Author: L. L. McKinney

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Date: September 19, 2023

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Rating: ✈️ ✈️ ✈️ ✈️ .5 out of ✈️ ✈️ ✈️ ✈️ ✈️

Synopsis

Alice must save Wonderland from itself in A Crown So Cursed, the long-awaited third book in L.L. McKinney’s Nightmare-Verse series.

Alice and her crew are doing their best to recover from the last boss battle, but some of them keep having these. . .dreams: visions of a dark past- and an even darker future. Sadly, the evil in Wonderland may not be as defeated as they’d hoped.

Attacked by Nightmares unlike any they’ve ever seen, Alice will have to step between the coming darkness and the mortal world once more. But this time is different. This time, the monsters aren’t waiting for her on the other side of the veil.

They’re in her own back yard.

Review

Thank you so, so, so much to Hear Our Voices for letting me be a part of the book tour for one of my most anticipated books of the year and to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of the book through NetGalley.

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was for this book and to be a part of this book tour. I first read the first book in the Nightmare-Verse series, A Blade So Black, back in December of 2018, almost five years ago. A Blade So Black was a book that I stumbled upon at Barnes and Noble one day. It was a book that first caught my eye because of the strong looking Black female on the cover. After reading the synopsis and seeing that it was comped as an Alice in Wonderland meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was sold.

I flew through the book and upon reaching the end immediately added the second book to my TBR with the decision that I wouldn’t read the second book until the closer to the release of the third book. This was due in large part to the fact that the first book ended on a cliff hanger, and I couldn’t stand to have the same thing happen with the second and have to wait yet another year for the third and final book to come out. Considering that the release of A Crown So Cursed was pushed back I don’t even know how many times, I am so glad that I decided to delay my reading of the second book.

After what feels like forever and a day the conclusion in L. L. McKinney’s Nightmare-Verse series is finally here, and it does not disappoint. I made a point to go back and reread the first book, and finally read book 2, before finally starting this one and I will say what drew me into this world from the get-go holds true with this one and it’s the fact that the action starts less than 10% into the book. McKinney has an amazing ability to start the drama off at a 10 and just keeps escalating it even higher throughout until the book’s final resolution, this is a feat that proves to me that L. L. McKinney is the definition of Black Girl Magic.

After having waited for five years to finally read the end of Alice’s story and have all of my questions answered, A Crown So Cursed did not disappoint at all. I loved returning to this world and these characters. This is a book in which Alice finds herself with more allies, friends and people who know of her secret and support her to the best of their abilities. Alice has not only faced the big bad/boss level bad guy and lived to talk about it, but she’s finally beginning to come into the dreamwalker she was always meant to be. She’s at a place in her life where she can be more open with those she cares about the most and in turn she’s finding herself opening up to even more possibilities and the chance at a myriad facet of love.

Part of what made me fall in love with this story, characters and especially Alice from the beginning was being able to relate to Alice and the loss of her father. While I did not lose my dad as a teenager like Alice, I did lose him as a young adult and found that I both did and didn’t deal with his death. Much like Alice, my dad was the person who I geeked out with when it came to anything related to comic books. When I went to my first ever comic-con, while I went with my mom and had a blast, I couldn’t help but wish that he was there with me as it is because of him that I got into comic books and eventually anime, (I too am a Sailor Moon fan like Alice) to begin with. Of all the recent Black Girl Magic books I’ve read, from this to Legendborn, to The Gilded Ones to Kingdom of Souls; this was the series that I related to the most first, and it’s the one that I find myself tearing up at the most because of the loss of the father figure.

This is a series that will wreck you, hello messy love triangle that still has me questioning if it was really necessary to the greater story as a whole, I mean not all young adult novels have to have a love triangle, right, and build you back up. (Side note: what happened to the great sapphic storyline that was teased in the second book?) You’ll find that you can’t help but fall in love with these characters and root for them, even when you know they’re doing something that will potentially get them killed or at the very least seriously hurt.

Over the course of three books, I have fallen in love with these characters and their journey more than I could’ve ever imagined. As much as I wanted to know how everything would turn out, I will be the first to admit that I am beyond devastated that the series has come to an end for there is nothing I would like more than if L. L. McKinney were to continue to write in this universe, whether it was a collection of short stories featuring the other dreamswalkers and knights, to novellas or even full-blown novels taking place two to ten years after the events of A Crown So Cursed; shoot, I’d even be down for a whole prequel series.

This is a book and series that I could write numerous blog posts on from the individual characters to the character dynamics, to the good vs. evil and so forth (and maybe one day I will), but now is not the time to do so. Suffice it to say that if like me you’ve been waiting what feels like an eternity for this book, read it now. If you haven’t read any of the book sin this series but you’ve read other popular Black Girl Magic books like the ones mentioned above you’ve need to read this series immediately. And finally, if you are looking for a Black Buffy the Vampire Slayer who ventures into a Wonderland that you think only someone like Tim Burton could’ve come up with, you need this series in you life.

Be sure to read on for my interview with the author about her book and its conclusion.

Author Interview

Q: This is the final book in your Nightmare-Verse series, what are you most proud of about the book’s conclusion and the journey that Alice has gone on?

A: I think I’m most proud of the fact that it’s here. That it’s happening. After so many delays and pushbacks, it’s finally out in the world. I can now look at all three and hold physical proof that, by the grace of God, I’m here at the finish line. And that this is only the beginning.

Q; What are you most hoping readers take away from A Crown So Cursed?

A: I’m hoping that they take away a message I’m sure lots of authors hope their work conveys, but it’s that you can be your ow hero, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. Yes, Alice does some incredible things, and often she’s the last one standing in a fight, but she’s only able to do it sometimes because of the people who sewed into her, who were there to help hold her up in important ways with love and support.

Q: Which of your characters are you most like?

A: Probably Alice. I mean, I ain’t out here slaying literal monsters or traveling to other worlds or anything, but her struggle is personal to me on a number of levels. Plus I filled her with my love of anime, video games, comics and what not, so yeah, I’d say her.

Q: If you’re able to, can you share what you’re working one next?

A: I’ve got some short stories in the works for a few anthologies coming out next year. My take on Jane Eyre is coming out in January, ESCAPING MR. ROCHESTER, I’m finishing up on that. Queer reimagining of that whole situation, yes. I’m presently working on the sequel to Nubia: Real One, too. There are a few things that are still secret as of now, but hopefully I’ll be able to let everyone know more soon.

Q: Who are some authors who have inspired you and some of their books that you think every reader should read?

A: It should surprise no one that I mention Octavia Butler and Toni Morrison and the greats, but I’m gonna throw in a few of my contemporaries as well. Tracy Deonn and the Legendborn Cycle, of course. Bree and Sel have my whole heart. Anything Bethany C. Morrow does is an absolute must read, that woman is a literary goddess and I will brook no arguments. Karen Strong helps me get my fantasy fix in middle grade, the Southern magic is just so cozy for my soul. And of course N. K. Jemisin who has me in a chokehold with her Great Cities series.

My deepest thanks to L. L. McKinney for taking the time to answer my interview questions and to Hear Our Voices for setting it up.

About the Author

L.L. McKinney is a writer, a poet, and an active member of the kidlit community. She’s an advocate for equality and inclusion in publishing, the co-founder of Junettenth Book Fest, and the creator of the hashtags #PublishingPaidMe and #WhatWOCWritersHear. She’s also a gamer girl and an adamant Hei Hei stan. She is the author of A Blade So Black, A Dream So Dark, and A Crown So Cursed.