Red Queen

By: Christina Henry

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin

The author of Alice takes listeners back down the rabbit hole to a dark, twisted, and fascinating world based on the works of Lewis Carroll.

The land outside of the Old City was supposed to be green, lush, hopeful. A place where Alice could finally rest, no longer the plaything of the Rabbit, the pawn of Cheshire, or the prey of the Jabberwocky. But the verdant fields are nothing but ash - and hope is nowhere to be found.

Still, Alice and Hatcher are on a mission to find his daughter, a quest they will not forsake even as it takes them deep into the clutches of the mad White Queen and her goblin or into the realm of the twisted and cruel Black King. The pieces are set, and the game has already begun. Each move brings Alice closer to her destiny. But to win she will need to harness her newfound abilities and ally herself with someone even more powerful - the mysterious and vengeful Red Queen.

©2016 Tina Raffaele (P)2016 Recorded Books

A little magic

I loved the narration, she does an absolutely wonderful job. And the way the story is told is beautiful.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a little magic.

Grown up version for Alice and Wonderland readers

This sequel continues the story of Alice and Hatcher in search of his lost daughter, Jeni. Filled with mystery and adventure again similar to the first book but I feel more interesting to listen to. Didn’t want to stop listening and couldn’t wait o see what challenges came upon Alice as she tried to find Hatcher. I recommend this series if you like twists about original stories. After reading this series I may listen to some of the authors others twist of classics stories. Do not listen to this book until you have listened to the first book since it takes up from where the other left off. The narrator does a great job of keeping the reader entranced in the story although some of her voices can be annoying.

More magical, less horrific than Alice

This is the 2nd book in the Alice series. I waited to listen to The Red Queen because I needed a respite from the heft of "Alice". But, I needn't have done so. It is not nearly as dark and disturbing, having more to do with Alice's magic and growth beyond the grisly old city and false new city. She is no longer merely reacting to things around her / things happening to her, she is now learning how to respond with using magic or not. All in all, a satisfying conclusion (if this is the last one in the series). Having said that, there is still some room for a third book...

Captivating

I love when a book takes you there. Alice goes from an impulsive little girl to a strong intelligent woman.

Red vs White

The Red Queen another great adventure as we crawl deeper down the rabbit hole into the Alice Chronicles. It sad to see us loose a few good characters but here Alice begins to unlock her true magical abilities with the help of the red queen and Hatcher becomes the blood craving beast he knew he always with the white queens forceful magic. The white queen also carrys with her two secrets that will impact our hero’s. I hope Alice no - I WISH Alice gets her happy ending soon.

A Fair Sequel

Maybe a little less gruesome than the first. Not entirely an Alice in Wonderland tale, but a pretty good Fantasy novel at any rate.

Listened in one sitting at 2x. Narration editing in this production was better this time. Less breathy and less mouth noises.

A Satisfying Conclusion

What made the experience of listening to Red Queen the most enjoyable?

Red Queen is the second and final book of the The Chronicles of Alice. This dark and delightfully contorted retelling pick-ups where we last left off with Alice and Hatcher. While there is a prologue, I do not recommend reading this title out-of-order or as a standalone. For that reason, I am not going to be providing a recap during this review.

“Once, there was a girl called Alice, and she lived in the New City, where everything is shining and beautiful and fair. But Alice was a curious girl with a curious talent. She was a Magician. Do you know what a Magician is?”

The Chronicles of Alice easily fall within my favorite of retellings. Fast paced, gritty and beautifully re-imagined, Henry gives new life and breath to a loved classic with Alice. I was filled with elation to immediately discover Red Queen was no exception and would follow in the shining footsteps of its predecessor.

We are now accompanying Alice and Hatcher on their journey to find Hatcher’s lost daughter Jenny. But alongside of our familiar heroine and her “somewhat” unstable companion, we are introduced to some new and rather eccentric individuals. This includes Pen the giant and the denizens of their current surroundings. Each encounter provides additional insight into Alice and Hatcher’s quest and the Red and White Queens. The author cleverly relies on this new ensemble to convey the history and fill in many blanks.

The world building maintains the previously introduced, bleak yet imaginative setting that manages to effectively pique the curiosity and encourage further exploration. While the environment is a more limited in this adventure, I did not find it to be any less appealing. It was well-tailored to the direction of the story and serves its purpose.

It is fair to mention at this point that Red Queen is not as dark and graphic as Alice. Do not approach this portion of the story expecting the exact same action packed experience or you may miss all that it actually has to offer. Here we are gifted with a rather unique but welcomed change of direction or turn of events. The tale is now very much character driven and the pacing has slowed but not without justifiable reason. Through fragmented memories, we are exposed to Alice’s past and family life. Any pre-existing questions are answered and the veil is finally lifted from Hatcher as Henry thoroughly examines Alice’s relationship with him. This is Alice and Hatcher’s story.

The writing continues in that very straight-forward, crisp manner that I have come to expect with Henry’s storytelling. She effortlessly manages to balance all elements providing just enough detail to fuel the story but continue to play on and encourage the reader’s own imagination. The end result is an adequately pleasing conclusion that I would recommend to anyone who found appreciation in Alice.

What other book might you compare Red Queen to and why?

If you enjoyed Henry's re-imaging of Wonderland with The Chronicles of Alice, I would also suggest exploring Colleen Oakes' Queen of Hearts series for another fun take on this classic tale.

Which scene was your favorite?

Without spoilers, the conclusion. I feel that the author was successful in providing an ending that felt rewarding and complete.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This final book in the duology was very character driven. I was particularly intrigued by the further exploration of Hatcher's character and understanding his history.

Not like the first book, but good in its own right

Christina Henry has produced another satisfying literary work. The Red Queen is quite the polar opposite of Alice. It is a subdued storyline when compared to the raw, gritty, and at times shocking story of Alice. The Red Queen seemed to focus more on the magical development of Alice and her as the primary character apart for Hatcher, as he was only really at the beginning and end of the story. The men in the flying machines at the story's beginning seemed to be altogether out of place, they did not fit the time nor place, they honestly could have been left out. Don't go into this book expecting the raw bloody Alice, because it is not. I do wish that there was more background story established for the Jenny and how she ended up where she did, along with the White and Red Queens.

Love this adaptation of Alice in Wonderland !!

I’m a huge Alice and wonderland fan and it’s been absolutely amazing how this has taken characters from the classic and flipped them upside down. Put all notions of the original aside. I have loved listening and reading this series!

A wonderful dark fantasy!

This is book two of the Alice stories and it's very much a wake up call to Alice. She has to grow up fast and you are dragged along by the hand right beside her!