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Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 stars)
This story is not for the faint of heart. Delve deep into the terror of psyche and of nightmares in the world of ALiCE.
The tale takes the common elements of Alice in Wonderland and spins them into a distorted story that questions sanity. Is it a dream? Are you a dream? Am I? Is there any escape from this madness?
ALiCE follows the protagonist, Christopher Robinson as he awakens in a hospital and finds himself on an island of no escape, full of nightmares while searching for one of the children at the Asylum – Mickey, a disturbed boy with few friends. He meets many interesting and terrifying individuals – Morgan the cop, Matthew the Deli Owner, Mary & Joseph and their creepy dolls, Able the gardener, and of course…Michael, the terrifying, manipulative man that appears at all the wrong moments at all the right times.
To an extent, Christopher is a sleeve, which is exactly the type of protagonist needed for this type of story. The reader spirals with him and meanders in the same confusion while wanting what he wants. Avalon does an amazing job in pulling us along with Christopher and leaving an air of trepidation in his wake.
Now I can’t finish this review without raving about the ending! Without going into spoilers, let me say that it was not something I was expecting! So if you think this will be your typical Alice in Wonderland ending, think again.
But as I said, it’s not for the faint of heart. So be wary, be careful…and as Avalon writes towards the end: sleep well.
What’s it about?Christopher was a simple man with a simple goal: to make sure his charges at Woodrow Children’s Asylum were as healthy and happy as possible. Not an easy task, and running out of medicine on the stormiest night of the year didn’t make it any easier. |
E.S. Barrison 