Artist Amily Shen takes adult coloring book fans on a magical journey inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

Follow the White Rabbit into this imaginative coloring book inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, featuring intricate pen-and-ink drawings by acclaimed artist Amily Shen. Meet the Cheshire Cat, attend the Mad Hatter’s tea party, and play croquet with the Queen of Hearts in this evocative tale that invites you into a strange and beautiful new world of coloring.

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I suppose we all knew that it was just a matter of time before I dove head first into the magic that is coloring books for adults. As an adult (or so they say), I've never stopped coloring. I've always had a few coloring books and a few tons of crayons lying about for those especially stressful days. It's an easy and fairly inexpensive way to escape the chaos that is adult life and swap it for just a little bit of time as a child again.

When it comes to this particular book, it's perfect for those of us who may have graduated beyond the basic shapes and into more detailed drawings. Each drawing is its own work of art and when combined with a nice heavy paper, it makes for hours of relaxation and entertainment. After all, you're only as limited as you decide yourself to be! Who says Alice has to be the traditional blonde? Maybe she'd like to be a brunette for a while! The white rabbit? I think he'd be rather handsome with black spots!

As someone who colors multiple times a week, this is a book that I'm really looking forward to working my way through. Then, when I'm all done, I think I just might slip off the slipcover, flip it over, and color the gorgeous illustrations that are printed on the reverse. It's a shame that we no longer have a playroom. A finished version of that would be perfect to hang upon its walls!




I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments, and opinions are my own.
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Take a journey through Silent Wonderland to Looking Mansion, where bells toll to warn of the house's cycles, and lavender doors are the only thing to save you from the Centaur that prowls the halls with fiery eyes and an agenda.

Alice Hill arrives at Looking Mansion to support her friend, Buck Glass, while he's on trial for the theft of 6 bullion. Forced to wait outside while Buck testifies, Alice cracks open the doors to watch from the halls. Unfortunately, she's too distracted by the events unfolding in the court room to notice the tolling of the bells. When the shadows start to seep from the walls, Alice knows she must find a safe place to hide or else face the evil that has come to find her.

Alice's adventure through the house and surrounding gardens sees her introduced to a motley crew of interesting characters. Unsure of who is friend or foe, she makes her way back, with her dog Rabbit, to the courtroom and the friend that needs her, all while being stalked by the determined centaur.

Join Alice Hill in Silent Wonderland as she unravels the mysteries of Looking Mansion.

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It's been a while since I broke down a book by the good, the bad, and the summary, but I really feel as if that format is going to work best for this book, so let's jump right in, shall we?

The Good - Fun story that kept me interested right up to the very end. A lot of short story formatted books reveal too much information too soon, but the author kept everything well paced so that the ending was as much of a delight as the beginning.

The Bad - This is advertised as an illustrated story and it just isn't. The pages have a border around them, but it's the same border and I don't honestly consider that illustration. I also felt as if this fit within something else. I didn't really know the characters and that bothered me. If I were the author, I would consider writing more to this and turning it into either a book or a series.

The Summary - All in all, a short, enjoyable read. I had some spare time waiting at a restaurant for someone and breezed right through it. I really do hope that the author goes back and writes more to this because I know that I would enjoy reading about this alternative Alice and her world.

If you want to know the mysteries of Looking Mansion, I can assure you that this book is worth the $2.99 price on Amazon.



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Imagine this...
The power of imagination has been lost!

Now it's all about the artillery as AD52s, crystal shooters, spikejack tumblers, and orb cannons are unleashed in a war of weapons and brute force.

As Alyss searches wildly for the solution to the disaster that has engulfed her queendom, Arch declares himself King of Wonderland. The moment is desperate enough for Alyss to travel back to London for answers, where Arch's assassins are threatening Alice Liddell and her family. But after coming to the Liddells' assistance, Alyss discovers herself trapped in a conundrum of evaporating puddles. The shimmering portals that exist to transport her home through the Pool of Tears are disappearing!

What is happening in Wonderland? Deep within the Valley of Mushroom the Caterpillar Oracles issue this prophecy: "Action shall be taken to ensure the safety of the Heart Crystal. For Everqueen." But who is Everqueen?

As the metamorphosis of Wonderland unfolds, enemies become allies, bitter rivals face off, and Queen Alyss and Redd Heart must both confront their pasts in this thrilling, no-holds-barred conclusion to the New York Times bestselling series.

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My initial reaction? It's over?!? What?!? It can't be over! There has to be more! But, no matter how many times I tried, the back cover was the back cover. I wasn't ready for it to be over and it didn't feel over. I guess I wanted to know what happened to everyone... and I can't tell you more than that without spoilers...drat! I honestly hope that, at some point, Frank decides to give us a slim tome to let us know. So, now that I've semi-gushed, let me get down to details:

The good? This entire series is good. I loved the story, the changes to what we all think we know and the characters.

The bad? This book tends to focus a lot more on the bad guys than the good guys. Granted, if Alyss and the white imaginationists had as much time spent on them, the book may have been another third thicker and the truth? I'd have been okay with that. While I very much enjoyed Arch and Redd, I wanted to know more about the others.

Overall? A series that I will be recommending to others for ages to come. It's one that I *might* even convince my boys to read, so long as I tell them the main character is a bad guy..and not a good girl. ;)




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Alyss of Wonderland's rule has only just begun, and already those who prefer chaos to peace are threatening to destroy everything worth imagining. Trailed by newly appointed royal bodyguard Homburg Molly, Alyss is doing her best to keep pace with the non-stop demands of being queen while attempting to evade Molly for a few private moments with Dodge.

Alyss' life is a challenging mix of duty, love and tough decisions, and then a series of phantom sightings set fire to an urban myth of Her Imperial Viciousness' return and have everyone...Seeing Redd.

Has Redd somehow freed herself and her chief assassin, The Cat, from the confides of the Heart Crystal? If not, then who has resurrected Redd's brutal foot soldiers the Glass Eyes and set them loose to attack Wonderland on all sides?

Battles rage, looking glasses explode, and the Alyssians once again unite to defend White Imagination in this fast-paced follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The Looking Glass Wars.

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Last week, I told you about book one in this series and how much I completely adored it. I confess that I loved this one only slightly less. It was another book that once I started reading, I couldn't put it down, and even after I did, I'd find my eyes straying to the book because I wanted to know what would happen next. Unlike the first book, which in some ways could stand alone, this book certainly has a cliff hanger ending. Thank goodness I have the final book already! I need to dig it out of my travel bag so that I can drive into it.

Like book 1, this book  is filled with action. In fact, for poor Alyss, the action seems to never stop. I could see everything laid out in my head (thank you, Imagination!) and it felt as if I were watching everything through one of the fantastical devices that the Wonderlanders used in the book. If I have one complaint, it's that about halfway through the book (estimating from memory), there is one spot where a bunch of time passes but the narrative doesn't adequately make that clear and for a paragraph or so, I was a bit confused and actually went back and re-read that page to make sure it wasn't in my head. All in all, it wasn't anything that I couldn't get past, so I'm not dinging this book much for that.

If you've read book one and loved it (and I don't know how you couldn't have), get book two. If you don't have this series at all, don't wait until the Looking Glasses are all smashed, go and buy them. You won't regret it and if you do...well...I dunno...



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Alyss of Wonderland?

When Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, must flee through the Pool of Tears to escape the murderous aunt Redd, she finds herself lost and alone in Victorian London. Befriended by an aspiring author named Lewis Carrol, Alyss tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Alyss trusts this author to tell the truth so that someone, somewhere will find her and bring her home. But he gets the story all wrong. He even spells her name incorrectly!

Fortunately, Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan knows all too well the awful truth of Alyss' story and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may eventually battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.

The Looking Glass Wars unabashedly challenges our Wonderland assumptions surrounding mad tea parties, grinning Cheshire cats, and a curious little blond girl to reveal an epic battle in the endless war for Imagination.

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Once upon a time, I went to a convention and I met this man who was incredibly passionate about the books that he had written and after a bit of begging and pleading on my part, he handed me the first book and let me take it home to read. This is the result of that fate meeting.

As a girl who has long believed in magic and the power of Imagination, I was thrilled to find out that the great power in the land of Wonderland was Imagination. I was even more thrilled that as I read page after page, I just kept getting pulled further into a story that is as fertile as any garden I have ever planted. Frank took characters that so many of us grew up on and he reimagined them in ways that most of us never would have imagined and yet somehow, it works. I will warn you that this book may be darker than some might be expecting. For me, that just made it all the more real. In life, nothing is always roses (pun intended?) and sweet smelling things. The fact that this book is full of political intrigue, every day life and the struggle to hold on to who you are when nobody believes in you is what makes it a wonderful read.

From start to finish, this is a book that I couldn't put down. I've now read it twice since he handed me that book nearly two years ago (somehow my original review got lost) and both times was exactly the same. I picked up the book and was pulled into the book faster than someone who jumped into The Pool of Tears. I'm only sad that due to travel and being mislaid, my book is a bit the worse for wear. Perhaps just the excuse I need to invest in a hardcover copy.



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