The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (4/5 stars)

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time. I was waiting to read it until I got the second book in the series. I am a long time fan of Alice and Wonderland and wondered how a re-write of it would go. All-in-all this is a very good book.

Alyss Heart is the princess of Wonderland, she is exiled when her Aunt Redd takes over the throne killing Alyss's mother and father. It takes many years for Alyss to find her way back to Wonderland but eventually she does and it is torn by war and desolation.

There were some things I really liked in this book. What if the real world was the made-up place and Wonderland was Alyss's reality? I love the creativity of the world of Wonderland. I love the characters Beddor has made out of General Doppleganger and the Hatter. This was an entertaining read and a very creative idea.

The book itself is easy to read and is well-written. It is very griping and engaging and full of non-stop action. I have two complaints about it. The first is that the character's (though interesting in a creative way) seem bereft of any emotion. They all seem a bit 2D to me. I don't think that was intended but none of the characters really came alive for me. The second thing would be how Wonderland is portrayed. The original book Alice in Wonderland is mostly about Alice wandering through a fantastic landscape where nothing is what it seems. This book puts aside a lot of that creativity and spends more time discussing wars and rebel factions. I would have liked it if a bit more of the neat aspects and features of Wonderland were detailed and less time had been spent on Alyss as Alice in London and on war strategy and planning.

Despite these complaints this was a great book and I look forward to reading the next one. Anyone heard when the final book of the trilogy will be released?