Reimaginings of some of the most sacred places of our childhood can be dangerous. There is so much that can go wrong, the gentle twisting of our memories and beloved characters cast in new roles, in new light.

Frank Beddor takes on the challenge of Wonderland. Wonderland is one of the richest imaginary places that we have access to in literature. It is constantly surprising us and providing more material than we could have dreamed. Beddor makes us see it as a war between good and evil, with young Alyss as a princess of the realm who is cast out into the real world amongst us mortals and forced to believe that she made it all us.

Characters like the Mad Hatter are made anew and new characters are introduced. There is a love story, but one that is sweet and innocent. This book would be a great fantasy for the 10-13 crowd, who are familiar with the original stories and will take delight in seeing Alyss arise as a warrior queen and our imaginations being the only things holding us back from achieving what we really want out of life.

I’m not entirely sure that I will continue on with the series, but I think that it was a good book.

**** = glad I read it, I enjoyed it, I would read it again