Curiouser and Curiouser: Steampunk Alice in Wonderland

Steampunk Fairy Tales

By: Melanie Karsak

Narrated by: Lesley Parkin

Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

To save the Hatter, Alice must work with the one man she despises so much that she might still love him.

Alice thought she'd turned over a new leaf. No more working for Jabberwocky. No more making deals with the ruthless Queen of Hearts. No more hanging around The Mushroom with tinkers, tarts, scoundrels, and thieves in London's criminal underbelly. But she'd been bonkers to dream.

Hatter's reckless behavior leads Alice back to the one person she never wanted to see again, Caterpillar. Pulled into Caterpillar's mad schemes, Alice must steal a very big diamond from a very royal lady. The heist is no problem for this Bandersnatch. But protecting her heart from the man she once loved? Impossible.

Sometimes love is mad.

©2017 Clockpunk Press (P)2017 Clockpunk Press

Absolutely Loved It!

Alice thought she'd left the seedy underworld of crime behind, but she can't forget the skills she learned on the streets. An orphan with quick fingers and quick wits, she made her living lifting valuables with Caterpillar by her side. When he asks for her help with a difficult theft, Alice has no choice but to accept.

This was my first steampunk story, and I absolutely loved it! The author brought Victorian England to life with her beautiful descriptions, and imagined a world where carriages are drawn by clockwork horses and airships fly the skies. The story had a bit of everything, and it all worked. I guess you could call it a steampunk fairy tale retelling with a bit of romance, heist, and the occult! It's a clean read with a few dark descriptions, I'd recommend it for teens or adults.

This was an imaginative retelling with sly references to the original, like the twist on the theft of the Queen's tarts. There were nods to the original Alice in Wonderland in the dialogue and the characters, but in a brand new setting. I usually pick up books for the characters alone, but the author really nailed the plot, setting, writing, and the characters. Alice was the perfect heroine, strong, smart, and skilled. I really hope a sequel is in the works!

The narration was just perfect. Lesley Parkin's performance was wonderful, her voice for Alice was exactly like I imagined. Her accent made the entire listen a pleasure. I requested a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Really moving

I bought the audiobook and have listened to it in one take. The performance of the audiobook was outstanding!!! The Story had a wonderful flow and the author was using cute little words such as being puzzled to give the MC a unique twist. I really appreciated that. Thank you for producing such an outstanding publication.

Love it!

I have love to read the book. It was really different being told the story. Love the narrator.

Alice in Wonderland feel in a new story.

*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Alice follows the boy who stole her employers pocket watch, Rabbit, back into the life she left behind. Into the rough part of town she returns, summoned. The love she once felt for William surfaces as the man he is now needs her help. Blackmailed into helping to save her sisters love, The Hatter, from his debt, Alice agrees to help Caterpillar.

Lesley's tone when speaking as Alice feels to fit her curiosity, which is the feel we get from Alice in many stories of her adventure. She has an opinion that she voices, not mean or rude, just a thought to add to the discussion.

Melanie writes Alice with the feel we would expect. A curious young lady with thoughts of her own to share. The story isn't as much falling down a literal hole like in the original story. But Alice living in a world full of wonder, and following a boy nicknamed Rabbit. The world created is full of steamwork and clockwork items. This blended with the steam and smoke draws a world of danger and mystery in which Alice is pulled back into. This is a talent as Melanie very craftily wrote the story in the actual living of the characters.

We see the world full of clockwork and steampunk from the beginning. There is a darkness to the story as well, particularly with one of the characters. Creepy, dark. But fits in the harsh life of the characters here. There is even a touch of magic present. Just a touch. Mostly the world is steam and clockwork.

There is a feel of double meaning to words, it's not confusing but tricky. Listen closely to catch it. I love how people have two names; real name and a nickname. Like William who's known as Caterpillar in town. Each name goes with a different part of his life. Which person is he when talking to Alice? William or Caterpillar? Both are of a different nature and are known for different things to Alice. This gives the twisty feel that we get from Wonderland.

Melanie touches on all the main characters from Alice in Wonderland in her remake. It was a nice game for me to see about spotting them all, though their names do give them away.

I was pleasantly surprised with Melanie's creation here. She captured so many important elements from Alice in Wonderland yet wrote a different story that feels true to the world. So well done!

Alice is a Thief, but can she pull of 1 last heist

Alice in Wonderland has always seemed to be perfect for the world of steampunk as things are just a wee bit curious anyway. In this retelling Alice, the Hatter, Queen of Hearts, Duchess and Caterpillar are inventively reimagined somewhat as a crime syndicate with Jabberwocky it's helm. But Alice and her sister Bess no longer want to be part of this dark underworld and work to escape, with their friends in tow.

I really enjoyed this book, if you enjoy Alice in Wonderland and reimaginings, give this one a try

Love this twist!!

I absolutely loved this steampunk twist of Alice!! It was fun and entertaining to listen too.
The world building that the author did along with the twists and hearing references to certain characters was so much fun!! I thought the story was very intriguing and I literally binged listening to the story of how Alice had to go back to her past to help a friend out and she had to face her past. The narrator did a fabulous job narrating the story and bringing it to life.

Wonderfully Dark Alice

This was a really different and dark Alice. I LOVED IT! The original Alice in Wonderland was twisted, but this brought it to a whole new level and made it gloriously dark. Melanie took a wonderful story and made an amazing twisting maze of a story that was even better than the original in my opinion. Lesley did a wonderful job narrating with her lovely accent and wonderful way of injecting so many emotions into the words she read.

A fantastic read!

To save the Hatter, Alice must work with the one man she despises so much that she might still love him...
Pulled into Caterpillar's mad schemes, Alice must steal a very big diamond from a very royal lady...
That's no problem but protecting her heart from the man she once loved? Impossible...
Sometimes love is mad...

Oh. My. Word. What a book - so well done to the author and narrator. Such an outstanding piece of art. Excited for more!

Perfect for readers of steampunk fairy tales.

Incredible, incredible narration!

Incredible read! My third read from author Melanie Karsak and the second of her Steampunk Fairy Tales. Although I own several of her books I’d yet to read one until recently and I have to say reading this book was my pleasure. Fun take on the classic fairy-tale.Exquisite detail, well-developed characters & setting. Although not particularly long the story & the book reads longer as it’s so well written. as good as her first two books were this one was incredibly better and the author has created a story that you will not want to put down. Since I own both the Kindle and the Audible versions I was able to follow along while the incredible narrator read to me. I’ll be reading more from this author.

Great read.

If you like Steampunk and fairy tales this is a great read!
I can't wait to read more from Melanie Karsak!