Death of the Mad Hatter by Sarah J. Pepper

Read in: November, 2013

Format: eBook

Source: Author

Star Rating: 3 1/2 

Synopsis: from Goodreads.com 

The Jack prophesied: If the king loses his head, then the Queen with a Bleeding Heart would rule the Red Court until Time ceased to move forward. When a second carried on for infinity, every creature in Wonderland would tip their Hat to the misfit girl with a Boy’s name (or was it a boy with a Girl’s name?) who’d end the Reign of Terror. However, it all hinged on the One-Eyed Hare being able to convince an uninspirable Heir that the impossible was indeed possible—like stopping time—and that Love was worth a Beheading.

Heads would Roll…
Hearts would Break…
In the end, would it matter who Reigned?

Prosecution: 

That half a star is really bugging me. But I couldn't give it another .5... The story was good, plot line has a TON of potential, but the execution left me kind of high and dry. You don't really know what the deal is until you're almost done with the novel and you all know my aversion to those kind of books. 

Defense: 

While I would have preferred Alice Mae to pick up the fricken pace, the plot line was just so cool! It was like I had stepped into a deeper, darker Wonderland. Everything was not as it seems and so many twists and turns and shocks. The creativity that was put into the novel is something to be said for and really made this retelling stand out. A few memorable tidbits was the candy they used to stay sane! I never would have thought of that and it definitely added a bit of pizazz to the plot. Since we already went through the nonsense of not really understanding the better part of the novel, the sequel should be a breeze to go through. 

Verdict: 

3.5.. I would love to give it another half of a point, but it did move kind of slow and I was half way into the novel before I really got sucked in to the plot line. It's a great winter read that's a nice little vacation from New Adult novels with a dash of creativity and ahem, an actual thought out plot line, but still with some romance and if you're really into fantasy retellings, I'm sure this is the novel for you. But here's the question: Does it matter who Reigns?