I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Looking Glass by Christina Henry Series: The Chronicles of Alice #3
Published by Ace Books on April 21 2020
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: For fans of Christina Henry’s Alice books, this collection fills in some of the blanks and gives readers a peek into the emotional lives of her characters.
Looking Glass is a collection of four interconnected novellas set in Christina Henry’s Alice world and gives readers some new glimpses into the lives of Alice and Hatcher, the main characters in this series. Word of warning, however: if you aren’t caught up with both Alice and Red Queen, you may find yourself a little lost at times. I personally have not read Red Queen, so some of the references in a couple of stories confused me. But I have to say, it’s a testament to Christina Henry’s talent that the stories are accessible and enjoyable despite this fact. It’s also strange to note that the story which was most grounded in reality was my favorite, and the oddest and most Alice in Wonderland-like tale was my least favorite. Go figure! Here’s a quick recap/breakdown of each story to give you a taste of what you’re in for.
Lovely Creature
Elizabeth Hargreaves can’t understand why everyone keeps calling her “Alice,” until she goes on an adventure of sorts and learns that she used to have an older sister of that name who went mad. Elizabeth has some magical abilities and is able to turn rose petals into butterflies, and she’ll need those powers to get herself out of a dangerous situation. When she chases after an odd man with a bird’s tail and beak, she finds herself in the Old City, where danger lies around every corner.
This is a great introductory story that mentions several familiar characters, like the Jabberwock, the Rabbit, and Cheshire. It’s also the story that has the least connection to all the others, although it does give us a nice lead-in to Alice and Hatcher. We’re also reminded of the world these characters live in: two cities—New City and the Old City—that are separated by mere walls, one where the rich and privileged live, and the other full of desperate and dangerous people. I loved that Henry imbues Elizabeth with plenty of grit and determination to save herself, despite her young age.
Girl in Amber
Alice and Hatcher are on the move and trying to find a safe place to settle before the winter snows come. Hatcher must turn into a wolf in order to feed his dark nature, and so it isn’t safe for them to settle down in one place for long. When Hatcher decides to leave Alice to scout ahead and find shelter, Alice embarks on an unsettling adventure involving a strange boy, a house full of doors, and some very scary creatures.
This story wasn’t my favorite, for some reason, and maybe because Hatcher is absent for most of it. Alice is led into a spooky house full of dozens of locked doors and must make her way through it before she’s attacked by the creatures inside. Alice reflects on her unhappy childhood where “every door had a lock,” as she’s now in a house where literally every door has a lock. Henry’s theme here is power, since Alice must find the power within herself to get out of the house alive and find Hatcher again.
When I First Came to Town
Hatcher reflects on his past life living in the Old City as a teenager and working at a fight club, the time when he met his future wife Hattie and how he got her away from a terrible man.
This was my favorite story. We get to see a glimpse into Hatcher’s past as a fighter, trying to earn enough money to leave the Old City for good. Back then, “Hatcher” was Nicholas. Nicholas’s boss Dagger Dan sets him up to fight the notorious Grinder, and as he trains for the big fight, he realizes that he has a touch of magic himself, magic that might help him win. The most chilling part of this story is that we meet Rabbit, an evil, mob-boss sort of character who both Alice and Hatcher tangle with in other stories.
The Mercy Seat
The final story is also the shortest. This follows chronologically after Alice and Hatcher have found a safe place to rest over the winter months. Alice has a surprising discovery and knows it’s time to move on. But according to Olivia, the witch they’ve been staying with, their journey will be extremely dangerous.
In this story, Alice and Hatcher discuss some traumatic events in their past, events from Alice, as they decide the best course of action to get to the place Alice has in mind despite the dangers ahead. Alice discovers she’s more powerful than she realized, and these powers come just when they need them. This was almost a “slice of life” tale rather than a full-blown novella, but it does have a happy ending, for which I was grateful.
Overall, I really enjoyed this collection. Christina Henry’s dark touch is evident, even if the stories don’t quite reach the horrors of Alice. My favorite part about reading these was trying to figure out the connections between them and how they fit into the previous two novels, and I love the relationship between Alice and Hatcher, who have had their fair share of trauma and heartache. Fans of this series are probably going to enjoy these just as much as I did.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I’ve only read The Mermaid by this author but I’m definitely interested in discovering all her other books!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…Review: Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
I loved the Mermaid! It’s actually quite tame compared to her other books, which are a little more on the horror side.
Ohhh, good to know that I have to read the other books first if I want to enjoy this one properly! It will not be a sacrifice, though, since with “Lost Boy” she totally captured my imagination :-9
Thanks for sharing!
maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…THE BOOK OF KOLI (Rampart Trilogy #1), by M.R. Carey
I always find her books so readable, and this series is no exception:-)
I like the idea of a collection of four related novellas. It’s different.:-) Thanks for the heads up about Alice and Red Queen. Good review!
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…Poetic Prose in Horror
Thanks Priscilla! Definitely check out Alice, it skews towards horror:-)
This sounds good, and I’m pretty sure I got Alice as an e-book a while ago, no idea why I haven’t given it a read yet. My TBR pile is a bit out of control Great review!
Pages and Tea recently posted…Book Review: A Different Kind of Evil (Agatha Christie #2) by Andrew Wilson
I think all of us have out of control TBRs, lol!
Glad you enjoyed this collection – she is certainly a talented author and it’s always a treat to get unexpected insights on a world you have previously enjoyed in novel form. A thorough and enjoyable review:))
Thanks Sarah, I agree. I love having more insight into a series that I love.
I need to read Alice and Red Queen, but then I’ll want to read this as well! Great review. I’ve loved what I’ve read by Christina Henry so far, so now I need to read everything else!
I really love her books, she has some very dark twists on fairy tales!
I need to order a copy of this. I have the other two in the UK editions but guess what? I haven’t read them. You knew that right? I love Christina Henry though so she’s pretty much an auto-buy author at this point.
Definitely read the first two books before you read this. I do like those UK covers!
I am hit or miss with this author since I loved one and not the other but I have been curious about this series. I am not an Alice in Wonderland fan so I worry I won’t like it…lol.
I’m actually not a big Alice in Wonderland fan either. But she has a really dark twist to it which is why I love these books:-)
Kind of curious about these now. And what a captivating cover.
Laura Thomas recently posted…My Monday Minis #58 ~ Conquest by Robbie Dorman
The butterfly on the cover has special meaning:-)
I haven’t yet read any of her books, but her work sounds like something I would like. I’ve added a couple of her books to my TBR and will add this one to it too. If I like the others in this series, I’ll want to read this one too.
Zezee @ Zezee with Books recently posted…Weekend Reads #99: Week 3 — OWLs 2020 Progress Report & Bookshelf Tour
She’s written some good ones! I personally loved her Little Red Riding Hood retelling, The Girl in Red.
Reading this one now! i’ve only finished the first two stories though, so I only read half your review for now, but I’m pleasantly surprised how much I’m enjoying these stories considering I don’t typically go for shorts/novellas! The first one so far is my favorite, I loved Elizabeth!
I really liked Elizabeth too! And I don’t remember her from the other stories, or maybe my memory is just bad…
I haven’t read anything by this author, yet, but I have this series on my TBR, and so I hope to start it, sooner or later! And this was a great review!!
She’s really good, I recommend really any of her books!
I haven’t heard of this “”series” before. It doesn’t seem like a straight trilogy, just series of books set in the same world with the same characters? Sounds kind of cool though! There was a time in my life I was very big on Alice in Wonderland retellings.
It’s sort of a loose series, I guess. But I did miss some of the references in these stories because I DIDN’T read Red Queen first, so bad on me!
I’m not familiar with these books, but I think it can be really interesting when an author successfully takes an older work and extends it or changes it into something else without detracting from the original, if that makes sense. Glad to hear you’re enjoying these.
I think sometimes readers just want “more” of a certain story/world, and it is nice when authors are able to deliver that to us:-)
I definitely enjoyed these, too, Tammy. Christina Henry is so good at these dark retellings. Lovely review!
She really is, thank you Jenni!
Okay, I’m going to confess, I actually never really liked Alice in Wonderland? It was a little too odd for my taste (though I did read all the books). I have to say, though, that this sounds really good (and honestly, I’m willing to give Christina Henry the benefit of the doubt here). I might have to check out this series, because now I’m curious! it sounds a little less … out there … than its inspiration.
Sammie @ The Writerly Way recently posted…Must-Read Poems for National Poetry Month
I’ll confess as well, I’m not a big Alice in Wonderland fan either:-P But she puts a really contemporary, dark spin on it so it doesn’t feel like the over the top “odd” of the original.
It’s definitely great to know that this will work even better if we read Alice and Red Queen before. Excellent reviews of these short stories, Tammy. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…The Ranger of Marzanna by Jon Skovron
Thank you Lashaan!
One of these days I need to read this author. Great review, Tammy!
Thanks Lauren:-)
Eek! Still not read this author – and yet I’m sure I already have a couple of her books. Drat.
Lynn 😀
I swear you’ve reviewed something of hers! I must be wrong.
I’m not usually much of a short story reader, but I’ll read anything by Christina Henry. I actually haven’t read her Alice books yet so I’ll read those before I tackle these.
You definitely want to read those books first, but then this is a nice “fill in the blanks” sort of read.
I keep meaning to read some of her work and not. I even got one of her books out from the library and didn’t read it before I had to return it! Glad you enjoyed this one.
Hey, that happens to me a lot:-)