A Pursuit of Madness is a standalone fantasy novel that takes Alice in Wonderland and gives it a brand new twist. This isn’t the Alice you remember, so brace yourself for a darker more twisted version that will keep you page-turning.
A Pursuit ofMadness’s cover cues you in on the darkness within its pages with a beautifully dark cover with elegant silver framing that is delicate, but draws the eye. In the center of this book’s cover is a keyhole with roses adorning either side of it. Below that is a beautiful crown with a silver pocket watch sitting in the very center of the crown. The cover doesn’t necessarily scream “Wonderland” but it will pique your interest in what the cover hides inside.
A Pursuit of Madness is the first book in author Amber Bunch’s A Twisted Princess Collection. As stated above, this book is a standalone novel with a nice steamy HEA at the end. Technically Alice isn’t a princess, but don’t think that that means that there aren’t any princesses in this book. There is, but you just need to wait a minute before she makes an appearance.
A Pursuit of Madness gives readers a multiple POV throughout this book. You can expect not two, not three, and definitely not four POV with this book. Nope! You get five! Yes! We’re getting spoiled with the POV in this novel. It will for sure keep you on your toes as the author takes you back and forth between the world we are familiar with, and Wonderland.
There is something interesting in how author Bunch depicts Wonderland. Wonderland mimics a lot of what is already familiar to us. They have cars, their own version of the internet, and other technological advances. What they don’t have though...is freedom. Their Queen keeps them shackled in fear. Magic is outlawed. Outrageous, right?! I mean, seriously! Come on! Is it because the Queen fears someone using magic to usurp her? (Which she totally deserves to happen.) Or is it simply so that she can keep the citizens in fear of her assassins and Jabberwocky?
One thing is for sure when it comes to A Pursuit of Madness you are getting two dynamic factors with this novel – 1) dark (which we absolutely loved) and 2)...steamy. Lots of steamy.
One of the things that we absolutely loved about this book is the level of darkness in Alice’s chapters. She’s a very dark character, but she does certain “dark” things...for good. So, she’s a dark character with the intent and plan to make the world...a better place. So, basically, you gotta love her...or she’ll kill you. LOL! Just kidding!! No, seriously, we promise….we’re kidding. LOL!
Think that Alice is the only dark character in this book? Of course, she’s not! We have the twins – Dom and Dean in Wonderland, though Hatter has some darkness in him, too. But of course, we have the assassin pair, too. Now, they are the ones that you don’t want to cross. The Queen’s assassins who do her bidding of hunting down those who are found doing magic. Merciless killers who more than enjoy what they do. You get to witness one of their hunts, but the hunt plays out quickly. We would have liked a touch more detail since they are so feared. You’d think that they’d play with their “food” more than they do. The good news is that you get some of that detail with Alice when she goes on her own “hunt.”
A Pursuit of Madness really brings the drama and the steamy. You get multiple scenes sprinkled through that will keep you entertained and coming back for more. It is a lot of no-holds-barred steamy that at times will dance the fine line of consent. But let’s be clear...consent is always given, so don’t think that anything is done against anyone’s will. Well, except for Princess Rose when she is made to use her tracking magic on the citizens of her kingdom.
A Pursuit of Madness is part of the Twisted Princess Collection. Yet, the story doesn’t give readers a lot of the princess in this story. It’s an expectation that fails to be met. Which is disappointing. You can call Alice “princess” if you want to, but it’s not truly applicable, because she’s not a princess. It would simply be just giving Alice a nickname and nothing more. We really wanted more of Rose with this story, despite the fact that this is an “Alice in Wonderland” style novel.
A Pursuit of Madness has a lot of drama, but what you also get is a lot of...things going the way for the characters. Are there some “hiccups” that force them to reassess and rethink certain situations? Yes. Could there have been more of them? Again...yes. This book honestly needed more of them. We just wanted more drama and for the characters to really have to fight to reclaim what it is that they are after.
Hoping for an epic battle that sees the Queen taken down? Perhaps an epic fight with the assassins that sees their reign of terror ended? This is a potential spoiler, so...read on at your own risk. This story is lacking in an epic fight between the primary character(s) that have been deemed the bad guy(s). It’s honestly disappointing. Th expectation is there for this big fight to come. Granted, the Queen is not depicted as a fighter, so...then that shifts the expectation to the assassins. It’s a disappointment that none of this pans out after all the hype that the characters do of shouting about “taking down the queen and restoring Wonderland.”
A Pursuit of Madness reads like a standalone novel, and so you can expect a full storyline and a HEA ending with a nice little time gap at the end. When we say “time gap” we mean that you get a little passage of time before the author revisits the characters again and shows where they are now. Get ready for one of the most deliciously steamy moments in the book. Saving the best for last. LOL!
A Pursuit of Madness is a dynamic twist on a classic story, and one thing is for sure and that is author Bunch does this story proud. Alice is a character who draws you in, but she works well together with the other characters to create a fun story that will appeal to your dark side and leave you begging for more with the steamy.
Pros:
- Engaging story
- Deliciously dark elements
- Steamy scenes
- Twisted characters
Cons:
- No epic fight between the main bad guys of the story
- Wanted more drama
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