I’ve read a couple ‘Alice in Wonderland’ inspired stories over the last six months or so, and I’ve really enjoyed them.  This one had me more interested in the interpersonal interactions, and the plot then the descriptions of wonderland and the personal spin that the author chose for the setting.  World building for this story gets a 2/5 from me – only because it wasn’t anything new – truly, but a new spin on an old idea.  The plot / story line was much more enjoyable for me, and interesting gets a 4/5, while the characterizations get a 5/5.

The main character – Alyssa – tries to deal with her sordid family history in present day USA while trying to maintain a normal teenage life – – or as normal as one can be with a strange ability to hear the voice of bugs and flowers, and a mother in an asylum for admitting to have the same power, on top of the fact that she had what appeared to be a psychotic break when Alyssa was only 5, and attacked her with garden shears.

Alyssa is an aspiring artist who’s medium is dead insects, which she uses as the basis for her macabre collages.  Her best friend, neighbor – and secret crush – Jeb, is also an artist – a year ahead of her in school, and in fact is graduating in the next few weeks before he heads off to London to pursue his career.

Due to a strange series of events – Alyssa begins to have flashbacks to strange memories from her childhood featuring an enigmatic boy – Morpheus – with jeweled eyes and large black moth wings.  She passes the flashbacks off as more of her family’s craziness – until she is contacted by the boy again, and finds him grown and far more dangerous then he ever was when she was a child.

He promises to help rid her family of the curse it’s been under ever since her ancestor – Alice Liddel – went through the rabbit hole and entered wonderland, bringing back the strange abilities that now plague Alyssa and her mother.  Alyssa has to make a decision as to weather or not to trust this strange creature that she is starting to remember, knowing that he isn’t human, and doesn’t posses human reservations about using people to forward his own agenda.

The love connections in this story were a mix between and sweet and exciting, while the plot moved along at a good pace – keeping up with the intriguing set up of the story line.  I found myself unable to turn away from this book until I had gotten all the way through it, and would defiantly recommend this for anyone who loves both the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and YA genre.

This is the first of a trilogy, and while I’ve read the second book and the novella in this series – the first book is capable of being a stand alone.