I had really high hopes for this book and when I received a copy from BookMooch, I was quite excited. Unfortunately, this book didn't quite meet expectation. All the correct pieces were in it, it just didn't quite add up to spectacular. Alyss was cute, had the correct motivations, and I liked her, but didn't love her. My favorite character was Hatter Madigan. Redd, the evil queen, really didn't have much of a motivation for being evil, and that motivation changes. Early on in the book, we find that Redd never wanted to be queen, but was forced to the role, and then at the end, she was slighted because her sister was given queen, leaving Redd exiled.

Also, in a world being able to imagine things equal to making it real, the world was too solid, the regular people living in this world lived normally, with normal commerce.

By the end of the book, the characters were finally coming around, Alyss to her heritage and becoming more likable.

I think the book does a good job with taking Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and turning it into a darker fantasy without ignoring the original story or changing details so much that it becomes something entirely different.

The time-line at the end of the book was a nice touch :) ( )

I found the concept of The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor to be utterly fascinating. What if Alice Liddel and the Reverend Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) had been telling the truth: She was the rightful heir to the Wonderland throne, exiled to England while her black imagination-practicing aunt Redd ruled by ursurption. What if, in telling Dodgson, she had been hoping the book he’d write would prove her credible, but instead he’d took her for only being highly imaginative and had twisted her tale until it barely resembled the truth.

Unfortunately, either because I’m just not enough of a Wonderland fan, or I wasn’t in the right mood for the book, I found I couldn’t get into it. I can’t say what I found “wrong” with it, can’t say what I’d wish more for or less of. The writing is more than worthy, the concept imaginative, and it has sparked a bit of hatred from die-hard Carrollians, but it just didn’t grab me. It has everything I like, fantasy, adventure, maybe it could’ve used more humor. It is a mystery why it missed the target with me.

I would recommend it to anyone who likes both the Alice books and darker stories. There are also sequels to this book, as well as one of Hatter Madigan’s tale. I’m satisfied that my adventures in the Looking Glass Wars is ended, personally, but I will probably watch the movie when it comes out, which doesn’t seem to be planned at the moment, but I’m sure there will be one someday. ( )

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

I have a confession to make. I have never particularly cared for Lewis Carroll's (aka the Reverend Charles Dodgson's) ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. Although I've read those stories, once, they have never even come close to being one of my favorites. With Frank Beddor's THE LOOKING GLASS WARS, however, I can easily say that I was drawn into the story from the first page--and have found a new book to add to my list of favorites.

THE LOOKING GLASS WARS begins in 1863, in Oxford England, with eleven-year-old Alyss Heart having told her story to the Rev. Charles Dodgson over a matter of months. After four years of living in this world, Alyss is sure her story is about to be told. Unfortunately, the "liberties" that college scholar Dodgson took with her telling of her life in Wonderland have been turned into a parody, a fictional tale that resembles nothing like the life she had previously led. The events that led to her living in England have become nothing but a foolish story, something to be read to privileged children by their pampered parents.

Alyss's story actually begins long before that day she is given a bound copy of ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Dodgson. While Alyss was celebrating her seventh birthday in Wonderland, plans were being put into action to overthrow the Queen, Genevieve, Alyss's mother. Genevieve's evil sister, Redd, has grown tired of being exiled from Wonderland--and her powers have grown strong. She stages a coup that begins with the death of the King, Genevieve's husband, Nolan. And it doesn't end until Genevieve is dead, as well, and Alyss is forced to escape through the Pool of Tears.

This is only the beginning of Alyss's toils, and the troubles and woes that come to all Wonderlanders who refuse to recognize the new queen. As the other houses (Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs) take sides, as battles are waged, Wonderland fades from the beautiful, prosperous city that it once was. And Alyss, who was destined to be Queen, is forced to live a life of lies in an alternate world.

Frank Beddor has come up with a wonderful story that draws upon Lewis Carroll's original characters and turns them around to bring them to vivid life. From the Chessboard Desert to the bodyguard Hatter Madigan, from the scholar Bibwit Harte to the young Dodge Anders, from the Generals Doppel and Ganger to The Cat and the Glass Eyes and The Cut, it's all there, in wonderful, splendid glory. This is definitely one story that will stay with you, and have you turning pages long into the night. If you're like me, you'll also be eagerly awaiting the second book in the series, SEEING REDD. ( )

it was a good book. If you like adventure this woud be a good book for you.

This claims to be the REAL story of Alice in Wonderland.

Alyss (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson spelt her name wrong) has had her world ripped apart. One minute it was her seventh birthday and she was Princess, heir to the throne of Wonderland and enjoying her birthday party. The next, her parents have been murdered, and she has gone on the run, emerging from a puddle into Victorian London, where everything is different and her imagination refuses to work.

This was a surreal and intriguing take on the traditional Alice in Wonderland story, with a mixture of fantasy and science fiction thrown into the melting pot. There are characters you will recognise if you are familiar with the original, but they come in very different guises.

The plot is fast paced, based on a very traditional storyline of a wicked sister overthrowing the queen to gain power, and the rightful heir running away to grow up before (hopefully) coming back stronger. But its not the plot that made me enjoy this, it is the imaginative powers of the writer (which are, coincidentally, very important in this world) and the way he twists things.

At some moments the surreal becomes bizarre, and I occasionally lost how things 'work' in this world, but mostly I just enjoyed the imagery produced.

You don't have to know Alice in Wonderland to enjoy this as a simple fantasy story, but it will help a lot. The rollercoaster ride will seem a little slower if you understand the references!

Surreal, dazzling fantasy/sf based on a classic. ( )