The Looking Glass Wars

When you hear the word "Wonderland," what do you think of? Some thoughts might jump to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, a story about a little girl that finds herself falling down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. You've probably heard of this story, or even watched the movie adaptation of it. You know who Alice is, who the White Rabbit is, who the Mad Hatter is, and you can't possibly forget the temperamental Queen of Hearts. You know about Wonderland; what else is new?

You have been misinformed.

Meet Alyss Heart, daughter of Queen Genevieve and King Nolan, who resides in the magical world of Wonderland. When the queendom is attacked by Alyss' Aunt Redd and her mother and father are assassinated, Alyss is forced to flee from her aunt to a whole new world: Earth. She tries to tell the people around her about her past, but instead is ridiculed for her stories of a "make-believe" place. Distraught, Alyss deliberately forgets about where she comes from, convincing herself that it must have all been a dream. Years later, Hatter Madigan, a royal bodyguard from Wonderland, finds her and takes her back home to Wonderland so that she may defeat her tyrannical aunt and reclaim the throne.

In The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor spins a fantastic 384-page tale of adventure, love, betrayal, and fantasy--and it's only one of three books. He takes one of my favorite children's stories and turns it into something else entirely, making it seem almost real the way he brings Alyss of Wonderland to our world. Similar to perhaps Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted and Fairest and Gregory Macguire's Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Beddor transforms a simple fairytale into a story with much more depth, making it all the more interesting to read. If you're drawn towards fantasy novels with princesses, queens and kings, war, betrayal, and perhaps even clairvoyant, hookah-smoking caterpillars, The Looking Glass Wars might be of some interest to you, whether you are a teenager searching for adventure, or an adult who misses reading fairytales but wants a little more than "happily ever after" at the end. Even if it doesn't make it onto your "favorites" list, it will still be worth the read.

(written by Helene)