Off With Their Heads

March 15, 2024
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* This dark story puts a high-octane spin on Alice in Wonderland. The Korean-inspired retelling reveals a world where the Saints are the monsters; Wonderland is represented by a dark forest where trouble lurks. This forest is where Caro Rabbit and Iccadora Alice Sickle have been banished after being accused of murder five years ago--and it's the place where they broke each other's hearts. Now, Caro's become a Saint-harvester, a job that leads her to the elegant capital. Icca, fueled by anger at Caro's betrayal, has become a dangerous, merciless hunter. Their explosive and dramatic love-hate relationship will keep readers invested, but it's the book's detailed plot and the author's knack for smart storytelling that makes it shine: through imagery, action scenes, and detailed world building, Mikuta makes Wonderland her own. The addition of an intricate magic system is well explained, and the book blends bloody, intense moments with quieter ones that will leave readers thinking about the impact our relationships have on our decisions. In the growing field of Korean-inspired fantasies, this is a standout tale, perfect for those who love their worlds filled with shady characters and situations and their fables with a dark side.

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Starred review from February 15, 2024
Young women from Isanghan are forced into Wonderland--but even if they survive, they will never be the same. Caro, Icca, and Tecca are inseparable, sharing a fascination with magic and a disdain for their backwater Ward. The three queer girls explore the painful practice of witchcraft--controlling birds and melding with shadows--and scheme to one day overthrow the White Queen. But when tragedy strikes, Caro and Icca are sent to Wonderland Forest, where they're at the mercy of the vicious, ravenous Saints. If they claim four Saints' heads, they'll be freed, but the strains of Wonderland cause their love to fray. Later, separately, two of them still hunt Saints, unable to completely escape the pull of the forest, though one now works for the new Red Queen, Hattie. Hattie has her own plans for the Saints--and for Caro and Icca, too--yearning to twist them into something new. Bloody, vicious, and dark, this is a thoroughly engrossing tale of relationships between girls who are rapidly growing up. While the novel loosely follows the shadows of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the characters, world, and plot are altogether different, strange, and compelling. Korean cultural influences on the fantasy country of Isanghan are clear, as the characters, for example, wear hanbok and write and converse in Korean. Twisted in the worst--or best--ways. (Fantasy. 14-adult)

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May 3, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Carousel Rabbit and Iccadora Alice Sickle are angry young witches in exile and in love, two girls forced into hunting Saints, the monstrous creatures who haunt this Korean-inspired reinterpretation of Wonderland, to escape their sentence for a crime they didn't commit. Years later, their romance has turned to murderous hatred, and the political machinations of the new Red Queen bring them back into each other's orbit. Mikuta's book has very little to do with Alice in Wonderland, character names and complex nonsensical syntax aside. At its core, it is an exercise in fantasy worldbuilding, anchored by the obsessive love/hate relationship between Caro and Icca, as their murderous actions seem primarily motivated by getting each other's attention. The convoluted and meandering plot does not merit the considerable length of this novel, although the surreal world and system of magic are well developed and will intrigue high fantasy enthusiasts. VERDICT An additional purchase for collections where retellings circulate well, and a further recommendation that the book will likely resonate with fans of Chloe Gong and Rin Chupeco.-Molly Saunders

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