I really enjoyed this book. I went in expecting typical YA nonsense but was pleasantly surprised by a creepy gothic psychological story - why his book is even near the YA sections I'll never know.

Alice is one of the best books I've read in terms of pacing, as the author's use of words, timing and story beats made me devour the book and constantly want to read more. This, combined with the creepy and sometimes hard to read content (at times) made the book incredibly engaging.

I'd say the book fall short only a couple of areas - sometimes the choice of word makes little sense, and there were times when Alice didn't react to the use of magic, which felt illogical to me. Further, two antagonists, who are heavily built up and by the midsection of the book are beyond terrifying, are neatly and quickly taken care of in the last few pages, which made the book feel a tad anticlimactic. This goes back to the choice of language issue, and it definitely feels like a deliberate choice but I personally don't feel it works. The most engaging parts of the book were it's detailed descriptions and broken characters, building on the psychological horror at the core of the book, and poor language choices break this spell at times.

Overall, this is a fantastic read and I can't wait to read the sequel.