Alice of Oz is an adult gothic fantasy novel by Terence Sullivan that follows eighteen-year-old Alice Liddell, who is trapped in a hidden asylum and is treated for her “delusions” about Wonderland. When she and another girl, Wendy, are kidnapped and attacked, Wendy disappears while Alice escapes through a mirror into Oz. There, she discovers that Wonderland, Neverland, and Oz are real and not dreams. With enemies such as the gnome king Roquat, the head-collecting Princess Languidere, and the witch Mombi hunting her, Alice must travel across Oz with Blinkem and other allies to find Tattypoo, the Witch of the North, to find Wendy while unlocking her bound magic.

The author has created an amazing world of connected domains. Oz is a gothic region full of dense forests, while Roseland is surrounded by immense briars and thorns, forming a natural wall. Wonderland is surrounded by huge roots and stone structures, while Neverland is an island out at sea. I liked the characters, especially Alice. Even though she is locked away in an asylum, she refuses to give up and wants to find out the truth about her past. Her companion, Blinkem, looks after her and finds ways to deal with the problems they face. It was nice to see his feelings for her develop throughout the story. Tattypoo is secretive, but she cares for Alice a great deal and can get very overprotective of her. Princess Languidere was wicked and terribly cruel to those around her, and King Roquat is an arrogant and controlling villain. I think Alice of Oz by Terence Sullivan is an incredible book, and adults will enjoy this gothic horror and dark reworking of well-known childhood classics like Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.

In Terence Sullivan’s Alice of Oz, eighteen-year-old Alice Liddell is confined to London’s Pastoria House, where doctors dismiss her memories of Wonderland as delusions. Alice still remembers following a white rabbit into a place that felt impossibly real, though every attempt to discuss it brings another round of treatment. Alice finds a friend in Wendolyn Darling, another resident who says she traveled to Neverland with a boy who could fly. When a rich woman offers both young women a home outside the institution, Alice is excited by the possibility of a new life. Their arrival at a secluded manor soon raises disturbing questions about their benefactor’s motives. As events carry Alice into the mysterious kingdom of Oz, she must search for Wendy while powerful figures pursue her for reasons linked to a past Alice barely understands.

Terence Sullivan’s Alice of Oz is an incredible dark fantasy, and the author has created a world as imaginative as it is sinister. Alice is remarkably compassionate, insisting on freeing a frightened dragon after falling sand blocks its cave. I love Nimmie Minnie, the dutiful Munchkin officer who invites Alice to discuss her troubles over a meal after the village hearing. Sullivan’s worldbuilding is marvelous, particularly the customs of Oz’s kingdoms. For example, Queen Gayelette’s road of raw rubies remains unfinished following a dispute about disturbing the forest. Still, it’s Sullivan’s near-cinematic descriptions of Oz that steal the scenes, from Queen Rosemarie’s moonlit greenhouse of whispering roses to the Angry Grove, where enormous roots rise to trap Alice. Beautifully written and bold, readers who enjoy familiar storybook characters caught inside royal schemes will adore this.