As with all of my reviews, I would like to start by sending out a huge thank you to Titan books for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Join Alice as she is thrown into the whirlwind of Wonderland

Within these pages you’ll find myriad approaches to Alice, from horror to historical, taking us from the nightmarish reaches of the imagination to tales that will shock, surprise and tug on the heart-strings. So, it’s time now to go down the rabbit hole, or through the looking-glass or… But no, wait. By picking up this book and starting to read it you’re already there, can’t you see?

Being a short story book it is always hard to say what I thought about it as a whole, there was some that I loved- and  read several times over- and some that I really could of done with having not read.  That being said -and Im not going to go into detail about those which I wasnt a fan of- I think that on the most part, I didn’t get on with them because I couldnt find a comfort with the writing style. You know how some writing styles can just feel like hard work to read? Yes well some of the stories from authors I had not previously read felt like this. I am sure that if you like those authors then those stories would be just as enjoyable as the rest were for me.

One particular story stood out as being a bit odd- not bad!- I actually loved the story and found it so thought provoking, but I just felt that it was a bit random in this particular anthology. The story was The White Queen’s Dictum by James Lovegrove, now I did see the Alice in Wonderland link, I just felt that it was a bit vague and a bit stretched. IF it was in any other anthology, I’m not sure I would of seen the link, and I feel that in many ways the link was not an essentail part to the story. But otherwise I did love it, very emotional and definitely left me thinking.

Overall I loved many of the stories within this anthology, but two stood out a lot more than others. There Were No Birds to Fly by M. R. Carey and Six Impossible Things by Mark Chadbourn. Could I say why these stood out, no Im not so sure I could. I am writing this review a good four days after finishing this book, and these are the two that I am finding Im still thinking back on. There Were No Birds to Fly was so dark and twisted and yet oddly metaphoical that you just got dragged into it all the way along, I would quite happily read a full length novel around this short story, and its left me eager to hunt out some more of there work. Six Impossible Things just touched me. It was really such a deep tale, and one that I did not see where it was going until the final few pages. I cant help but just think back over it and all the power it held. Again I will be looking to get hold of more from this author as this short story has stuck with me!

If you love Alice in Wonderland, or just short stories then you should definitely look at getting your hands on a copy! They are short quick, easy stories to read, and they are fabulous in the most part!

This has been out for some time now so you shouldn’t have any issues getting a copy, so what are you waiting for….