Queen of Neverland by Gama Ray Martinez : Review

Enter through the looking glass into  Queens of Wonderland,  Book Two in the Defenders of Lore series, in which Knights of the Round Vanessa and Michael must follow Captain Hook into Wonderland alongside Alice to crush his treacherous plan  and  deal with an ongoing war between power-hungry queens

After saving reality and overcoming the numerous challenges that Neverland threw at her, Vanessa has been tasked to save Michael Darling from himself: he’s grown obsessed in his role as a Knight of the Round and will stop at nothing to find the ghost of James Hook, nearly getting expelled from the Knights in the process. It’s up to Vanessa to keep him safe, she can’t lose her partner to Hook’s sword. So together it’s off to Wonderland in pursuit of the pirate. Except, unlike Neverland, neither Vanessa nor Michael have ever been there before. But someone they know has: the Lady who leads the Knights…who turns out to be none other than the legendary Alice. Her extensive knowledge about the land could change the game and bring them one step closer to finding Captain Hook…and in a world where games are taken quite seriously—and no less than six queens are vying for power—it will take them putting all their heads together to make it through. Or they just might find them lopped off.

Although I’ve never really delved much into the original Alice in Wonderland books my absolute love of the first book in this series guaranteed I was going to check this book out no matter what. So when I was offered a copy to review for the blog I didn’t even hesitate to accept it. Gama Ray Martinez’s Queen of Wonderland proved to be an exhilarating and delightfully absurd story that captured all of my attention from the very beginning. In fact I became so engrossed in this book that I was over an hour late to work because I never even once thought to stop reading to check the time.

One of the things that I think surprised me most about Queens of Wonderland is how much more I enjoyed it over the first book.  I found that the exceptionally good story of Queens of Wonderland really drew me deeper and deeper into the story with each page I tured. I thought God of Neverland was ridiculous but Queens of Wonderland really propelled the series to unprecedented heights of absurdity. I also found myself pleasantly surprised by the amount of character development there has been since the last book. Michael, whom I previously perceived as somewhat whiney, showcased a much more commendable and mature side in this book. However, it was Vanessa’s character that truly stole the how for me. Her increased prominence in the story and her undeniable badassery really heped make this book for me.

Overall, the writing, plit, and characters of Queens of Wonderland combined to create an immensely satisfying reading exerience that surpassed its predecessor in every way. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book, series, and author to anyone looking for something new to read and I’m really looking forward to seeing where Gama Ray Martinez takes this series next.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.