The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor

The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor, takes place in a place called Wonderland. Wonderland has just entered peace for 12 years after a brutal civial war between two sisters - evil Redd and good Genevieve. Redd lost and has been exiled to a faraway fortress. The story starts with the entire "queendom" celebrating Princess Alyss Heart's birthday. However, King Nolan, Genevieve's husband and Alyss's father, is soon murdered while returning from negotiations with another country. The murderer was no one else but Redd and her soldiers. However, the death of King Nolan fails to reach Wonderland its monarchs, who were celebrating. As the partying continues, the palace and Wonderland are ambushed from the inside by Redd's troops. Caught by surprise the queendom's Millinery attempts to defend from the onslaught to no avail. The queen's top bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, is sent to protect the princess by escaping Redd. Genevieve is then executed personally by Redd. Upon finding Alyss, Hatter escapes through a portal called Pool of Tears. Alyss is then separated with Hatter and forced into a new and alien world. Can Alyss ever survive in this new world and regain her rightful throne as Queen of Wonderland? I loved this story as it transformed the childish story of Alice in Wonderland into an exciting and more mature story. This story shows Alyss's adventures in the new world, which apparently is our world during the mid-1800's. I recommend this story to teens and young adults. -Reviewed by Jonathan, grade 9.

Comments

Teen Speak said…
It's Alyss' seventh birthday, the future queen of Wonderland, the daughter of Queen Genevieve. Everyone was happy, everybody was celebrating her seventh birthday. Meanwhile, Alyss was bored, she wanted to be with her friend Dodge, but couldn't find him. He was gone to get her the birthday gift, even though he wasn't rich nor a prince, his gift meant a lot to Alyss. On the other world, Alyss' aunt, the sister of Queen Genevieve, has been waiting all these years to get her revenge on her niece's seventh birthday. This is when the real story begins. Redd, her murderous aunt steals the crown, kills Alyss' parents and becomes the only queen of Wonderland. Alyss and her bodyguard had to escape Wonderland, they use the Pool of Tears to travel to other worlds. But, Alyss loses Hatter Madigan, her bodyguard at the Pool of Tears and she gets to go to Victorian London, a place where is so different from her homeland. Nobody believes her there, they think she is just a child with her childish imagination. Her foster parents wanted her to get over with her childish stories about Wonderland, but she never gave up believing in them. Until one day, she meets an aspiring author, he was the only one who listened to her stories, he decided to write a book inspired by her stories, the one that we know today as "Alice in Wonderland"! She got heartbroken by what he has done, it wasn't even close to her stories, it wasn't close at all. It was when she changed, she believed in human's world and gave up her belief in Wonderland. But, this isn't the end. On her wedding day with the prince, Dodge comes back, brings her back to Wonderland. She is the only one who can get back the throne, she has meant to be the only queen of Wonderland.

This book is worth reading, it's not a waste of time. It is also so different from the story of "Alice in Wonderland". It is unique how the author has come up with a story like this. The only thing I didn't like was that the book is too long, it is about 360 pages which takes plenty of hours to finish. This book would be so good for teenagers and young adults. It brings them to the world of fiction, unexpected events and danger. I promise that this book is not waste of time at all, I really recommend it.

Reviewed by Orkideh, Grade 12
Downtown Central Library

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