

DNI 15%

This review is for the audiobook, but I think I would have the same issue if I were reading it (which is why I'm not going to try).

The book is written in first person from the point of view of a modern American young urban black woman, and while the dialog reflected that, the rest of the first person analysis of what's going on does not. I think it's particularly jarring because the narrator spoke extremely precisely, and with exaggerated pronunciation. ( )

Muchness

L.L. McKinney transports the reader into an entertaining and refreshing retelling of Alice in Wonderland in A Blade So Black. After the sudden death of her father, Alice Kingston awakens to the world of human fears turned into monsters. The mysterious Addison Hatta does his best to train her in how to defeat these nightmares. Wonderland is a land of dreams, but the reality of the endless battle before her may be too much to handle. Alice must work through her hurt, to save the world from its own horror.

L.L. McKinney jumps right into the action, laying down the world building foundation of the story quickly. After the death of her father, Alice is left with sadness, anger, and a “billion other emotions”. She struggles a lot with these consuming feelings, and repurposes them into fighting monsters. Though, she finds that she cannot fight fear with anger. And the choices she makes effect not only her, but her family and friends. Alice has an edgy and serious tone of voice. So brief warning for strong language, as well as throwing up, and nausea when she travels to Wonderland.

The handsome Addison adds some levity to all the seriousness, who Alice calls a “punk rock Prince Charming”. Addison speaks in Wonderland terms, which gives him a whimsical and slightly mad personality. He is a great encourager, showing Alice that she can be more than her fears. Alice’s friend Cortney Marrone’ keeps her grounded in reality, aka gossip, with the help of the handsome Chess.

This book is full of all the nostalgia, quirks, and characters needed in an Alice in Wonderland retelling. L.L. McKinney creates even more places and creatures inspired by Wonderland. Which gives this story some fun moments in between the darker aspects of the dream inspired world. With plenty of fun nerdy pop culture references. ( )