The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read this trilogy recently. Usually, I hate it when authors take established stories and 'try to make them their own'. I hate it when directors of movies do it, too. My POV is that they should either honor the original work or come up with their own idea. This book is one of the few that I think the reimagining did nothing to detract from the original and was a fun read. Beddor did an excellent job of reminding us of Carroll's original work while he took us off on a whole new tangent, telling us the 'real' story of Alyss.

Not something I would allow my kids to read before they are 12, due to subject matter (sororicide, hate, malice, unforgiving, etc.).

Kindle Edition: The Looking Glass Wars

Seeing Redd

Seeing Redd: The Looking Glass Wars, Book Two by Frank Beddor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was a fun read, like the first in the trilogy. But this book is the main reason I would not let my kids read it until they are at least 12. Beddor seems intent on proving Redd's deserving her title of Imperial Viciousness in this book, with death, malice and viciousness every few pages (none uber graphic, but for a supposed YA, it's fairly intense). The romance between Dodge and Alyss in this book also seems to falter in the telling, not progressing smoothly, fairly hit and miss. And another romance comes out of nowhere to fill in some plot holes. But there is interesting plot development and character development going on that keeps this novel from falling on it's face. It would have been a strong 4-star if not for the violence and bleh feeling of the Alyss-Dodge romance.

Kindle Edition: Seeing Redd: The Looking Glass Wars, Book Two

ArchEnemy

ArchEnemy: The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

To be honest, I only finished this book to wrap up the series. I loved the first book, liked the second book, but the final is meh. It feels very rushed, like the author was out of ideas and just wanted to wrap it up. It also read much like a screenplan (not too surprising) considering the author's history in the movie industry. The book strayed too much from Alyss and Redd, the characters that made the first book pop. We spend a lot more time with Molly Homburg and Arch in this one - who, frankly, I'm not much interested in. The book leaves Alyss and Dodge hanging for so long, that by the end I don't really care if they end up together or not. I will say, I was always interested in how things were going to end up for Hatter Madigan. His character remains true and interesting through all three books, so I may read his spinoff series.

Kindle Edition: ArchEnemy: The Looking Glass Wars, Book Three (Looking Glass Wars Trilogy)