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Alice
336 pages
A blood-soaked, nightmarish descent into a ruined wonderland where survival means becoming as ruthless as your captors.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stumbling through a fever dream where childhood nostalgia has been violently shattered. The atmosphere is suffocating and dread-soaked, replacing whimsical nonsense with visceral horror and psychological grit. It moves at a brisk, relentless pace as the narrative drags you through the grime of a ruined city, forcing you to confront the darkest corners of human cruelty. The prose is unflinching, painting grotesque imagery with a blunt, bloody brush. It is an emotional journey from shattered victimization to a hardened, ruthless reclamation of agency. This is a story for readers who crave their fairy tales stripped of all innocence, delighting those who want to see beloved characters forged in fire, trauma, and unapologetic darkness.
- Mood
- dread-soaked
- claustrophobic
- nightmarish
- grim
- Tone
- unflinching
- bleak
- visceral
- cynical
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- trauma and survival · loss of innocence · reclaiming agency · monstrous humanity · the darkness of memory
- The writing
- The prose is blunt and visceral, relying on grotesque, sensory imagery to build a suffocating atmosphere.
- The arc
- The journey moves from shattered, traumatized confusion to a hardened, bloody reclamation of personal power.
- Who it's for
- Fans of dark, gritty fairy tale retellings who prefer their fantasy laced with heavy horror and psychological trauma.
Content notes
- graphic violence
- sexual assault
- confinement
- torture
- gore
- psychological trauma
About the book
A mind-bending new novel inspired by the twisted and wondrous works of Lewis Carroll...
In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls which echo the screams of the poor souls inside.
In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn't remember why she's in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood...
Then, one night, a fire at the hospital gives the woman a chance to escape, tumbling out of the hole that imprisoned her, leaving her free to uncover the truth about what happened to her all those years ago.
Only something else has escaped with her. Something dark. Something powerful.
And to find the truth, she will have to track this beast to the very heart of the Old City, where the rabbit waits for his Alice.
Description from Open Library.
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Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis CarrollA surreal, logic-defying tumble into a dreamscape where language is a playground and adult rules are exposed as utter nonsense.
The Ten Thousand Doors of JanuaryAlix E. HarrowA lush, defiant love letter to the magic of storytelling and the hidden thresholds that lead us to where we belong.
HeartlessMarissa MeyerA whimsical, sugar-dusted romance that slowly curdles into an inevitable, heartbreaking tragedy.
The Night CountryMelissa AlbertA dark, gritty collision of modern city streets and blood-soaked fairy tales where magic is a menace you cannot outrun.