The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she's trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.
Life in real-world Atlanta isn't always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice's handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she'll need to use everything she's learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally. A Blade So Black (Nightmare-Verse, #1)
Download A Blade So Black (Nightmare-Verse, #1)
Not to brag, but. *I* got to read an early draft of this, and if you're jealous right now? You should be. Alice is the ass-kicking, Sailor-Moon-cosplaying, out-Buffying-Buffy heroine you didn't know you were waiting for. <3 9781250153906 I received an arc from Raincoast Books Canada in exchange for a honest review.
When I first saw the cover of this book, I screamed. I loved the cover so much and when I read what the book was about--an Alice in Wonderland retelling--I screamed even louder. So imagine my disappointment when I read the first couple of chapters and really, really, really, couldn't push through another page.
Firstly, the writing isn't very good. It's a fantasy with whimsical elements that if executed well could soar to the top of the NYT Bestsellers' list. However, the writing was not descriptive enough for it's intended purposes. Readers were left confused at the scenery described. Where were the characters? How did they move from this location to the next? The writing seemed very chunky, allowing readers to lose interest in the story very quickly.
I was just so confused while reading this one that I couldn't justify me spending another hour on wondering what was happening. Because I literally can't recall much about it except our main heroine, Alice, went through a traumatic death of her father and is saved by Hatter? Hatter takes her into this magical place and they battle Nightmares? And he's too weak to do it on his own and she's such a special snowflake because she learns everything so quickly and has a natural talent for it. It also had a lot of time jumping from before and after and it was a mess I couldn't trudge through.
MY RECOMMENDATION
Others who have more patience than me read and loved it so try it out for yourself? Maybe download a sampler first before you decide to spend so much money on this confusing piece. 9781250153906
This was written perfectly to appeal to black teens who never knew they could enjoy fantasy. Alice is a courageous teen who discovers her own power to kill monsters called Nightmares from the mysterious Wonderland. She has to grapple with real monsters in Wonderland while also dealing with the trauma of feeling unsafe and gun violence in her neighborhood. Alice's best friends are Courtney and Chess they make endearing jokes about race and try to empathize with her experience. All of the characters were well developed which added great realism and contrasted well with whimsical Wonderland.
I was pleasantly surprised by how multifaceted the plot and story was. Alice is tormented by guilt because she has to be supportive for her family while leaving for long periods to kill Nightmares. While she trains with her mentor Hatta to navigate Wonderland she has to deal with normal teenage hormones and romantic feelings. Alice is not the only one who is recruited from our world to hunt and kill Nightmares. Dee and Dum are Russian teenage boys who hunt Nightmares to keep them at bay, they work with Alice as she encounters evil in Wonderland. The magical grasses, bubbles and strange passage of time in Wonderland created satisfying world building. The action was believable and the fast pace kept me engaged the whole time.
And to those black kids searching countless shelves and between endless pages, hoping to catch a glimpse of themselves in galaxies far away, fantasies long ago, and stories here and now: this one's for you. Shine on, and drive back the darkness.~Author's Note
The stakes are high, the villains are awful and the diverse representation was refreshing. Some of the romantic elements were less than perfect but that was a small part of the book. The ending left me wanting more after a cliff hanger. I'm hoping that this is the beginning of a new series because I want to return to these characters and learn more about how they will continue to battle the evils of Wonderland. This was a really enjoyable read I would recommend to all readers.
Recommended for Readers who
- enjoy action packed and multifaceted fantasy's
- want to return to the wonderful whimsical Wonderland
- appreciate racial and sexual diversity 9781250153906 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is my favorite book.
I read it at least once a year, every year, and every time I get something new from it. I love the writing. I love the characters. I love the silliness. I love that it works on the surface level as a whimsical children's classic and I love that it works thematically, symbolically, motif-ly (?) on multiple other levels.
And so maybe it is not surprising that I cannot stop picking up retellings of it, and I never like them ever.
Until now, ish.
I picked up this book, pretended that it had nothing to do with Alice, and...enjoyed myself?
I had a hard time focusing on it, to be honest, to the extent that I felt like I read an audiobook of this even though I didn't. It just never fully grabbed my attention, and I didn't like the characters enough to counteract that.
But I'm not writing a one-star rant review like I have for...every other Alice retelling I've read.
This was a fine book! That's progress.
Bottom line: Character development! Not for any characters in this, but for me.
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pre-review
i actually...didn't hate this?
and all it took was pretending it had nothing to do with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
review to come / 3 or 3.5 stars
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tbr review
i have never liked a retelling of my favorite book, but that sure does not stop me from picking them up 9781250153906 I cannot wait for this book.
9781250153906
The amount of negative reviews this book is getting from butthurt white people because the author tweeted saying whiteness tires her so much is fucking ridiculous. Reverse racism does not exist. Plus, the fact that it took a black woman tweeting a pretty valid negative thing about white people caused such an uproar is very telling. Where were all of you people with these negative reviews concerning *actual* problematic books and authors? This is why people of color are so adamant about not giving a fuck about us white people. The minute they say something negative about white people we feel the need to make their feelings all about us. So, please, for the love of God, when a person of color says something negative about our race, stop a minute and actually think about why they feel this way because, after all, we did some pretty fucked up things to people of color.
Anyway, this books sounds right up my alley. An Alice in Wonderland retelling with a black MC? I'm in 100%.
Edit 1/10/2018:
We have a cover and it is gorgeous! <3
AND the little snippet sounds amazing! I need this book ASAP.
Edit: 2/7/2019
I don't really have much to say other than I need the sequel right now. 9781250153906 First, let me start with things I liked about the book: that cover is gorgeous! Any book lover knows a good cover is LIFE, am I right?! I also like the concept behind the book, because Alice in Wonderland has never felt like the tame, docile movie Disney spun out. A darker, more vicious story sounded awesome. I really appreciate LL McKinney's creative take on a classic story, and I'm a huge Buffy fan, so I loved that concept as well! I was disappointed with the actual realization of this character merge, but it gets points for being a good idea.
Second, the issues I personally had with the book: the writing and the actual story wasn't as on point as I was hoping it would be. I didn't really like the characters or the quest of the book. Unfortunately, to me, the characters all felt like they were written from a basic bag of trope. I also never got into the plot, and the world building wasn't that great. Perhaps it's because the writing wasn't particularly excellent, but as it's LL McKinney's first book, I am sure she will grow as a writer in future books. This book wasn't especially well-crafted in my opinion, but everyone has their own unique taste in what they like to read.
When I review books, I like to warn readers about potentially problematic material. It doesn't mean the material will offend everyone, only that it MIGHT. I warn readers on Goodreads and other platforms if there is possible triggering material or explicit language etc, but readers might want a heads up. So here's my heads up regarding this book before a person choses to spend their hard earned money. Readers should also be aware that LL McKinney expresses a great deal of animosity towards white readers and reviewers on her social media platforms, and if someone disagrees with her, she quickly labels people and attacks them as she expresses a problem of whiteness. This mentality is found throughout her book, and it is only right for readers to know this before reading her story. I appreciate her passion to speak out for diversity, but I think readers and parents who might purchase this book for their children should know she expresses issues of race with a great deal of vitriol and hatred. I'm assuming LL McKinney wants support from all reading demographics, but I don't she will get it by attacking readers. As a woman of color of the Latinx culture, I see the vociferous language she uses in real life and throughout her story to potentially fuel hatred instead of equality. Does my opinion matter less or should if I am not African American? Is my opinion automatically ignorant or racist for objecting to the language LL McKinney uses when speaking about white ignorance? Reviews exist not so readers can blindly support an author, but to respectfully inform other readers of what they did or did not enjoy about a book.
I subscribe to the belief that we cannot fight hatred with hateful, bitter language or behavior. I personally cannot support this author, though I support the cause she is promoting. I only wish she would do it in a manner that promoted unity, inclusion, and education instead of expressing herself in a manner that comes across as derisive and belligerent.
Having said all that, readers should decide for themselves if this is a book that sounds interesting to them, and if this is an author they want to support by purchasing her book. 9781250153906 Alice is beyond badass in Ms. McKinney's pumped-up, re-imagined Wonderland. A Blade So Black is the epitome of what gets me excited for my students.
Although, I could kick myself for finishing this one without having the follow-up, A Dream So Dark, right beside me. 9781250153906 Edit: July 22 2020 Surprise Surprise! I bet you didn't see this coming!
Book Stats
Stars: 2 Stars
Start Date : 6/26/20
Ending Date: 7/22/20
Genre: YA Fantasy ,Retellings
Form: Audiobook/ Ebook
Page Count: 384
Publishing Date: 2018
Point of View: 3rd Person
Setting: Atlanta, GA, Wonderland
You can read it on my blog!
Note: Due to the fact my real review of this book is kind of long, I ran out of character space. So I removed most of my two OG non reviews to the end of my blog review. I have to keep the legacy some kind of way lol.
I know this is very unexpected which is the reason why I never marked it as me reading because I wanted it to remain a surprise.
Since my non-review of her book which explains her past comments she made before this book come out has over 150 likes on GR. I have more likes on this than I do my actual reviews. lol
A lot of people maybe wondering why I decide to read this book now and the answer is simple .
I found out that L.L was a Sailor Moon fan. Plain and Simple.
I supported Marissa Meyer when I found out that she wrote SM fan fiction and I supposed SJM after I found out she was an moonie.
I will always make it my mission to support Moonies since SM was my very first fandom before I was even a HP fan. Especially black moonies like L.L and Roseanne Brown in which I stopped reading her book for a min so I can read L.L's
Also the fact L.L do be making some points on how the publishing industry needs to help black and poc authors with publishing their books but it just the way she goes about it can be seem harsh to say the least...
But enough of that I'll talk more about L.L towards the end of the review.
So I have made it known for a while that I don't like Alice in Wonderland which I think had something to do with the Disney animated version. I stayed away from retellings of it which the only one I have tried before to read Marissa Meyer's Heartless in which I gave it a 1 star. I guess I never liked the treatment Alice receive during her travels in Wonderland so that's why I never liked it.
So after consideration of the things I stated above ,I decide to give this one a try.
At first I really thought I was finally going to find a version of AoW that I really liked but after the first 25% of it..
Yeah Lets just say that Alice should have stayed in Atlanta away from Hatta.
So this was marketed as Alice of Wonderland Meets Buffy and for the most part is does have that feel which I'm going to talk about in min but let me talk about our characters.
Alice- A Black 17 years old Girl who lost her dad from an heart attack. Become a dream walker after meeting Addison Hatta the same night her dad died when she left the hospital and a nightmare attacked her.. Trained with Hatta for 3 months before entering Wonderland and had been a Dreamwalker for over a year. Was planning on retiring from being a dream walker since her mom becoming worried with her safe when a black girl got murdered. That plan went out the window when her last mission to purge ( aka cleansed with her Figment Blades aka special blades made from dust from Wonderland) a nightmare she killed a previous mission went wrong. When she met the black knight in which attacked her and told her to give a message to Hatta. Now going on a journey in order to find the heart in order to save Hatta. Loves to cosplay in which she had on a Sailor Fuku when her dad died. Dressed up as Princess Serenity for her best friends Birthday/Halloween party.
Wonderland- A magical place where dreams reside.
Dreamwalker - a human who can travel into wonderland to defeat the nightmares and because of this dream walkers can't dream.
Nightmares are born out of fear and anger from humans. They almost remain me of the Nobodies in Kingdom Hearts.
Addison Hatta- Alice Mentor. Trained her to be a Dreamwalker since he become exiled from Wonderland. He was exiled because he worked for the Black Queen which was the Queen of Wonderland before she become corrupted after the death of her daughter. He defecated from her in order help her two daughters( Red and White Queen) win the war against their mom and saved wonderland. Was the OG Black Knight. Was poisoned with a Madness by a person posting as Black Knight. Potential Love interest
Maddi- A potion maker who works with Hatta who owns the pub, Looking Glass Pub,that holds the gateway to Wonderland.
Dee and Dem AKA Dimitri and Demarcus Tweedlanov- Dreamwalkers from Russia who helps Alice with Nightmares from time to time. Has a mentor name Anastasia aka the Duchess which is almost like Hatta.
Odabeth- The White Queen Daughter and Black Queen Granddaughter. Is the the presenting Queen of the white Castle since her mom was attacked by the Black Knight. Goes with Alice along with Xelon ( the white knight and potential lover of Odabeth) to the real world to recover the Eye in order for them to find the heart.
The heart is an artifact that supposed to be with the Red Queen that supposed to heal people from the madness sickness. Is currently lost since the Red Queen is lost.
The eye is an artifact that supposed to be with the White Queen that supposed to see all things. Is currently lost but it presume to be in the real world
Black Knight- The villain who is turning humans into nightmares called fiends. Who also poisoned Hatta and the Oathbeth mom, the white queen. He also wants the Eye.
Black Queen- Was the OG Queen of Wonderland, Mother of the Red and White Queen. Was corrupted with darkness once her daughter died.
Courtney- Alice best friend who got pissed off when Alice didn't show up at her birthday. Didn't realized the Alice was freaking knocked out for a whole damn day thanks to the Black Knight attacking her which supposed to have been her retirement mission.
Chess- Alice and Courtney classmate from school. Another Potential Love Interest.
Alice Mom- Someone who is worried about Alice after the death of a black girl. A No Nonsense Black Mom.
The first part of the book was probably the best part of the book for me. I kind of liked the fact it time jumped and we only seen Alice completing her training ,seeing her go into Wonderland for the first time then time skipped to when she's been a Dreamwalker for a whole year. I was thinking like 25% of the book would be gone by the time she meets Hatta and goes into Wonderland.
Honestly I liked the whole idea of Dreamwalkers and the fact Wonderland was the place where nightmares end up at. It almost felt like the Digital World in Digimon or one of the lands Sora travels to in Kingdom Hearts. L.L's Wonderland felt different and fresh compared to Lewis Wonderland which is good since it supposed to have been a re imagining of Wonderland.
But after that it started to go down hill and honestly in order for me to make this review I had to seriously look up a summary because I couldn't remember people names becuase they were so one dimensional/bland.
It's three things in this book that bothered me the most dealt wit Alice.
1.Alice disregard for her mom being worried for her- Yes I understand Alice is a 17 year old teenager but the fact instead of laying low for one day and not sneaking out the house after she didn't come home for a full day ( which wasn't her fault since she got attacked) she did it anyway to see Hatta. It was like Girl! Really Lay low for just one day! Your mom already grounded you and she may kill you the next time. Then another scene when she come back from Wonderland which it was just a day in the real world and her mom wanted her to come home at certain time but she disregarded that again to go hunt for the pieces of the eye. Its like Girl! Go home for a second. Make sure your mom knows you are ok then go look for the eye. You are dealing with a black mom who wouldn't mind say I bought you into this world and I'll take you out! You just do things in order to keep to peace which Alice didn't do at all. Since her mom is worried about her since that girl got killed who was around Alice age. So you would think she would have more consideration about what her mom is going through with her losing her husband only a year ago and then a girl who almost Alice age got killed which got her thinking that she could lose Alice. But no it's all about sneaking out to save Hatta..
Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! Hatta!Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! Which goes to by next point.
2.Alice and Hatta- Omg I could have done without this so bad!! I could have done without her getting romantic feelings for someone who can be seen as her Teacher/Mentor at best. (It almost felt like Giles and Buffy which really become a Father/Daughter relationship when the series went on.) In which we don't know the age difference between the two at all. In which she kind went one track minded and was only thinking about him when trying to go after the heart to save him . Then her getting jealous at Duchess for her being concerned for Hatta's health. I understand she's 17 and this probably her first big crush but girl! Cool it! I'm side eyeing the fact that L.L is a SM fan which means she could have easy taken the dynamics of Usagi and Mamoru ( Manga not Anime) and incorporated into her dynamics with Alice and Hatta.
3.This weird makings of a love triangle between Alice, Hatta and Chess- Alice is pretty much all Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! Hatta!Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! through the majority of the book but then she almost kissed Chess and almost went to the movies with him. So Alice What it going to be??
I found myself eye rolling so hard at Alice actions because she was acting like a 13-14 year old and not a 17 year old.
She was killing nightmares like Buffy killed Vampires so that's why it was getting compared to Buffy.
I thought all the Sailor Moon references would have saved it for me which it didn't at all.
Everyone else felt so one dimensional that it wasn't even funny which the only four characters who had potential to be interesting was the twins, Xelon and Odabeth.
I really didn't like Hatta that much since Alice through he was the best thing since slice bread.
Also it felt very convenient that they found all pieces of the eye in like 4-5 chapters..
Also the fact the book pretty much takes place in like 6 days real world time...
I would love to know more about her cosplaying with her dad but he was just a plot device to get us to know Hatta so she can be heart eyes about him for the majority of the book.
I know nothing about Alice expect the fact that she loves to cosplay.Even tho she supposed to have these light powers that supposed to be power but that's it. It's nothing else interesting about her if it's not involving around Hatta and Wonderland. Sure she got a best friend but that just it. Alice needs to be a more well round character who have more interest and dreams. She supposed to be a at least a junior or senior in high school and it was no mention of her going to college or anything.
I'm just going to say again what I said in my 157 liked non review..
Yay Alice is black but what else? What else about her is going to make me interested in reading her story since I'm already not a big fan anyway? Oh she can kick ass! Yay! *
Which I was right. It's nothing else to this story expect Alice being a black girl living in Atlanta who like to cosplay.
We need more black female fantasy characters out there but they need to be good. I stopped reading a potential really good one in Songs of Wraith and Ruin to read this.
I just really wanted BlackGirlMagic to the max since I already dnfed another one with main character was only thinking about her wannabe woke boyfriend. (Slay)
Before anyone say it,Yes I love romance in books (especially fantasy books) and yes I want my black main females to have love interest that got their backs but I want them to have others things to think about besides a boy that is one dimensional.
Now that I think about it, the fact they we did time jump a year between her first going into Wonderland to her about to retire from being a Dreamwalker probably hurted their development. Since we don't see the interactions they had during that year for her to develop romantic feelings for him. So that's why it felt like she's all about Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! Hatta!Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! Hatta! in the majority of the book.
So really this book has the makings of being a really good book but it just mediocre at it's best. So I'm not going to read the next two at all.
Let me also post this gem from my non review
I'm all for diversity but don't let diversity be your only selling point while your story and characters lacks..
Which I was right again! I predicated the whole book without even reading it two years before I read it! lol
I leave with this nugget.
If you going to be one the main leaders/biggest voices on twitter trying to change the climate of the publishing world to get more publishing companies publish more Black and PoC authors and also almost getting other books not published from a PoC author because you claim that book is racist, make sure your work is not mediocre at is best.... You can't lead the charge when you are lacking the skills to lead and be an influence..
Make sure your bite matches your bark because if it doesn't people don't want to listen to you.
Edit: May 30 2019
Can yall please leave my post alone? Seriously. I'm getting more comments on this than on my actual book reviews.
Thank you The OG post will stay up here.
OG Post
A couple reasons why I'll probably not going to read this.
1. I'm not a big Alice in Wonderland fan so it's already doesn't interest me.
2. Alice is black in her retelling as the ONLY selling point of her story.....Yay Alice is black but what else? What else about her is going to make me interested in reading her story since I'm already not a big fan anyway? Oh she can kick ass! Yay! *eye roll*
So thanks but no thanks.
I'm all for diversity but don't let diversity be your only selling point while your story and characters lacks..
Edit:Two definitions people need to know
Racism: a system in which a dominant race benefits off the oppression of others.
Prejudice:an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge.
To all intended purposes, L.L Mckinney is prejudiced against whites but not racist due to the fact that she DO NOT have the power to oppress them aka keep opportunities away from them. Yes her comments are extremely unacceptable and should be called out like it but it's her being prejudiced against whites. She doesn't have the power to keep someone from having a job or in a bad economic situation. 9781250153906 1/10/18 - Holy maple bacon cupcakes batman, that COVER!!! That cover! That cover gives me #BlackGirlMagic feels all up and down my spine! It's everything and it's why #representationmatters.
I've been meaning to write an actual review but really all I can say is
I wish a book like this existed when I was a little Black nerd girl who grew up on a steady diet of Mighty Isis, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman and Emma Peel. Alice was total #heroinegoals and the Nightmare-verse was definitely harrowing. So much to relate to, especially trying to hide anything from a concerned and no nonsense mom. I also appreciated the realism - Alice wasn't superhuman - she actually got HURT in many of the battles she engaged in. It's annoying to read stories in which human characters are written like they're made of steel.
I'd been totally looking forward to this retelling of Alice in Wonderland with a Black heroine, but I follow the author on Twitter and she tells some ugly truths about the publishing industry, authors and racism in general that too many people want to bury their heads in the sand over.
PoC authors have to jump through hoops to get recognition, much less a chance to be published. A PoC author can't afford to be mediocre, even though there are lots of mediocre White authors with huge contracts and publicity.
To those whining about another PC rewrite, allow me to remind you of the most recent remakes of Little Women, Emma and Batman. ALL with white characters. So it's more than fair for BIPoC authors and characters to put their spin on the classics.
I will read White authors who write inclusive characters and who do so in a complex, non-stereotyped fashion. They don't deserve a brownie button for doing so because the world is diverse and contrary to popular belief, so is the readership. That's not my problem. I just want to see more PoC authors spreading their wings and imaginations and not being told we have our quota of Black/Brown/Asian/Middle Eastern/Native American characters, only to fall all over themselves when a White author pens a work with a PoC character, especially when that PoC character lacks any sort of nuance or serves as magical negro status.
There is no PoC equivalent of E.L. James (which is a good thing in my opinion). Still they should be given the chance and not held to an unfair standard. Nor covers whitewashed.
Asking for inclusion and equity in the industry has some whining about reverse racism (no such thing by the way). #OwnVoices is about PoC authors writing the kinds of stories they want to tell - and not the New York publishing cabal pushing limited subjects such as slavery, poverty, war, arranged marriages, tiger moms and other stereotypical themes.
There's a certain irony about people who are upset with McKinney for not being politically correct when there's an Orange Shitgibbon sitting in the White House who bragged about the same thing (and people liked that). The hypocrisy should escape no one. She's not personally angry at authors (unless they commit epic racefail). She's angry, and rightfully so, at an industry that refuses to get its act together and be more welcoming of diverse voices. 9781250153906