[Book Review] Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Weary of her storybook, one "without pictures or conversations," the young and imaginative Alice follows a hasty hare underground--to come face-to-face with some of the strangest adventures and most fantastic characters in all of literature.

The Ugly Duchess, the Mad Hatter, the weeping Mock Turtle, the diabolical Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat--each more eccentric than the last--could only have come from that master of sublime nonsense, Lewis Carroll.

In penning this brilliant burlesque of children's literature, Carroll has written a farcical satire of rigid Victorian society, an arresting parody of the fears, anxieties, and complexities of growing up.

Carroll was one of the few adult writers to successfully enter the children's world of make-believe: where the impossible becomes possible, the unreal--real, and where the height of adventure is limited only by the depths of imagination.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Review

4 STARS

Unlike Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I haven't re-read this one quite as much. As I was re-reading this time I realized although I did remember some of the stuff, there were aspects of the story I didn't remember at all. 

Alice is still a fantastic main character. I love her intelligence and her sass. Even when she's being polite vocally she will think of what she really wanted to say, and honestly it's pretty hilarious. I like that Alice sticks up for herself and she stands her ground even when being polite. She's sharp and feisty. The cast of characters in the Looking Glass world weren't as fun or entertaining to read about like the ones from Wonderland. I did enjoy some of their stories and their interactions with Alice but not as much. 

The plot's structure is similar to the first book when it comes to  Alice wandering around an unknown world and meeting new people. However, she has a destination to get to in Through the Looking Glass which gave Alice and the reader a journey with a goal at the end. Although, because the new characters we meet on the way to the destination aren't as entertaining as the first book the journey just wasn't as exciting. I still loved all the whimsy and interactions Alice had, but I didn't have the same enjoyment. 

The writing is just as straightforward in this book as before in Wonderland. Which made it easy to slip right into the story and get caught back up into Alice's adventures. Lewis Carroll definitely had a lot of talent when it came to writing children's stories, but Through the Looking Glass had some dark humor in there that I was surprised to see. If Wonderland had dark humor I don't think it was as much as Looking Glass, unless I just didn't notice it as much. I actually really liked the dark humor because I found it clever. It kind of felt like when you watch a movie or tv show you enjoyed as a kid and realize it was way more mature in its jokes than you initially realized.

Overall, if you're a fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and haven't read Through the Looking Glass, I highly recommend it! If you're reading them for the first time I definitely wouldn't skip reading the sequel. I do think Wonderland is better but Through the Looking Glass is still really great and entertaining. I listened to the audiobook for both and I noticed that having these stories read to you is so enjoyable. So I recommend maybe reading this to your kids (or any little ones in your life) that you think may enjoy these magical stories. 

Thanks for reading!