A Blade so Black [Book Review & Giveaway!]
![A Blade so Black [Book Review & Giveaway!]](https://i0.wp.com/oliviascatastrophe.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/post-thumbnail.jpg?fit=4000%2C3000&ssl=1)
Hello Catastrophes!
Title: A Blade so Black
Author: L. L. McKinney
Publisher: Imprint
Published Date: 25th September 2018
Rating: 3 Stars
*Thank you to Aimee, Always for the review copy*
Synopsis: The first time the Nightmares came, it nearly cost Alice her life. Now she’s trained to battle monstrous creatures in the dark dream realm known as Wonderland with magic weapons and hardcore fighting skills. Yet even warriors have a curfew.
Life in real-world Atlanta isn’t always so simple, as Alice juggles an overprotective mom, a high-maintenance best friend, and a slipping GPA. Keeping the Nightmares at bay is turning into a full-time job. But when Alice’s handsome and mysterious mentor is poisoned, she has to find the antidote by venturing deeper into Wonderland than she’s ever gone before. And she’ll need to use everything she’s learned in both worlds to keep from losing her head . . . literally.
Review: An Alice in Wonderland retelling with a black representation for Alice? I couldn’t resist – I had to have it! Combined with that cover, there was no way I wasn’t going to be able to read this one. I signed up for the tour straight away and don’t regret it at all. I breezed through this book this summer and I’m so happy to finally have read an Alice in Wonderland retelling that I liked. Because this one actually made sense!
Having said that, I have to admit, the prologue did confuse me a little bit. The book jumps right into the action and because we don’t have a clear grip on the world yet, so it left me a little stranded. But don’t pay much mind to the prologue, and soon even that gets explained. After that the story gets ironed out and explained. My main problem with the original classic is that the story jumps around a lot and is entirely too whimsical. However, that is not the case in this one. There is a steady and sure plot with goals the characters need to achieve on their journey. Because it was so straightforward and simple I was able to enjoy reading this one more than the original classic itself.
This one also totally skips the training montage of when the main character is slowly learning their powers and getting used to fighting monsters. I love fantasy, and sometimes it really is helpful to see them learning their magic or powers. But I’ve read a lot of fantasy now, and to be honest, this book didn’t need it. So, if you don’t mind or actually want to skip the training montage (like me!) then this a good book for you.
As for the black main character rep that I was looking forward to, it was okay. Alice does have some elements to her character which show her as an African-American such as dealing with her hair and a few other things. And yes, there is some discussion of unfair police brutality and racist crime as evil tends to breed monsters. But I have to be honest – it doesn’t go into too much discussion of this and at times it seems a bit like the black rep was made to be a selling point for the book and hastily included? It needed more development for it to truly feel diverse. But otherwise, it was a good inclusion! I can’t find anything particularly wrong with the rep, only that I wanted a bit more from it.
The world building was done really well and I loved getting to explore this different Wonderland. It was unique, creative and easy to follow. The nightmares sounded terrifying, but what intrigued me most were the places she went – like the bubbles – and the magic system, like the potions a friend of hers makes. It made this Wonderland so alluring. I know I would like to visit at some point.
The writing was simply okay. It was terrible, but it wasn’t amazing either. This book is definitely a plot driven one because I didn’t particularly care for the characters much. I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance situation and the forced love triangle. It didn’t work for me. But there were some characters that intrigued me, like Maddy and the twins. The secondary characters were ones I wanted to know more about and I loved every scene where they were included!
All in all, this one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. You can definitely tell it’s the beginning of a series, so I’m not sure if I am going to read on. But it was nice to go out of my comfort zone with an Alice in Wonderland retelling and see what I thought of it.
Relevance to today: I think the friendships in this book were the best things. The friends in this one have to trust and rely on each other. They always have each other’s’ back. I really loved seeing such a close bond, and even when the friendships went through difficulties and struggles it is apparent that they all care for each other deep down.
Links: Get the book on Amazon,
Gif Summary:
Giveaway: Enter to win a copy of the book (US only!)
More from this tour:
SEPTEMBER 17 (MONDAY)
Aimee – Aimee, Always
Simant – Flipping Through the Pages
SEPTEMBER 18 (TUESDAY)
Alice – Married To Books Reviews and Blog
Justine – Bookish Wisps
SEPTEMBER 19 (WEDNESDAY)
Joanne – Once Upon a Bookcase
Bianca – The Ultimate Fangirl
SEPTEMBER 20 (THURSDAY)
Mishma – Chasing Faerytales
Flo – Book Nerds Across America
SEPTEMBER 21 (FRIDAY)
Nicole – Cuz I’m a Nerd
Faith – suckerforcoffe
SEPTEMBER 24 (MONDAY)
Becky – Coffee Cocktails and Books
Lara – Bellibone
SEPTEMBER 25 (TUESDAY)
Liv – Liv’s Wonderful Escape
Karlita – Tale Out Loud
SEPTEMBER 26 (WEDNESDAY)
Jacquie – Rattle the Stars
Olivia – Olivia’s Catastrophe
SEPTEMBER 27 (THURSDAY)
Beth – The Reader’s Corner
Sophia – Bookwyrming Thoughts
SEPTEMBER 28 (FRIDAY)
Angel – Avid Reader
Lili – Utopia State of Mind
New Video! A book review of In the Midst of Winter by Isabelle Allende.
Olivia’s Question: What’s your favourite fairytale or story to read retellings of?
Psst! This post uses affiliate links! Click them to support Olivia’s Catastrophe =)
Olivia-Savannah x
Dark realms, Alice in Wonderland…sounds cool!
It has some cool elements to it 😉
I am sorry this one was disappointing. 🙁
There were some good elements but it could have been better :/
An Alice in Wonderland retelling with a black Alice? That’s such an interesting concept! It seems like the book was a good read for you but I totally understand what you mean by wanting more black representation!
Yes! It was one of the marketing points so I expected it to be more present 🙁
This is one that I am still excited to read! It’s really cool because we found out that the author graduated from the school where I am a librarian, so I reached out to her on Twitter and I think she is going to try to come by one day and talk to my students. Great review!
I hope you enjoyed it when you read it 😀 It’s so cool that she may have visited the students and that she graduated from the school where you work. Personal connections like that are always so exciting :3
It sounds like there are a few problems with this one which is unfortunate if it is the launching point for a series. Perhaps further novels would improve, but I wouldn’t be tempted to try them
I don’t think I am too tempted to try them either 😔
I’m still reading this one but I agree with you about the prologue – I was very confused initially and then couldn’t really tell how much time had passed. But I am enjoying the rest of the book so far
I am glad I am not the only one who thought that way. I hope you liked it more than I did in the end though!!
Thanks for sharing your review of this book.
Always welcome 😉
Yay for an Alice in Wonderland retelling that made sense! Tbh, it’s not hard for me to find retellings that I like more than the original because I can’t stand the original lol, but I’m glad you enjoyed this one. I get what you mean about the rep cuz I’ve felt that way about certain types of rep in other books. Not really anything bad about it, but the author could’ve done more with it. Ooh I do like a good magic system! Maybe not the best book you’ve ever read, but it sounds like it was still pretty good 🙂
If you don’t like classics generally speaking, then I can definitely see how retellings are much more your kind of thing. Yes! Sometimes there really is a lot of potential that gets lost along the way…
Yours is actually one of the more positive reviews I’ve read. At least you found a few things to like even of it wasn’t exactly what you were hoping for.
Oof, then it means that people really aren’t enjoying it DD:
(Sorry if I’ve commented twice—I thought I already had, but I never closed the tab and I don’t see my comment, so …)
I’ve read some mixed things about this book, which is a shame because I love the idea of a diverse Buffy-inspired Alice in Wonderland retelling. I’ll still probably check it out at some point—we’ll see.
It is a cool concept, I just wish it was executed a bit better :/
I’ve been really looking forward to reading this book, but a lot of the reviews I’ve read are pretty similar to yours. I still want to check it out, but its been pushed down on my TBR list a bit.
If you do pick it up, I hope you like it x
I have been hearing so much about this book and everything good. I loved your fair review!
Hope you picked it up and read it too (or will do) 🙂
I have not been seeing stellar reviews for this book, but I am glad you enjoyed the friendships in this book.
I think in the end it’s just an okay read…
Hmm- sounds like it has a lot of promising things going for it. I love that it’s a retelling of Alice in Wonderland with an African-American Alice. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
It did have promise and maybe the sequel will be better!
I felt stranded by the prologue too which lessened my enjoyment. I agree with you on all points, especially the weird love triangle.
Yeah, there were a lot of weird things about this one…
In every review I’ve read that it skips the training montage bit and I’m not sure if I would like or dislike that. I guess I won’t know until I actually read the book.
I know what you mean? I’m not sure if I like reading it or am fed up of always reading it 😛 Hard to decide!