Alice in the Joker’s Last Laugh (Alice: Pick a Card, #5)

Hi All!

I hope everyone’s week is going well!

This week I read the last book in the Alice: Pick a Card Series, “Alice in the Joker’s Last Laugh”. Like usual, I laughed, I cried, and I wanted more Kaeden Hart!

This journey through Wonderland with Alice has been such a fun and wild ride! I’ve been so fortunate to be gifted with review copies of each book in the series, and it’s quite bittersweet to me that it’s finally come to an end.

Please note, given this is book 5 in the series, I won’t be giving away any spoilers and will be keeping my review fairly vague. Hopefully this inspires you to check out the series even more!

Before we get started, here are the links to my reviews for the first four books in the series:

Book 1: Alice in the Land of Clovers

Book 2: Alice in the City of Diamonds

Book 3: Alice in the Palace of Spades

Book 4: Alice in the Prison of Hearts

And without further ado, let’s find out who got the last laugh in the series finale!

Genre:  Fantasy, Romance, New Adult, Fairy Tale Retelling

Publication Date: December 12, 2022

Booksirens Blurb:

Once upon a time, there was a girl in a magical world who longed to go home…

That girl was me.

I thought going home would solve all of my problems, but I was proven wrong when I was forced through the Jabberwock’s looking glass against my will. Trapped in Oxford, I was made to watch as the one I loved and everything I knew turned to stone.

But I was never one to stay where I belong, nor listen to others’ warnings, so I returned, only to be thrown into a world of disarray.

Chess is threatening war, the Kingdom of Hearts has been drained of color, and the one true heir to the throne of Cards is missing. At the same time, the man behind it all, my husband, sits gloating with a title that was never meant to be his, surrounded by a parade of Alice look-alikes. The secrets he holds could lead to Wonderland’s damnation…

But in the end, it is I who holds all the cards.

What I liked about the book:

1. After all the speculation of book 4 and B.A. Lovejoy being taken aback by reader’s enthusiasm over Kaeden Hart, I was quite happy with this ending. I won’t say much more than that, but I will leave you with this: everything and everyone ended where it was supposed to.

2. I loved how much of Alice in the real world we got to see, and just how much Wonderland has impacted her. For someone who was adamant about going home, she really didn’t fit in when she got there.

I also loved how TERRIBLE Peter was. I was legit worried about her fancying him in book 1, and I’m glad the author rid him of all redeeming characteristics finally.

3. I liked how the author left the ending up for spinoffs/returns to Wonderland. I’m really hopeful that we will get to see other stories in Wonderland, featuring different main characters, but with potential pop ins from our original favorites.

4.  Let’s talk about those covers. I don’t feel I’ve appreciated them enough in my past reviews, but these covers are the things of book hoarders’ dreams. They are pretty, they have the style down pat while throwing in enough details specific to the book the cover is referencing, and they are just plain intriguing. These are the types of books you buy for the cover so your bookshelf looks gorgeous.

5. Like the past books, I loved the political events that took place and those that we still haven’t seen finished by the end of the book. Further evidence that we need spinoffs! I also really enjoyed getting more insight into the history of Wonderland. The history has been so artfully crafted throughout this series and it’s quite well done.

6. In typical B.A. Lovejoy fashion, there were several lines I LOVED:

“I was fairly certain that if I had stopped thinking, then everything would have been easier. Stupid people were very often the happiest of people…To be stupid was truly a gift, one which I wished most vehemently that I could receive. Unfortunately, I wasn’t smart enough to be stupid.”

—

“My grandmother had been a housewife, my mother too, and my sister was a housewife; and if they had their way, I would be a housewife as well…Which was why Wonderland was so captivating, because I had been more there. A clock repairer, an almost-dragon slayer, a noble, and a prisoner. That was far more lives than a woman could have expected to live in England.”

Not really a tough choice for me either…

—

“But I liked Reginald better, because he was far softer than Cornelius, and far kinder; one should never underestimate the appeal of a quiet man.”

Like mother like daughter???

—

“The echoing realization that for every action and inaction, for every choice that I had blindly made and for every decision that I had blindly rushed into, there was a cost, even if it not my cost to pay.”

And this was the moment that Alice finally grew up!

—

“ ‘I am a delight,’ I proclaimed, knowing that I very well was not.”

This is basically me every day of my life 🤷🏼‍♀️

What could have been better:

1. My biggest gripe in this book, and really all of them looking back, is it seems like the author wrote a whole story and then decided where to break it up into chunks.

The good part of this is it’s cohesive as hell. It picks up right where it left off in the previous book and it really sucks you back in quickly.

The bad part of this is it doesn’t work well if you don’t toss the reader bones back to the previous books. There were several times I had to go read my highlights from the previous four books just to understand what the hell was going on or what people were referring to. For such a long series, I would have appreciated more throwbacks/nods to things previously established in prior books so I didn’t have to do this.

2. Alice’s mother had a much bigger role in Wonderland than we originally anticipated, and I’m sad we didn’t get to learn more about it. I felt we were really teased with her backstory and then it never got fleshed out.

3. THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH KAEDEN HART!

Final Thoughts:

This was a good end to a great series.

Final Rating: 4 stars

Thank you to Booksirens and B.A. Lovejoy for the opportunity to read this book. The opinions expressed above are my own, honest opinions.

Liked this review and want more of my rantings? Let’s connect!

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Alice in the Palace of Spades (Alice: Pick a Card #3) by B.A. Lovejoy

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Rating: 3.5 stars

Quote that sums up this book: “It was best not to ask questions in Wonderland. It was best to just go along with things.”

General Update:
• It’s 2 months after the events of book 2, and trouble pretty much still follows Alice everywhere she goes. Alice is attempting to break out of Wonderland, resorting to almost any means necessary.
• Manon is missing. The Jabberwock is missing. Thomas Caard is missing.
• Fitz is…more tolerable? And I’m confused with my feelings on that one.
• William is acting like a drunk toddler.
• Claude is hiding something.
• There will never be enough Kaeden.
• Massive book burnings and threatening of witnesses in the past lead to a lot of uncertainty for the present.
• Secret fifth heir?
• The looking glass has been located.

Booksirens Blurb:

Some rules are meant to be broken…

At least that is what I tell myself when I steal a book that I was not even meant to know existed from the King of Hearts, believing it to contain information about my father’s time in Wonderland.
But the journal does not contain any revelations about Reginald Grey, nor any greater notions concerning the magical world surrounding me, but rather another mystery that I cannot solve—Who is Professor Thames? How did he know my father? And most importantly…

How did he escape Wonderland?

The resurrection of a time honored tradition gives me the opportunity to explore the Palace of Spades during the greatest masquerade Wonderland has ever known. Lucky for me, the Palace of Spades houses the greatest library in the world– the only problem is, getting into it when all eyes are on me, the so-called Jabberwock slayer.

And while I find myself growing ever closer to the mysterious Kaeden Hart, an avalanche of things unsaid remains between us and perhaps most concerningly, I find myself further drawn into the mysterious world of the Cheshire Cat…

Who holds a dark secret he refuses to share.

Review:

What I liked about this book:
1. The worldbuilding continues to evolve in this book, more from a political front than a geography front though. It appears we are going to see even more political corruption going forward, which I am definitely digging. Seems like a much larger war is brewing than I initially thought after book 2…very excited to see where this goes.

I also appreciated the backstory on Chess and finding out that Manon and Roison don’t get along. I guess I hadn’t realized, though now it seems silly, that there is great strife between daughters in the history of Chess leading to a white side and a red side. Furthermore, I loved learning that the last time the sides were united was under Manon’s and Roison’s mother, who definitely tried to use the Jabberwock to her advantage. Definitely thinking my theory on Manon from book 2 (book 2 review) is even more correct now…

2. We get more background on Cornelius Thames (the King of Cards, aka all these dudes’ dad) and Reginald (Alice’s dad), which was fantastic! I want to know more because I really think Cornelius is the reason for Alice’s dad being killed, even if they were childhood friends!!!

3. “Let’s talk about sex, baby”…so, it finally happened! It wasn’t graphic, which is actually quite perfect for this series (I know, I’m shocked I feel that way too!). I will say, I really don’t think it was supposed to be sexy when he told her to bite him if it hurt, but here I am over here just worshipping the man that is Kaeden Heart.

4. A lot of great lines, as is typical for these books.

“Death, taxes, stains, and missing socks. Those were the four inevitabilities of Wonderland that applied to just about everyone, and there was on small inevitability that belonged to me alone: trouble. I would always get into trouble.”– As a tax accountant, I’m happy to hear I could have job security in Wonderland too.

“Other than my father, men really could be a pain.” – Spoken like a true daddy’s girl.

“Never trust men who cheat at cards, Peter.” – God, I feel like this should be the tagline for the whole freaking series.

“…while I would have trusted him with my life, I would have never trusted him with my mind. Not all my thoughts and secrets.” – Ok good, Alice has Claude figured out.

“Handsome men were a curse on humanity.” – Ain’t that the truth.

“So, like any well-mannered young lady, I did an outstanding job of nodding and agreeing when I knew men were talking about annoyingly impossible things. It was quite effective, really.” – When “just sit there and look pretty” can be used to our advantage.

“My mother had told me that women felt guilty far too often once, and I had taken that to heart, so I very rarely felt the need to apologize.” – FACTS! I constantly tell my staff at work this so they stop leading their messages with apologies!

“Kept out of sight and out of mind, as many far too opinionated women were.” -MMHMMM!

Why it didn’t get 5 stars:
1. This book definitely lived up to what I expected for Claude: it was shifty, it was all over the place, and I didn’t trust anything that happened. There were so many things going on at once, that I was frequently asking myself, “Wait, what is going on?”

What I’m guessing will happen in book 4:
1. Funny how Peter was mentioned in the prologue as needing to take care of Alice and her sister, but then not again. Is he the mysterious man she saw on the balcony who she thought seemed familiar? Is Peter in Wonderland?

2. I want Kaeden to make it up to Alice, but after reading B.A. Lovejoy’s newsletter that a lot of people were going to be disappointed after the events of book 4, I’m honestly not sure what to think anymore…If the final love interest is not Kaeden, I will be DISTRAUGHT!

3. So, Thomas Caard still sucks. I have a feeling he’s that fifth heir that was talked about briefly and then never brought up again. He definitely has plans to take over everything.

4. After what Thomas does, I have a feeling Alice is going to be held as a prisoner. Will it be in the Kingdom of Hearts though, since that’s the next book??? God, I really hope that Alice is Kaeden’s prisoner in book 4!

Thank you to Booksirens and B.A. Lovejoy for the opportunity to read this book. The opinions expressed above are my own, honest opinions.

Liked this review and want more of my rantings? Let’s connect!

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Alice In the City of Diamonds (Alice: Pick a Card #2) by Bethany Anne Lovejoy

Having read the first book in the Alice: Pick a Card series Alice in the Land of Clovers earlier this winter, I squealed with joy when I saw BA Lovejoy’s email come through saying this second book was out. I immediately hopped like a bunny over to Booksirens to grab it!

Thanks to Booksirens and the publisher for the copy of this book. I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

General Overview:
– It’s 3 months after the events of book 1, and Wonderland is still in sh*t. The clock is still broken, Thomas Caard is still missing, and Alice is still stuck in Wonderland.
– Alice is attempting to fix the clock but is running in circles due to unknown reasons (read that as there is a mystery afoot). The only one who can help her, won’t talk to her.
– Manon has had enough.
– There is not enough Kaeden
– The Jabberwock has arrived!
– Every man in this world still loves Alice ​

What I liked about this book:
1. The characters, because they really are 1/2 of what makes this series amazing.

Alice – I continue to love your wit, especially in your hatred towards Fitz, but there were definitely times you should have kept your mouth shut!

Definitely funny, but definitely troublesome. I can’t help but love how you always root for the underdog though.
​
Fitz (the White Rabbit) – the snob King of the City of Diamonds. You make it so easy to hate you, but at the same time, I love how you’re one of the only ones who will tell Alice no. I don’t love that you’re in love with her still, and I don’t love your political agenda with the Jabberwock, but at least you’re consistently you.

Claude (the Cheshire Cat) – so what happened to being a player????? Now you love Alice too??? I still don’t trust you with your crazy smile and shady intentions. You are straight up lurking and I’m onto you.

William (the Mad Hatter) – Typical commitment phobe, you had to lose someone to know what they were worth to you?

Kaeden (the King (not Queen) of Hearts) –

Me during the first half of the book: “Where the f*ck is Kaeden??? This is not what I wanted!”

Me during the second half of the book: “And this is why Kaeden is the best!”

Roison – You are immature and the epitome of a girl who will steal another girl’s crown, BUUUUUT, I think you may be the “good one”. I guess we’ll see….

Manon – You seem super cool, you stood up for Alice, you have a soft spot for the Jabberwock, and you are a feminist and rulebreaker, HOWEVER, I believe you are not as good-natured as we are being led to believe. I think you have ulterior motives that involve the Jabberwock and you ruling the entire Wonderland. I preface this assumption with I have very basic Alice in Wonderland knowledge, no Through the Looking Glass knowledge, and I have never heard of the white or red queen before this book. Maybe I’m a genius and I’m right, maybe I’m a wackadoodle.

Jabberwock (Jaxton) – FINALLY!!!! HE HAS ARRIVED!!!…Yeah, he ain’t gone.

2. The first book set up the idea of all of these realms ruled by the different suits and a king of Cards, as well as human folk vs. animal folk. I thought all of this was crazy interesting and beautifully written.

THEN this book brought into play a different country (if you will) within Wonderland that is separate from the suit “country”: Chess. The two queens (one red, one white) are the rulers of Chess. Chess is a place where there are more rules and less leniency than the country ruled by card suites, which totally makes sense! Add to this the bonkers political systems in place, especially dealing with the trial of the Jabberwock? OH MY GAWD, it’s just so creative and so beautifully written and interesting.

3. When Alice decides she is going after the Jabberwock and Kaeden shows up to help her get ready! Requiring the best armor, a great sword, and gifting literally the clothes off his back??? This man is a God! And OH MY GAWD he dressed her!!! THAT WAS THE BEST SCENE IN THIS BOOK!!!

Why it didn’t get 5 stars:
1. As previously mentioned, I needed more Kaeden. He’s definitely the King of my Heart.

2. I don’t understand how Alice went from defending the life of the Jabberwock to quickly being ok volunteering to slay him. Like, what?

3. This was obviously the second book in a four book series because it fell into the usual trappings. There is so much left to explore, and this second book just added more questions than answers, so it dragged a bit at times.

4 stars!

Alice in the Land of Clovers (Alice: Pick a Card #1) by Bethany Anne Lovejoy

When I read the synopsis to Alice in the Land of Clovers, I thought this book could go one of two ways: 1) a twisted retelling with crazy worldbuilding and even crazier characters, with a touch of spice or 2) some crazy, no-one-asked-for-this reverse harem adult novel. While there is a time and place for each, I was really hoping for the former with this one and that’s exactly what I got.

What I liked about this book:
1. The characters, because it isn’t Alice in Wonderland without crazy-ass characters. Let’s start with almost everyone having the hots for Alice, who is completely shit on in Oxford for her “fat ankles” and not being as pretty as her sister. Add to that her being kidnapped and everyone wanting to marry her to gain greater power…

Fitz (the White Rabbit) – the snob King of the City of Diamonds who kidnaps Alice to be his bride so he can claim the ultimate power of Wonderland. Get a clue babe, it doesn’t matter if you give her all the space in the world, it will not make her heart grow fonder.

Claude (the Cheshire Cat) – the intriguing King of Spades who can promise Alice a loveless, but fun marriage. Not only are you even less romantic than Fitz who thinks eventually he can win Alice’s love, I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you. You are downright shady.

William (the Mad Hatter) -the looney King of Clovers who is currently anticipated to get the advanced kingmanship (is that a thing?). I don’t know if it’s because you’re the oldest brother or because you were good friends with Alice’s dad, but you will always, always seem old to me. Therefore, if there is a love interest that blooms here with Alice, I mean EVEN ONE KISS, I will be disgruntled. Let’s keep this one on the up and up.

Kaeden (the King (not Queen) of Hearts) – the assumed similar tempered son to the Queen of Hearts and youngest brother. I love the way you meet Alice, I love your reserved nature, and I love that while everyone is expecting the worst of you, you are probably the most honest character of all. Also, just to throw this out there, a misunderstood guy with the name Kaeden has to end up as the ultimate love interest, right?!? I guess we’ll see how the rest of the series goes, but that’s where my money went immediately.

Alice -I love your wit and quick-thinking. Your sarcasm and feminist viewpoints are on point and I can’t wait to see more of the badass you’ll become in order to survive Wonderland.

Thomas – a knight-type who is in charge of guarding Alice for most of her time in Wonderland. You were my first choice for Alice, but then you had to go and be a dick.

2. I am a sucker for good, detailed worldbuilding, and B.A. Lovejoy didn’t disappoint. I like the idea of all of these realms ruled by the different suits and then the idea of a king of kings, if you will. I even more like the idea that there are human folk (like Thomas and Alice), mild animal folk (like Fitz and Claude), moderate animal folk (like Erwic the caterpillar), and full animal folk (like the mock turtle). These varying degrees of humanity/animalism were very interesting to me and kept me captivated each time a new character was introduced thinking “Ooooh, what/who are they going to be? Human? Animal?”

3. I liked that there were a couple of things turned around from the Alice in Wonderland that I am familiar with. Besides the obvious, I really liked the portrayal of the Queen of Hearts as not necessarily bad, just suffering from severe mental illness that has gone untreated due to stigma. I hope this will become a more talked about point in later books, because I truly want to see her sympathized.

What could have been better:
1. To be completely honest, I didn’t love the first 15% to 20% of this book. I felt like there were a bunch of things that happened that didn’t really come to fruition in any way in this first book. Now, they may be things that come back in later books, but I just didn’t see why there was a large need for a bunch of stuff in the forefront that didn’t ultimately get resolved. For example, we learn that she is in love with her sister’s husband and we also see her mother’s attempts to set her up with a couple of different guys, one of whom proposes. I was very confused by both of these things being brought up and dwelt on for no apparent reason. Was the first 15% of the book just to show that Alice doesn’t want to get married? If so, I feel that could have been accomplished a lot quicker than taking up 1/5 of the book.

4.5 stars!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.