Red Queen, Yellow King by Jack Finn

In an unexpected twist, in a darker more mature version of Once Upon A Time with moments that made me think of Red Wall and Watership Down, with Alice, who at first reminded me of Arya Stark making lists and evolved into Star Buck from BSG 2004 with a dash of Asuka from the Rebuild Evangelion films that, like in this story, reflect a different telling of familiar characters… The looking glass is broken, like in a moment from LOST, characters who wanted to leave the island versus those who were content to stay. We even have a familiar monster. Hatter is the most unique version I have ever read, watched, or played in video games. The best comparison so far is that he’s like a gunslinger version of Sawyer from LOST. He’s in it for the long con.

I would recommend this to young adult readers and adult readers alike, especially those who love the Once Upon A Time esk universe, or Alice and Wonderland themed genres. It was well paced, easy to read. I did look up a word here and then that is not used in my day to day conversations and was excited about learning a thing or two. I read slower so it took me more like 6 hours. Alice was interestingly purpose driven versus curiously driven. She was motivated by love and revenge, giving the novel a The Count of Monte Cristo vibe at times, our very own Edmond Dantès who was too imprisoned, but Alice was in a coma and already had a formal education.

There was a moment where Alice considered her life in London as a woman. I thought to myself, if only Alice knew reading is all the danger without the consequence of injury.

I give this a ⅘ stars. It was an adventure that I have to wait to continue with book two.

Alice in Wonderland like you've never seen before. Jack brings us a darker, more horrific tale of Alice than we've seen. She has to band together with the Hatter, Lady Cheshire, and others to rescue the Red King while the Red Queen keeps her sister captive. The characters are great and draw you into this darker version. The world building is so unique with added effects of Peter Pan and other mythos into this tale, it covers all the timelines. The pace and storytelling keep you turning the pages to the end and make you wait for more with the second part still to come.

An 'Alice in Wonderland' re-imagining blended with elements from 'The King in Yellow' and whispers of 'Peter Pan'?! Why yes, you have my undivided attention.

I thoroughly enjoyed this retelling with its darker take on Wonderland. It makes for a fascinating read with a fun mix of adventure, horror, and fantasy. Alice herself is not the most likeable character, but I think it works in this instance as she is a harder, more battle-worn version and the rest of the ensemble are fairly endearing which kind of balances things out. I am quite looking forward to reading the second book when it releases.

If you are a fan of anything Wonderland like I am, I definitely recommend giving this a read. 4.25⭐️