Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Red Queen by Christina Henry Series: The Chronicles of Alice #2
Published by Ace on July 12, 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
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.
The pieces are set and the game has already begun. Each move brings Alice closer to her destiny. But, to win, she will need to harness her newfound abilities and ally herself with someone even more powerful—the mysterious and vengeful Red Queen.
Wow. I could hardly put Red Queen down. It is the sequel to Alice. Both works cleverly use names and themes from Alice in Wonderland. They are so dark and layered. I had the same confused, uneasy feeling I have always had about the original.
Alice is our beleaguered hero, struggling to survive. She has been sold, raped, tortured and locked up in many ways. Now she has taken off on a new path with Hatcher. Her growth and perseverance is inspiring. The world continues to be a dark and scary place with those intent on using magic to fulfill their own greed with its power.
Stunning and well-written, and the horror is very unlike my normal reading choices. Highly recommended.
The Chronicles of Alice series is now complete. Ace is graciously allowing me to giveaway one print copy of Alice (to get you started), US only. Please comment below to enter the giveaway ending July 16th.
GIVEAWAY:
About Christina Henry
CHRISTINA HENRY is the author of the national bestselling BLACK WINGS series (BLACK WINGS, BLACK NIGHT, BLACK HOWL, BLACK LAMENT, BLACK CITY, BLACK HEART and BLACK SPRING, Ace/Roc) and the two CHRONICLES OF ALICE books, ALICE and RED QUEEN (Ace Trade). She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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I enjoy fractured retellings of fairy tales. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favs. Thanks for the giveaway!
linda – I don’t always enjoy the retelling of fairy tales and I didn’t like Alice in Wonderland at all. And I’m not wild about horror. But I LOVED this! I guess I’m broadening my horizons. It was so well-written.
I didn’t realize there was only going to be two books. Awesome! I have the first on audio and plan to use my last $.99 credit to get this one. I love short “series”.
jennifer – it is nice to have a short series like this. You’ll have to tell me how the narrator is. They are dark, dark, dark.
Oh these sound fantastic and somehow they slipped my radar. Adding!!
kimba – they are so well-written. I loved them even though I never read horror. But if you like Stephen King, you should be fine. It’s a short series so easy to do. I enjoyed the mystery aspects, which is how I started on reading them. I was thinking more mystery than fantasy or horror. Silly me. But it worked out well as they are great books!
I read Alice and loved it! Cannot wait to read the second one!
I seriously NEED to read these. I’m totally drawn to the horror aspect.
I have book one on audio, but I haven’t listened to it yet. It is coming up very soon though. You have me even more excited to try it. I love dark stories.
These sound like such great books!
I enjoy retellings of fairy tales. This sounds like a version my boys would even like.