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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Review: The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor


Title: The Looking Glass Wars
Author: Frank Beddor
Publisher: Dial Books
Date Published: 2006
Genre: YA
Main themes: love, friendship, orphans, fantasy worlds, murder, imagination
Pages: 358
Plot (from book jacket):

"Alyss of Wonderland?
When Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, must flee through the Pool of Tears to escape her murderous aunt Redd, she find herself lost and alone in Victorian London. Befriended by an aspiring author named Lewis Carroll, Alyss tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Alyss trusts this author to tell the truth so that someone, somewhere will find her and bring her home. But he gets teh story all wrong. He even spells her name incorrectly!
Fortunately, Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan knows all too well the awful truth of Alyss' story and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return het to Wonderland so she may eventually battle Redd for her rightful place as Queen of Hearts."


Why did I wait so long to read this book!? I haven't read a YA fantasy novel that was this amazing in FOREVER! Alice in Wonderland has always been one of my absolute favorite stories and Frank Beddor's version is no exception! I loved the original Alice in Wonderland, but, gosh, this version is totally fighting for favorite.

The world of Wonderland and its inhabitants were so wonderfully imagined. Hatter Madigan was one of my favorite characters - he was just so intriguing and interesting. I was amazed by the characters and landscapes of Beddor's Wonderland.

Alyss was an awesome main character. I found myself rooting for her and the Alyssians in their fight against her crazy Aunt Redd and the bullying people from the other side of the Pool of Tears.

And, oh my goodness, Dodge! I seriously loved childhood friend turned jaded man. I can't wait to find out more about him and his and Alyss' relationship in the next novel, Seeing Redd (which is totally on the table right now begging me to open it and dive in!).

I can't say enough good things about The Looking Glass Wars! My dreams would come true if Beddor decided to rewrite Peter Pan as well - eeek!

Ratings (Out of 10):
Plot: 10
Characters: 10
Writing Style: 10
Romance: 10
Originality: 10
Total: 50/50!

Read it! I'm totally in shock of its awesomeness right now!



8 comments:

  1. Alice in Wonderland is indeed fantastic!

    This book sounds great, going to have to add it to the GR to-be-read list. Way to drum up excitement for this book!

    Since you are an Alice fan, have you seen the trailer for the Tim Burton remake of Alice in Wonderland? It looks amazing. :-)

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  2. I'm supposed to be getting this from BookMooch! It sounds soooo good and the cover is AMAZING! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.

    ~Briana :D

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  3. April:
    I haven't seen the trailer... but I've been hearing about it. Tim Burton doing it right? I will definitely be checking it out! Thanks!

    Briana: I hope you like it! Love BookMooch... :)

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  4. I love these reworkings of original fairtales. I haven't heard of this one, but will definitel add to my list.

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  5. I love this book so much! It's just one of those books you can't put down.

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  6. Awesome! This looks pretty unique.

    -Briana

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  7. I definately went out and bought this and it's sequel, Seeing Redd, because of your review! I also linked your review in my In My Mailbox post!

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  8. April: Yay! I hope you like them! I have Seeing Redd on my table at home right now and it is totally calling to me... :) Also, thanks so much for the link - that is really awesome of you!

    Also I totally watched that trailer for Time Burton's Alice in Wonderland and it looks AMAZING!

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