In the New City lives a girl called Elizabeth, a girl who has a secret: she can do magic. But someone knows Elizabeth's secret-someone who has a secret of his own. That secret is a butterfly that lives in a jar, a butterfly made by a girl called Alice.
Girl in AmberAlice and Hatcher are just looking for a place to rest. Alice has been dreaming of a cottage by a lake and a field of wildflowers, but while walking blind in a snowstorm they stumble into a castle that seems empty and abandoned...at least until nightfall.
When I First Came to TownHatcher wasn't always Hatcher. Once, he was a boy called Nicholas, and Nicholas fancied himself the best fighter in the Old City. No matter who fought him he always won. Then his boss tells him he's going to battle the fearsome Grinder, a man who never leaves his opponents alive.
The Mercy SeatAlice has a secret-a secret that not even Hatcher knows yet, but pretty soon she won't be able to keep it from him.
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[Elizabeth Violet Hargreaves trotted down the stairs in her new blue dress, her blond hair neatly done up in curls and ribbons - LOVELY CREATURE]***
(@TitanBooks, 21 April 2020, 304 pages, e-book, copy from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed)
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I'm a huge fan Alice in Wonderland, both the original book and the enormous amount of spin-off's and retellings. I definitely have a thing for her. I've also read other book by the author so was looking forward to reading some shorter fiction. The stories are quite dark at times but are also very whimsical, a familiar theme with Alice retellings. I like retellings when they are original, and the author tries to do something different. This is in abundance here. I liked the fact these feature different characters from the series, so the world is developed a lot more. I enjoyed Lovely Creature and The Mercy Seat the best.
