#umberland

#ThisAgain Challenge - July 30th - Cinder

Read-a-like: Everland trilogy by Wendy Spinale

Review: Umberland by Wendy Spinale Rating: 3/5

"Some nightmares should never be spoken out loud."

Duchess Alyssa of Northumberland is out of her depth. England has fallen and the Queen is in a coma. Refugees afflicted with the Horologia virus are flooding the halls and dying faster than ever before. Determined to help her people, Alyssa enlists the help of poisons expert, Maddox Hatter, to track down what may be the last hope for a cure. But she is venturing down a rabbit hole that she may never be able to climb out of again.

I wasn’t sure how this sequel was going to go. I really loved Everland and I honestly could’ve seen it just fine as a standalone but with the world Spinale built, I was intrigued to see how she would bring in the elements of Alice in Wonderland. And while I liked how she handled those elements, the engaging writing and exciting characters I’d come to love just didn’t seem to be there in Umberland.

I think the problem was too many perspectives. While we only had Gwen and Hook in Everland, in this one we had Alyssa, Jack and Pete and it made things feel very scattered. I didn’t feel like I got to know Alyssa very well which was disappointing because I enjoyed her chapters. And while Jack and Pete’s chapters were necessary and important, it just felt like I was being constantly yanked out of the main storyline with Alyssa. I think this is also why I didn’t warm up to Maddox as much as I should have.

Forget the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz you know. Because in Ozland, the only way home is to kill the wicked. Listen to three audio excerpts of this must-read book right now:

Start listening to an excerpt of Katt’s chapters:

Start listening to an excerpt of Doc’s chapters: