Yay or Nay?: Alice in the Country of Hearts (Manga)

So this manga series has been on my to-read list for a very long time. After finishing Nise no Chigiri, which I would definitely recommend to anyone as it is amazing, I was dying to read something similar to it in story, which is, suffice to say, another otome-based series. On many lists that I found online, a lot of them were saying to try this one, the Alice in the Country of Hearts series, which people said was a good selection. Anime North offered me a good opportunity for it-- having a fantastic dealer's room, and most of all, a "manga library" where you could borrow a series you were thinking of getting into. So I tried the series for a bit, and it seemed intriguing enough to get into. I borrowed the "Ace of Hearts" series, and dove right in. Subsequently, it was intriguing enough to me that I ended up buying the first and second volumes of it (Ace's route-- the Knight of Hearts to the Queen). So without further ado, here's my review of Alice in the Country of Hearts-- Ace of Hearts + Knight's Knowledge. 

ALSO!!! THIS IS OUR 100th REVIEW!!! Thank you to all our lovely viewers who have stayed with us since this blog began! We don't know where we'd be without you guys! 

The Story

So generally, this series is a retelling of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, only in this version, she has been kidnapped by the White Rabbit (Peter), to the Country of Hearts after having been forced to drink a special "medicine". Once she wakes up in Wonderland, it is revealed to Alice that whoever drinks the medicine has to participate in a game, and this may be the only way for her to return home. In Wonderland, there are three divided factions that are vying for territory. There's the Castle of Hearts, ruled by the Queen of Hearts, Vivaldi and the knight Ace (he doesn't rule the Country of Hearts to be clear), the Hatter Mansion-- Wonderland's Mafia led by the infamous Blood Dupre, and the Country of Clover, led by Nightmare Gottschalk (the Caterpillar). It is at this point where the story divulges based on the character series you want to go with, but pretty much the main Wonderland characters from the traditional story (I believe) have all been made into little "routes" or series (please correct me if I'm wrong). 

This is also where I have a little bone to pick, because, did the story seem a little bit "loose" to you? Yeah, I would agree, because I had to research the common story beforehand because although there was an overview at the beginning of Ace's first volume NOTHING ELSE WAS EXPLAINED IN MORE DEPTH. And I'm not joking, when I first read this I thought I was reading it's sequel by accident because I was missing so much. Ask Olga, we went and raided the dealer's room trying to find it before we figured it out. Like I said, there is a little preface to catch the new reader up, but there is no recap or separate chapter going into depth about how Alice came to Wonderland, or what her life was like before. That's a separate volume. So for a new reader, this can be quite confusing, but I digress...

My Thoughts 

Yeah, so the initial lack of background story was the one thing that peeved me off to no end and is the first critique I will give it. I know this is a separate route and Ace's story and whatnot, but I don't think its a bad idea to include the prologue at the beginning, most otome's do. It made the initial story hard to follow, and what makes it even tougher is when you have to track the plot you're reading about, which is not explained to you even in the slightest to ground the reader, but is given to you on a more "show as you need to know" basis. So, trying to absorb all that, understand both plots, and get into the love interest of these volumes simultaneously is very difficult to do. So basically, you end up feeling 1) like the story is hard to get into, and 2) like you're missing a LOT of information. 

I move onto the characters from here. Specifically, Ace. His "subplot" (as I'm calling it, or route, say what you will), was particularly interesting...but not because of him, if that makes sense. I had much of the same problem I did getting into the main story because Ace's story revolves around his discontent at playing what Wonderland calls "a role", which is given to certain people in Wonderland at random, and which they cannot escape. However, in both volumes, it's not quite clear what Ace's "role" is (is it the fact he's the Knight of Hearts, or something more?) That said, his route was interesting at introducing the other characters and their dynamics in more depth, and I definitely found some interesting parts in it, along with some character series I'd like to really get into after I finish Ace's (the Mad Hatter, for one, and Peter Rabbit, for another). Ace, on the other hand, moves between "hot and cold", and that's not really explained by the end of the second volume (yes I know there's a third!) either. He goes from being the cutest most lovable character ever, to sounding like a complete and utter sociopath that everyone warns Alice about in the next. Which, I still don't get and makes absolutely no sense to me. 

Somewhere here...Ace exists 

This really screws Alice up, and I sympathize with her. For an MC, Alice is good. She's funny, and clever, and emotive, unlike other MC's I've seen, so putting her in book format does her good. I don't have much to say about her other than I enjoyed her banter with most of the characters and definitely feels like a real "character" with history and dimensions. Despite a lack of prologue, you do get to see somewhat into Alice's past, her insecurities, her faults, and I really enjoyed that. 

In terms of worldbuilding, the premise is initially interesting, but you don't get to see much of it (at least in Ace's route). I think the Country of Hearts was a good place to start, but I'd love to see more about the Country of Clover, the Mad Hatter-style mafia, and the dynamics between all three territories, which is not really touched on. Again, otome based, I understand, but some otome games allow both world-building and exploration, while also maintain an engaging romance plot and I see no reason why this series can't do that either. In fact, there's more potential to do that in print format because you can make it longer and more physical than other mediums. 

My Rating

So yeah, I'll keep this short and sweet. This series, so far, has some blatant faults, but also some points of interest and engaging story to keep it balanced. I will be reading more of this I think, and perhaps some of another story series by the same author, Crimson Empire. So, for this series, at least for Ace's route my rating is as follows: 

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 Stars-- Average)

If you can borrow it from your library, or have some ability to read a snippet of it to get a taste before you try it, do so. I have a feeling this specific route may be for some people, but for me, not as much. That said, I think there's a character that will satisfy your tastes, so do give it a try! 

~Meghan