A Dream So Dark (The Nightmare-Verse Series #2)

by L. L. McKinney Narrated by Jacob York, Jeanette Illidge, Matthew Barnes

Overview

"With memorable characters and page-turning thrills, A Blade So Black is the fantasy book I've been waiting for my whole life. Alice is Black Girl Magic personified." - Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Hate U Give

In L. L. McKinney's A Dream So Dark, the thrilling sequel to A Blade So Black, Alice goes deeper into a dark version of Wonderland.

Still reeling from her recent battle (and grounded until she graduates), Alice must abandon her friends to complete her mission: find The Heart and prevent the Red Lady's rise. But the deeper she ventures into Wonderland, the more topsy-turvy everything becomes. It's not until she's at her wits end that she realizes-Wonderland is trying to save her.

There's a new player on the board; a poet capable of using Nightmares to not only influence the living but raise the dead. This Poet is looking to claim the Black Queen's power-and Alice's budding abilities-as their own.

Dreams have never been so dark in Wonderland, and if there is any hope of defeating this mystery poet's magic, Alice must confront the worst in herself, in the people she loves, and in the very nature of fear itself.

An Imprint Book

"Mixing elements of Alice in Wonderland and Buffy the Vampire Slayer... a delectable urban twist on beloved fairy tales." -Entertainment Weekly

"A dark, thrilling fantasy-meets-contemporary story with a kickass heroine." -Bustle

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"A breakout author." —Entertainment Weekly

"With memorable characters and page-turning thrills, the Nightmare-Verse is the fantasy series I've been waiting for my whole life. Alice is Black Girl Magic personified."

—Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Hate U Give

"The Alice I never knew I needed. The Alice I was missing. McKinney conjures a Wonderland for those of us who weren’t given the looking glass. It is a feat of black girl magic!"

—Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times-bestselling author of The Belles

"McKinney’s follow-up to A Blade So Black proves she is a master of urban fantasy... Explosive from start to finish and guaranteed to send readers gleefully down a rabbit hole from which they’ll emerge begging for a third installment." —Booklist, starred review

"Complex intrigue... Rousing, nonstop twists help make this sophomore entry a success." —Kirkus Reviews

A Blade So Black:

"Mixing elements of Alice in Wonderland and Buffy the Vampire Slayer... a delectable urban twist on beloved fantasy tales." —Entertainment Weekly

"This really is Lewis Carroll by way of Buffy, and it makes for a fun, gritty urban fantasy." —NPR

"I loved the 'our world' framing and the 'other world' adventure so deeply. They were at such odds, but the overall effect was just chefkiss.gif perfect."

—E.K. Johnston, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Star Wars: Ahsoka and A Thousand Nights

"Wholly original and absolutely thrilling—A Blade So Black kicks so much (looking gl)ass."

—Heidi Heilig, author of The Girl From Everywhere

"A dark, thrilling fantasy-meets-contemporary story with a kickass heroine." —Bustle

"Retold fairy tales have been a popular trend... but you’ve never read one quite like A Blade So Black." —Nerdist

"A brash, refreshing, vitally diverse retelling of a classic... You need this book." —Tor.com

"A Blade So Black is a novel that roars mightily in the face of all those Wonderland tales that have come before. L.L. McKinney is on her way to someplace special with this debut; get onboard now." —Locus magazine

"This isn't a retelling, this is Alice in Wonderland 2.0." —BlackSci-Fi.com

"An epic about Black Girl Magic." —We Need Diverse Books blog

"An explosive, kickass debut... The Alice in Wonderland retelling the world has always needed." —Booklist, starred review

"Relentless action, spiraling stakes, and a fierce heroine... A heartbreaking cliffhanger will leave fans clamoring for a sequel." —Publishers Weekly

"A thrilling, timely novel that ensures readers will be curious for a sequel." —Kirkus Reviews

"With a modern flair, a rich backstory, and just enough emotional heft, this particular looking glass will have readers eagerly falling through it." —The Bulletin

"Teens will root for Alice as a strong, multidimensional black girl usually unseen in YA fiction... A must-purchase." —School Library Journal

"A Blade So Black is a modernized version of a well-known story that retains enough of the original to be lauded by both fans of the classic and readers wholly new to Wonderland." —Shelf Awareness

Kirkus Reviews

2019-08-28
McKinney's sequel to A Blade So Black (2018) delves into the corruption of Wonderland's peaceful existence.

After an epic battle against the Black Knight and his Fiends, Dreamwalker Alice Kingston works to reckon with the death of her best friend, Chess, who was stabbed during the melee. When Chess is reanimated by Slithe, literally the stuff (blood) of Nightmares, and kidnaps the Poet Maddi, Alice must deal with her mother's declining trust in her as well as attacks from a mysterious bloody lady in order to find her friends. She journeys from our world to Wonderland and literally somewhere In-Between, which is "not here nor there, nor anywhere…it's pretty much everywhere," eventually being forced to face the deepest fears held in her heart. Wonderland takes shape through its ethnically diverse peoples, such as Xhosa-speaking healer Naette, and fantastical, Carrollian creatures, like Duma the Bandersnatch, a doglike animal with hooved feet, multicolored fur, and a purple tongue, and is much more interesting than the underdeveloped settings in our world. Readers meet characters whose personal relationships contribute to a complex intrigue that nicely complements the interspersed fight scenes, creating great balance and pacing. The addition of queer-coded Dreamwalker Haruka, a young Japanese woman, and a broader portrait of the Black Knight's history effectively complicate the plot without making it clunky.

Rousing, nonstop twists help make this sophomore entry a success. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171866617
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Series:	Nightmare-Verse Series , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,162,970
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

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