Madness

I knew going in that if this author wrote it there was a certain amount of mind funk I was going to be in. I wasn’t in the mind space for this book right now so that is reflective in my review. I didn’t hate it I just didn’t love it. Kailee always pushes the limits and I know that. In some ways it was brilliant and in others I wondered what I just read. With the “Alice in wonderland ” theme you already know it’s going to be quite the fantasy, but when you throw in Ms Samuels twist it’s definitely going to take you plunging down the rabbit hole. After things settle in my life I may go back and reread. I know I’ll have a different opinion when I’m not drowning. I still crave the dark queen so I’ll be looking forward to what’s next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I received an ARC of this book for my honest review, it saddens me that I honesty cannot give this book more than 3 stars. The blurb is magical and I had such high expectations for this book. I have greatly enjoyed the sinister dark fairy tales collection and believed this one would be just as magical. It definitely missed its mark with me for a few different points.
1. This,book is confusing. The reader is brought through to Ellison’s dreams which becomes confusing as the reader sorts,through Ellison’s reality and her nightmares. Most of which the reader isn’t led to until nearly the end.
2. The dream is brought on by drug hallucinations from a severely abused young girl.
3. The reverse harem that is dscussed in this book while its very hot left me wondering if she wasn’t in the hallucination would she have ever acted like that, considering what she actually went through.
4. The big one for me…its not confusing, its without warning. A trigger for some and totally not discussed in the blurb. Rape. The readers are led to believe she is protecting someone from it when in Ellison’s reality it is her that was repeatedly raped by someone who was suppose to keep her safe.
5. And my last issue with this book was that there is no closure for Ellison. The book ends with her safe, or what readers are led to believe is safety. Who truly knows considering we never really knew what was going on in this book. Her monsters aren’t caught, she’s a girl struggling to survive and everything she thought was real has been destroyed. She is left alone with 2 men she’s never met. For me it left too many unanswered questions and feeling like the story was incomplete.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author to review or Stephanie’s Book Reports.

As a starry-eyed child, I wanted to believe my shining prince would ride up on a white horse, present a diamond ring, and carry me away to his castle. His love would be endless and our lives would be the happily ever after all girl dreamed about. I never knew the fairytale was nothing more than a lie. I was a good girl. Until one night, one tiny trip, one little mistake, one moment of indiscretion. When I fell down the rabbit hole, I stumbled into the absolute fantasy, succumbing to their whims and rituals. As their very naughty girl, I embraced the nightmare and refused to ever leave. The Darkland is mine. And those monsters will kneel before their one true Queen.

This is one of the book in the Sinister Fairytale Collection. This is a dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland. It is recommended that you read the books in order in order to have all your questions answered from all the book. However I guess you could read it as a standalone, but I am loving discovering new things that go along with the other books in each new one that comes out. I will warn you to that this one is dark and gritty and may have triggers for some people. You are about to descend into Madness for sure. If you have read Alice In Wonderland then you know that some of the characters are super strange and that follows through in this book as well. There are some odd character’s for sure. This too is a reverse harem book so those usually get interesting really quickly and this one does do. However I felt like I was missing an emotional investment in a lot of these characters and that bothered me some. I think for a reverse harem you have to have some investment in the characters. I will also say that I felt like, and I am sure it was written this way, but you feel like you are one a trip, a mind trip that is. Like if you were on something kind of trip. That was different too. However with all that said it is a really good book and addition to the collection. You get a lot of answers in the end but are still left with something unsettled and that is why I feel like it is better to read these as a collection in order and not try to read one single book and still be left with questions you never get answered if you do not continue the collection of tales.