Ready for you holiday season to get deliciously Naughty again?The bad boys and girls of the Winterland are back for the conclusion of Alice and Scrooge’s story.This tale is mad, dark, twisted, sexy, and nothing like the legend you know.Life for Alice Liddell should be normal. Work, family, and her general sucky life back at her parent’s house, working as a slutty elf in Santa’s shop. But from the … Santa’s shop. But from the moment Alice woke up from a terrible fevered dream, nothing feels ordinary.
Visions of strange creatures, an obsession with creating top hats until her hands bleed, and an inexplicable attraction to her married neighbor, Matt, she feels like she’s going crazy.
When her illusions of twin elves, singing penguins, and sexy reindeers start to turn into full blown hallucinations, her family feels they have no choice but to find her help.
Her therapist is Matt’s wife, Jessica Winters, someone Alice feels in her gut she shouldn’t trust. But the more Alice loses her touch on reality, the more her parents turn to Jessica.
In one night, Alice loses everything, landing her to an insane asylum. Where she learns not only Jessica is not who she seems, but no one is in there.
As Alice’s mind cracks more, her visions feeling more like memories, she’s in a fight for her life against the mad ruler of the institution.
Except who will believe her? She’s the crazy girl. The one who’s visited by ghosts of holiday icons.
But one thing good about going mad?
In some places being mad is exactly what you need to survive.
To Ascend from Madness.
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Ascending From Madness picks right up where we left off with Descending Into Madness, but with a small twist. Alice is back home, slowly losing her mind because while she can’t remember Winterland, its influence and the influence of its people won’t leave her alone. She’s having what she believes are delusions and her behavior is making her family concerned. Characters that we know have insinuated themselves in her human world, exacerbating her problems. And all too soon she’s off to the nut house.
I enjoyed this part so much more than the first for a whole list of reasons:
I didn’t hate Alice this time, which is a good thing seeing as how the whole story is told from her perspective. While she found little ways to annoy me, I loved her evolution arc, how she grew to accept and live in her truth. I also admired her willingness to fight, whether it was for herself or for those she cared about. She became a true heroine in this book.
Scrooge and all his fineness. Although I no longer hated Alice and despite the fact that her voice wasn’t strong enough to really bring him to life, I still couldn’t get enough of him. He was broken and tormented, sexy and fierce, with a strong streak of loyalty and honor that belied his name. I would have given just about anything to get his perspective on some of the situations he and his team faced.
all of the side characters, good and bad. I absolutely adored Hare, Dee, Dum, Pen, Rudy, Santa, Noel, and even the evil queen. They made this story quite the interesting, entertaining, and hilarious read!
This story went a bit graphic at times (i.e. the ice pick and the temple), which made it even more enjoyable than the last book. I loved watching these characters tap in to their dark sides.
There was finally some sex! It wasn’t incredibly descriptive, but it was there and I was oh so glad!
Ascending From Madness was extremely well-written and developed. With a cast of incredibly entertaining characters and a twisted and attention-absorbing plot, Stacey Marie Brown just found a new fan!
Alice finds herself once again fighting madness and ascending deeper into the darkness that has become her life. Her parents think she is crazy, she dreams about her new neighbor every night inexplicably drawn to him and his wife is out to get her! One thing she knows for sure, she can’t trust Jessica. When things seem darkest and her life is put in someone else’s hands she finds herself believing and trusting the strange and unexplained. She finds comfort in her delusions and discovers again that when she falls into madness, it suddenly does not seem like madness anymore. Can they concur their memories and save Winterland and Santa before it is lost forevet, and their family with it? This epic, sinfully delightful and way out there read is un-putdownable and I will definitely be reading it again and again. Scrooge is delicious and devious and I would definitely not mind being on the naughty list with him! Quirky, lovable characters that round out the insanity of the world where nothing makes sense, yet maoes perfect sense.
Again, a fantastic sequel! I rate this book 5 stars, but I will say I enjoyed it a bit less than book 1. Simply because of where the book takes place, while book 1 is full of the ongoing adventure. Regardless though, it was suuuuper creative and made complete sense for the plot.
The intensity between Scrooge and Alice nearly lit my book on fire though! Whew! I need me a Scrooge! So cute, and I loved the ongoing struggle he had with their impending romance.
Lots of adventure and a very satisfying ending to their story and the issue with Mrs. Claus.
Now the question is…do I read book 3, or wait for book 4 in April, as it is a continuation of book 3’s story??
Loved this book! What a creative story line. So unique and exciting I was hooked from the start and the details and imagination were incredible. I would be very happy to get a 3rd book to read.
This is a very loose Fairy-tale based on Alice in Wonderland. However, though filled with plenty of madness, it is a much darker & certainly an adult version. There is sexual tension plenty, but not a whole lot of actual sex. There is constant action & wonderful characters that are naughty good, and a horrid, evil queen plus her minions. Poor Santa has been badly broken and not the Santa of our childhood. It will take lots of Christmas Wishes coming true to save Santa & his elves. The leading saviors are one beautiful, sexy Alice & one gorgeous, “hot” Scrooge. When I finished Book 1 (Descending into Madness) as soon as reading the last page, I quickly 1-clicked Book 2 (Ascending from Madness) & kept on reading!!!
I was in a book funk, and started reading a few books. None caught my interest until I started reading DESCENDING INTO MADNESS. This was fast paced and the story carried smoothly into the 2nd book in this Duet: ASCENDING FROM MADNESS. I could understand that these books might not be for everyone. But just think, “You must have an IMAGINATION!!”
“Fudge nuggets” this book was freaking amazed balls. Thanks to Stacey Marie Brown for giving me new phrases I can use around the holidays. I will drive my family bonkers. I just had to get that out of the way! I’m like a little girl hyped up on candy right now. Ascending from Madness is the continuation of Alice’s story. Alice seems like a typical female character at first, but she is so much more. She is a fighter, relentless, and pretty much carries the world on her back with her head held high. Her partner in crime Scrooge holy hell I didn’t think he could get much hotter than the first book, but I was so wrong. He has a domineering alpha of a beast personality, that maybe is every woman’s fantasy at least one time in their life. Together they are hot and heavy once both characters get beyond each of their own issues. The supporting characters Rudy and the gang are all still lovable. Hare still had me laughing out loud, love that dirty rabbit. Stacey writes an incredible villain many times I wanted to reach in the pages and strangle Jessica. She got my blood boiling. The storytelling gave you an emotional high. One minute you were laughing the next you’re were spitting mad. I crave those moments when I read a story. I love her details of the places you will visit in Winterland, feeling like you are right in the middle of everything. If you haven’t picked up this book yet, please do so. This is a perfect holiday read sitting by your tree drinking cocoa.
“He claimed me so deep, so thoroughly, I was suspended between lunacy and sanity. Sensible in my utter madness. He made sure if I died tomorrow, or decades from now, I would go with a smile on my face.”
I can’t even deal with how much I loved this story!! It had absolutely everything and entertained me to absolutely no end. My face hurt from smiling, my hands hurt from gripping my kindle, my brain hurt from the sheer workout my imagination got….just an epic, unforgettable story!! I’m so happy I picked up the first book and binged them both!! I do hope I can return to Winterland sometime soon!!
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
When I started the first book Descending Into Madness I wasn’t sure I would like it as I avoid most Alice in Wonderland type books but as it was SMB I couldn’t not read it and she blew me away with it. With this book I was so excited to read the next part and SMB certainly did not disappoint me.
I think my favourite quote from this, and its true
“Reality is to accept the truth in the unbelievable”
Even though I know this book is fantasy SMB had a talented way of making you believe, of drawing you into the madness and feeling like you were there.
In this one you are plunged down the rabbit hole back to where you left off. You are in a world of twists, turns, madness and romance as you get the second part to Alice and Scrooge’s story. I never knew which way things were going to go as SMB has shown her pure brilliance in melding two worlds together. War is raging but I loved watching Scrooge and Alice’s relationship grow.
How SMB came up with all this twisted goodness I have no idea and I am in complete awe.