My Review of Insanity (Mad in Wonderland) by Cameron Jace

I love all things Alice, so I was really excited to read this, especially after all of the great reviews, but I was a bit confused even from the beginning. First of all, there's no true time established in the setting until much further into the book, so it was difficult to establish this was happening in present day and not Alice's original time. Once we learn it is present day, it's very confusing as to how Alice is alive. I found the idea that Alice is in an asylum very similar to ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Though there were certainly elements that were different--like Alice isn't rescued from the asylum in order to go back into Wonderland, she is still in an asylum because everyone thinks she is crazy.
I liked the backstory regarding Alice killing everyone on the bus, including her boyfriend, Adam, but I don't feel like we ever get a clear picture of exactly what happened. And I think it seems pretty clear from the first time that we meet Jack that he and Adam are a bit too similar (don't want to give anything away.)
Also, when Alice is present, the book is written in first person, but when she's not, it's third person--which was just odd. Generally speaking, when I am reading a book in third person, I identify with the narrator as another person but when Alice is sometimes telling the story and then some identified person is, it was hard to follow. How do we know what is happening in Alice's story if she's not there? It almost seemed like the author didn't consider this when first telling the story and then went back and tried to patch it up.
I know this is a series and I'm not sure I'll be reading the rest.  The characters were not engaging enough for me to seek out the next one, nor was the idea original or creative enough. I love Lewis Carroll's creation but I don't think this retelling/imagination hit the mark. I gave it  ***.
Lots of other people disagreed with me, however, as this book has plenty of four and five stars. If you'd like to check it out yourself, you can find it here.