In this Alice in the Country of Clover one-shot, Alice finds herself torn between dreams of home, in which her sister is disappointed in her for staying in Wonderland, and her budding feelings for Elliot. On the one hand, the violence Elliot is capable of when carrying out his work for the Hatter family scares her. On the other hand, she loves the side of him that's protective, goofy, and sweet. She doesn't know if he feels the same for her or if he's like her tutor back in the real world, just humoring her.

Elliot has always been pretty low on my list of favorite love interests for Alice, and this volume didn't change my mind. Her attraction to him in the franchise seems to mostly be based on her fascination with his rabbit ears. His personality, ranging from childish and joyful when with Alice and cold-blooded when working for Blood, has never really appealed to me. For some reason, even Dee and Dum, who are the most similar in personality to Elliot, appeal to me more.

There were a few lines I didn't like. For example, at one point Elliot told Alice: “Look. I'm not telling you to fall in love with me. But if you tell me you've fallen for some other guy, I might kill him.” Um...that's not romantic. Alice also described Elliot as "Violence mixed with aching sweetness." Blergh.

Alice's dreams of her sister hint at some of the things that were better-covered in other volumes in the franchise. This volume never revealed what it was that Alice had forgotten, something that might disappoint some readers. If I remember correctly, other volumes indicated that

All in all, this was mediocre. It glorified some of the franchise's problematic elements a bit too much for my tastes, but beyond that it was more forgettable than anything, adding absolutely nothing to the mystery of Alice's past. I did at least like Ryo Kazuki's art, however.

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

Alice struggles with her growing love for Elliott, the March Hare and Blood's right-hand man. Her efforts cause Elliott to think that she's actually in love with Blood, the man Elliott admires the most. Peter and Elliott get into a fight, and Elliott freezes up at a crucial moment and gets shot. After nursing him back to health, Alice decides to finally be honest about her feelings.

Meh. Elliott is violent, a bit dense, and kind of bland. He's defined by his love of carrots and his devotion to Blood and is therefore a completely boring love interest. The romance also has an edge of ickiness, since Alice loves him in a way that makes her think of pets and little kids.

Because Elliott is so boring, the Alice who loves him is pretty boring and bland as well, despite her insistence that she has a dark personality. All hint of the overarching storyline (Alice's memories of her sister and tutor) is absent here. The best thing about this volume was the artwork. Iwaki is good at “shocked eyes” Alice.

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

I know what you are thinking. Alice In Wonderland? Seriously!? Come on! I hope this review isn’t written by a nine year old!! 

Well, I just couldn’t help it. When I saw this lying in my school library, I was sucked into reading this beautiful gem of my halcyon days of childhood. I was so blinded by the joy that I didn’t bother whether I would like this piece of my memory of not…

For starters I really did like the book but didn’t completely love it. The book was beautifully written. And that was its best part. Lewis Carroll writes Alice In Wonderland in such a way that it brings out the inner child in you. The writing is from a child’s perspective, how she looks at things and understands them, how she analyses everything by the way she has been taught at school, how she feels proud whenever she speaks something beyond her age and how she goes on about her cat, Dinah, and then apologizes to the creatures offended by her! It’s all through the eyes and mind of a young kid. And that is exactly what makes the book elegant and charming. 

But this book was a lot more queer. The characters were so interesting and mysterious. The Hatter’s mad riddle and one liners were fair enough to entertain me, the Dormouse’s attitude was sleepy enough to make me laugh, Bill, the lizard’s piteous plight was miserably sufficient to make me fell compassionate towards that poor creature and the Duchess’s never ending morals were crazy enough to leave me puzzled!

This book grew curiouser and curiouser as I read it! But Alice’s hunger for adventure and the unknown was retained. This was the one message, I guess, Carroll was trying to convey. Through the means of a fairy tale, he wanted to express that we ought not shelter our kids from the world that lies ahead of them. But, instead, let them face it’s challenges and thrills themselves and let their ingenuous imagination run wild!

And as for the part that I didn’t love the book, I have no particular reason for that. Maybe that I’ve outgrown this genre or that the ending didn’t suit me quite well. But for sure I really liked reading this book. And for those of you who didn’t find the bookquite as amusing ‘Off with their heads! ‘. :P

After reading Alice In Wonderland, I feel as if I have gone entirely bonkers! Have I gone mad?
Um….I’m afraid so! But I’ll tell you a secret. All the bookworms are!
:)