Review: Seeing Redd

 

Title: Seeing Redd (The Looking Glass Wars, #2)

Author: Frank Beddor

Publisher:Puffin (Penguin)

Release Date: August 21st 2007
Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders

Alyss of Wonderland's rule has only just begun and already those who prefer chaos to peace are threatening to destroy everything worth imagining. Trailed by newly appointed Royal Bodyguard Homburg Molly, Alyss does her best to keep pace with the spiraling, non-stop demands of being Queen while attempting to evade Molly for a few private moments with Dodge. Alyss's life is already a challenging mix of duty, love and imagining when a series of phantom sightings set fire to an urban myth of her Imperial Viciousness's return and have everyone…Seeing Redd. Has Redd somehow freed herself and her chief assassin, the Cat, from the confines of the Heart Crystal to challenge her niece once again? If not, then who has resurrected Redd's brutal footsoldiers, the Glass Eyes, and set them loose to attack Wonderland on all sides? Battles rage, looking glasses explode and the Alyssians are once again uniting to defend White Imagination in this fast-paced second book in The Looking Glass Wars trilogy.

The Cat - Redd's humanoid assassin

I loved the first book, The Looking Glass Wars, and having felt that way, I immediately jumped into this book. No joke. I closed The Looking Glass Wars, went to my bookshelf, and opened up Seeing Redd. I wish I could do the same for the third one, Arch Enemy, but I don't own it. Sad face.

Seeing Redd was really good, but it wasn't quite as spectacular as The Looking Glass Wars. The first book had just the perfect mixture of happiness, loss, war, love (well, maybe not enough of that), ...moreI loved the first book, The Looking Glass Wars, and having felt that way, I immediately jumped into this book. No joke. I closed The Looking Glass Wars, went to my bookshelf, and opened up Seeing Redd. I wish I could do the same for the third one, Arch Enemy, but I don't own it. Sad face.

Seeing Redd was really good, but it wasn't quite as spectacular as The Looking Glass Wars. The first book had just the perfect mixture of happiness, loss, war, love (well, maybe not enough of that), triumph, and suspense. This book, however, consisted mostly of stressful events, tense relationships, and war. Some of the moments were particularly dry, and those moments all consisted of King Arch. However, the overall book was really good. It had such a big ending to make me want to read Arch Enemy.

[spoilers!]
Now, romance wise. With the last book, I was severely disappointed in the lack of romance between Dodge and Alyss. In the end, though, it showed promise of a better romance relationship for the second book. This promise failed in a sort of way. Yes, there was definitely an emphasis on romance. However, was very poorly executed. The first scene was nice. I'll give Beddor credit there. The kisses on Dodge's scars and the sweet feeling in the air...it was very nice. But then Dodge and Alyss had their first REAL kiss and 

Dodge - Alyss' love interest

it was so understated that I nearly missed it. I'm so frustrated by this! They were supposed
to be childhood sweethearts, but there was no emotion from Alyss! Just "I could report you for that." What was that all about? Beddor wrote nothing for emotion, or feelings. It was just the action, like a movie script. Then, the next thing I know...they're engaged! People were congratulating Alyss, and sure she didn't know what they meant at first, but what she found out why they were saying it...she acted like it was normal. During that scene I flipped back many times to re-read everything between Alyss and Dodge, thinking I missed something. I didn't. So what happened there? No proposal, no sweetheart romance....nothing. I can't help but feel cheated on this aspect of the story.
[/spoilers!]

Anyway...Redd wise. She was just as vicious as ever, if not more. During the whole time she was advancing toward Wondertropolis, I could feel the impending doom getting closer and closer. It was almost suffocating. Redd and her minions were represented very well through out the book.

Homburg Molly

As for the whole Hatter/Molly/Weaver plot..... Oh. My. Gosh. So good! And I was completely shocked on how it turned out! I feel so sad for Hatter. He can never win.





All in all, a really good sequel but not the best. The Looking Glass Wars outshines it, but not by much. I'm still a huge fan of this series, and I definitely recommend going to the website to see all the goodies on these books. I'd also definitely recommend these books to anyone!

 

 

  

  I give it four sporks! 

 

Review: The Looking Glass Wars

Title: The Looking Glass Wars

Author: Frank Beddor

Publisher: Puffin (Penguin)

Release Date: August 21st 2007
Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders 
Website: http://www.lookingglasswars.com/

The Myth: Alice was an ordinary girl who stepped through the looking glass and entered a fairy-tale world invented by Lewis Carroll in his famous storybook.
The Truth: Wonderland is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne, until her murderous aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss' parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, must flee to our world through the Pool of Tears. But in the pool Alyss and Hatter are separated. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Yet he gets the story all wrong. Hatter Madigan knows the truth only too well, and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts

Princess Alyss

It has been a very long time since I've sat down and read a thicker sized book with such intensity in such a short amount of time. It's been even longer that I've gone to bed thinking about the book and ended up dreaming about it.

These things are all good when it comes to books, for me. It means I was engrossed by it's story and liked the characters enough.

When I was a kid, there were two things that I really loved - The Wizard of Oz, and Alice in Wonderland. Sure, I liked lots of other things too, but those two have stuck with me and I haven't out grown them.

Alice in Wonderland is an amazing story and it's one that I don't mind having interpreted and re-done. There are so many fans of Alice in Wonderland that call themselves true to the story and thus hate interpretations like The Looking Glass Wars. I hardly find them true to the story then, because you have to have an imagination to like the story and that imagination can't be limited to keeping the story pure. That imagination can't be limited to shunning the creative works of other people.

That being said, I loved The Looking Glass Wars. The world was so intriguing, the characters so wonderful, and the story line so ingenious. The thing I love the most, were the little pieces of the story. The little things that were great interpretations of modern ideas or things from the original Alice in Wonderland.

Queen Alyss

Speaking of little things, the book also included a small section of high quality pictures of some of the main characters! So cool! These pictures are interspersed throughout the review. ;]

Alyss Heart was the daughter of Queen Genevieve who ruled Wonderland at the beginning of the novel. Here we see the picture of the White Queen. Genevieve's sister, Redd, being the Red Queen. The chessmen and the cards are even the same to each side, mainly. Hatter Madigan, and obvious spin off of The Mad Hatter, was a very interesting character. Stoic in nature, I found him to be on of my favourites. His duty only is what kept the whole story going. In the end, I felt that he should have had more recognition, because without him there would be now Queen Alyss. There would only be Queen Redd which would have made for a rather boring book!

Now, for the vengeful and handsome, Dodge Anders. He was a royal bodyguard in the palace and star 

Hatter Madigan

crossed lover to Alyss before the world was destroyed. Then he became the scarred vigilante, and begged the heart of every reader. Who didn't feel for the man? Of course, I was so eagerly awaiting Alyss' and his eventual relationship, but I'll have to wait for the sequel to see it.


As a whole, I loved the story. Yes, it had some downfalls, but nothing worth mentioning. It's a great book for fans of Alice or not, but only for those with a vivid imagination. You can even lend it to your Puritan friend to read and there shouldn't be any harm.(I have one of those friends...she refused to read The Iron King, so that should tell you how clean I remember this book to be.) Now, why are you still here reading this? You should be off reading the book now. ;]

 If you've already the series or are really interested in it, go check out it's official website! [Link is above.] You can actually play an online game (and it's pretty legit!), download the book's musical score and soundtrack, see official and fan art, and even upload your own. There's contests and other goodies too! I'd highly reccommend checking it out. I'm love with it myself!

I give it five sporks!

P.S. Yes, my review formats have been changing, and they might continue to change for just a little bit. My last two versions looked nice, but I wasn't able to link to places to buy or websites for the books/movies...stuff like that. But the changes should settle down soon. ;]