With Blood's help, Alice escapes Joker's prison. She learns that Vivaldi is Blood's sister and that they

The issue of Alice's choice isn't completely resolved (the regret and guilt that led to her envisioning her sister as Joker's prisoner is still there by the end), and there's a sense of impermanence to her life with Blood, despite the evidence that she's building a future with him. The move to the Country of Diamonds was very brief, very rushed, and kind of confusing.

Although I was disappointed about how fragile Alice's happy ending felt, I still enjoyed the sweetness of it (even if it didn't really fit the tone of most of the previous volumes in Circus and Liar's Game). There was some recognition that, the longer Alice stayed in Wonderland and the more she built a life there, the more the rules would apply to her as well. Both Alice and Blood made it clear that they wouldn't tolerate replacements – if either one of them died, they wouldn't accept a new “Alice” or new “Blood” created with repaired clocks. I suppose that's as close to a "happily ever after" as you can get in QuinRose's Wonderland.

All in all, this was a sweet ending for Circus and Liar's Game, but I disliked how unfocused the series felt. There were too many mysteries (and I'm still not satisfied with the explanation given for Alice's visions of the funeral) and, although Blood was a fascinating character, the romance wasn't given enough room to breathe and grow. Also, art-wise, I'd like to say that Fujimaru normally does a great job but sucks at drawing guns.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Alice tells Peter that she has chosen Blood and is going to live with him, but she gets a more aggressive reaction from him than she expected, which causes her to worry about how “off with their heads” Vivaldi will react. Also, Alice is once again worrying that Blood might only like her because she's an outsider. It doesn't help that she spotted

The volume ends with a cute short in which Blood feels jealous that Alice keeps baking Elliot special carrot-flavored goodies.

After volumes worth of feeling like the story was being unnecessarily stretched out, now it feels like there aren't enough pages left to properly resolve everything.

Blood, with his mafia connections and occasional coldness, isn't really my favorite choice for Alice, but I like him as far as the larger story goes. He has stronger ties with Alice's real life than most of the other characters do, and his presence tends to bring out some of the series' more interesting storylines. This is not only true for Alice in the Country of Joker, but also for Blood's “route” in Alice in the Country of Hearts.

The relationship between Blood and Vivaldi comes as no surprise to anyone who's read the first licensed Alice in the Country of Hearts manga, so I couldn't bring myself to be very interested in Alice's

The short at the end of this volume was pretty adorable.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Ace and Boris both admit they love Alice, but Alice finally comes to the realization that she loves Blood – not as the shadow of her tutor, but as himself. She plans

The more I think about it, the sadder this world is. While Blood isn't a comfortable character, not by a long shot, I can admire his determination not to let Wonderland turn him into a thing for Alice's amusement. He flat out admits that he had initially planned to kill Alice, just to see if he could do that to a beloved outsider like her. In a way, he reminds me of Ace, although for some reason he works better for me here than Ace did in Alice in the Country of Clover: Ace of Hearts.

This one, like Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, is on the steamier side. Unfortunately, there seems to be more steam than actual romance – Alice's declaration of love loses some of its oomph because Blood doesn't seem to be particularly affected by it. He's possessive and wants her to stay at his mansion, but that's nothing new.

One interesting bit of info: we learn that

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Peter breaks the rules to rescue Alice from the truth she's about to discover in Joker's prison. Alice finally attends Gowland's recital, and several Wonderland residents talk about how much they love Alice (no, really). Peter is happy as long as Alice is happy, even if it's not with him (although he would prefer she not fall in love with Blood). Boris isn't quite so hands off, but his love isn't very complicated either. Blood is more confusing. Alice thinks he's just playing with her and so she pushes him away, worried that she just sees her tutor in him, or that he'll say or do something to hurt her. The volume ends with

Wow, Blood is crude in this volume. When Peter says he only wants to make Alice happy, his response is: “With that baby carrot between your legs?” (By the way, in this volume Peter makes it clear that he's not a fan of kissing and sex because, ew, the germs, so many germs. His response to Alice: “But for you, my pearl, I'll force my sex drive. I'll take on your filth and surely survive!” She does not react well.)

It seems like the romantic storyline may have finally arrived, although Blood doesn't find the role of “romantic hero” to be a comfortable fit. Despite (or because of?) his coldness, he intrigues me, because he's the only guy in this series who seems to be even vaguely bothered by his compulsion to love Alice. He realizes that she might only be interested in him because she sees her tutor in him, and he makes things as uncomfortable for her as possible, telling her (sarcastically?) that it's okay if she uses him and pretends that he's really her tutor.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

As Nightmare begins having a Winter Festival in his domain, Alice tries to focus on the “now” and having fun. But she keeps flashing to a dark prison where a second Joker acts as warden. Everyone continues to try to distract and protect her, but things are coming to a head. The volume ends with Alice

The story feels like it's being unnecessarily dragged out, but I'm still interested in seeing where this goes. Everyone keeps saying that the Country of Joker is a lie, and I want to know why.

Also, I liked that Blood was super blunt with Alice, and she didn't try to backtrack and deny any of what he was saying. The residents of Wonderland are made to love Alice, and she does take advantage of that. And she does end up doing pretty much anything anyone suggests, so she doesn't have to make decisions on her own or think too much. The role-holders are keeping things from her and allowing her to hide from her own memories, but she's not exactly making their job hard.

Blood is one of the few Wonderland residents who pushes back and makes Alice think about the implications of a world were everyone is guaranteed to like her, no matter what she says or does. At the same time, though, he's not really trying to make her wake up and remember the real world. I think it mostly goes back to his history as someone who can remember a time before he became a role-holder – he can see the rules that govern him and the other Wonderland residents a bit better than some of the others.

Still nothing that looks like a romantic storyline, unless you count Blood and Ace's occasional flirtatiousness.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)