Alice makes Nightmare accept an invitation so that he can maybe make friends, but it's actually a father hoping to arrange a marriage for one of his daughters. Alice feels jealous and distressed. Then Alice goes off to work as an assistant in Joker's circus, and Joker

Extras: A short in which Alice frets over the fact that Nightmare doesn't seem terribly interested in having sex with her. (Spoiler: he's interested, but he's being a gentleman.)

Alice is incredibly annoying, pouty, and jealous. She forces Nightmare to accept an invitation he was going to reject, and then gets jealous because she's not as pretty as the Faceless woman being shoved at him. Never mind that most of the role-holders barely seem to notice or remember individual Faceless, and never mind that Nightmare only met with the woman and her family because Alice herself insisted.

This wasn't worth the time it took to read it and if I were a Nightmare/Alice shipper, I'd be unhappy (oh you poor Nightmare/Alice shippers, you got nothing but crappy volumes, I'm so sorry). It didn't feel like this trilogy was written with any sort of plan in mind. Stuff kept happening, and then Alice and Nightmare fell in love. The end.

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

Alice feels awkward after Nightmare confesses that he loves her. He's behaving normally and hasn't even asked her out, while she's desperately trying to keep him from telepathically peeking into her head and seeing how he affects her. She learns about a mysterious locked book in his library that's supposed to show you whatever you want to see. She finally manages to open it, and

Extras: An Alice in the Country of Hearts short with Nightmare, and then an Alice in the Country of Clover short with Blood.

This trilogy is frustrating. The first volume was filled with what felt like filler stories. The second volume is suddenly all about some book that was never even hinted at in the first volume. Alice remembers her tutor but doesn't seem twisted up by his physical similarity to Blood. Instead, she's all upset about

The romance is meh, and I still hate the artwork. Job does okay with larger panels but apparently can't be bothered to draw/ink more neatly in smaller ones.

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

Nightmare, who is weak, sickly, and often coughs up blood, wants to prove that he can be relied upon, so he goes on a survival trip with Alice. Then he agrees to play the violin for her, but no one shows up because everyone's afraid of him. Alice tries to help by

Extras: A brief story with Alice and Boris, set in the Country of Hearts. Then, in Country of Clover, a story in which Alice runs an errand for Blood and is followed by Peter.

I really, really hate Job's art style. It's messy, and people's faces look odd.

Also, this story is boring. First the survival trip, which felt like filler (who starts a story with filler?),  then the failed concert, and then a cruise. I know that this series is going to include romance between Alice and Nightmare, but it feels forced so far. And Nightmare is an inconsistent and confusing character.

(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.)