Mad About the Hatter
by Dakota Chase
e-ARC (from publisher via Netgalley)
LGBT, YA, retelling, fantasy, romance
This isn’t his sister’s Wonderland….
Henry never believed his older sister, Alice’s, fantastic tales about the world down the rabbit hole. When he’s whisked away to the bizarre land, his best chance for escape is to ally himself with the person called the Mad Hatter. Hatter—an odd but strangely attractive fellow—just wants to avoid execution. If that means delivering “Boy Alice” to the Queen of Hearts at her Red Castle, Hatter will do what he has to do to stay alive. It doesn’t matter if Henry and Hatter find each other intolerable. They’re stuck with each other.
Along their journey, Henry and Hatter must confront what they’ve always accepted as truth. As dislike grows into tolerance and something like friendship, the young men see the chance for a closer relationship. But Wonderland is a dangerous place, and first they have to get away with their lives.
Henry never believed his older sister, Alice’s, fantastic tales about the world down the rabbit hole. When he’s whisked away to the bizarre land, his best chance for escape is to ally himself with the person called the Mad Hatter. Hatter—an odd but strangely attractive fellow—just wants to avoid execution. If that means delivering “Boy Alice” to the Queen of Hearts at her Red Castle, Hatter will do what he has to do to stay alive. It doesn’t matter if Henry and Hatter find each other intolerable. They’re stuck with each other.
Along their journey, Henry and Hatter must confront what they’ve always accepted as truth. As dislike grows into tolerance and something like friendship, the young men see the chance for a closer relationship. But Wonderland is a dangerous place, and first they have to get away with their lives.
I was super excited about Mad About the Hatter because of the idea that it would be Alice's brother Henry going to the Wonderland, and of course, about the possibility of romance between Henry and Hatter. While the writing was good, the story itself fell a little flat. I felt like it focused on all the wrong things, and that's why I couldn't connect with the story as much as I wanted. It's more like a description of all the madness in Wonderland rather than romance between Henry and Hatter, or even any sort of self-discovery journey. It was more like a walk through Wonderland where so much stuff happened that it became predictable and boring. The best part of the book was when they were actually in England; that was the part I enjoyed the most. Otherwise, I feel like the title should be 'Mad About the Wonderland' because that's what the story focused on.
The focus on scenery and the madness in Wonderland left a little place for actual character development. Or even a character study in the first place. There was always something happening or somewhere to go, which meant that the story didn't take a breather and focus on the characters even a bit. I like character driven stories, and while I don't mind action at all, I mind quite a bit when there seems to be all the action and no character development. That's why I felt a little distanced from the story, and I never became too invested on the characters fates. The story was okay, but it wasted the huge potential it had.
I can recommend this to those who want to read pages after pages of description of everything that goes on in the Wonderland, and who don't mind the romance - or the characters - being side tracked by that. But if you want passionate romance, then this might not be for you.
3 of 5 stars.
Add on Goodreads.
Thank you, Harmony Ink Press, for giving me a chance to read and review Mad About the Hatter!
(A copy of this ebook was provided in return for an honest review.)
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