Alice by Christina Henry Narrator: Jenny Sterlin
Series: Chronicles of Alice #1
Published by Recorded Books on January 25, 2016
Genres: Horror
Length: 8 hours, 28 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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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 that 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.
This book is a revisit for me. I listened to this story around the time it was released after reading some amazing reviews from several of my book friends. I never did pick up the second book in the series, so decided to revisit this one before tackling that one. If you’ve never read Christina Henry before, she does really dark, horror retellings of popular stories. I like to think of her as if you mashed Stephen King and Disney together. This story is about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
While this book might be based on a children’s story, this retelling is not a children’s story by any stretch of the imagination. This is a very dark story. Alice was born into a well-to-do family. But then she followed a childhood friend into a bad neighborhood where Alice is raped and starts talking about white rabbits. She ends up in a mental institution, which is similar to what you would think of from the 1900s. She’s locked in a bedroom and rarely let out. She does befriend the person in the room next to her through a hole in the wall. They both escape when the hospital catches fire. Which sends them on quite the adventure.
They run across several familiar characters. Cheshire, Mr Carpenter, the Caterpillar, the Walrus and even the White Rabbit are all mob bosses or gang leaders. And the way they treat people in their territory is quite spectacular. I can’t think of another world. If you get squeamish, I wouldn’t recommend this book. I read a lot of horror and this one even got to me. I can’t believe I didn’t remember how gruesome this book was. Still, I loved it, but I like really dark stories. I guess it is from me growing up watching too many 80’s horror movies.
Narration:
I don’t know if I’ve listened to Jenny Sterlin outside of this book (I did listen to this the first time through too). She did a truly amazing job with this narration. I loved all of the characters’ voices. I think she really set the tone of the story really well. You could really feel Alice’s revulsions at what she was seeing, which increased my repulsion as well. I would gladly listen to her again.
Listen to a clip: HERE
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.
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I started listening to audiobooks when a new book in a series was coming out and I wanted to get a refresher, but didn’t have time to read all the books (I think it was Anita Blake). I fell in love. I stayed with strictly re-reading books that I’d already read for a long time. I eventually tried an audiobook for something that I hadn’t read first and was hooked there too. Now, I listen to audio for both re-reads and first time. I have some series that I’ve given up reading and only listen. I try to get any many books/audiobooks from the library to help save on my budget. Books on CD and the newer digital downloads from the library really allow me to listen more. I then purchase my favorites (because who can wait in line for your favorite book??) and less mainstream books from Audible or some other online retailer.
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This is still my favorite of her books, even though it’s hard to read at times.
This has been on my tbr list forever. I will eventually get to it, but I don’t read a lot of horror so I need to be in the right mindset for it I think.
I read this in paperback I think when it was coming out. So I have a review here in a different format. It’s definitely horror and not my usual thing but I wasn’t sorry to have read it. I am pretty sure I read book 2 but not 3.
I’ve only listened to the the Peter Pan one and that really was something. This one might get too squeamish for me, but I might try it through the library to see how far I get.
I love this book! It does get dark, but it’s still my favorite Christina Henry novel. 😀
I can think of a story that can handle a dark retelling better than Alice. I will have to give this one a try.
I do enjoy retellings, and this one was intriguing when I first heard about it. Glad you enjoyed it so much! Great review!
Fun! Love a good retelling and the spookiness behind it makes it even more intriguing.