Audio Book Review: Beware the Little White Rabbit

Beware the Little White Rabbit

Edited By:  Shannon Delany

Publish Date:  April 14, 2015, Audiobook August 26, 2015

Format:  Audiobook - 7 hrs 41 mins
Narrated By:  Rhiannon Angell

Genre:  Paranormal

Series:  Stand alone anthology

Impression:  New adventures with Alice in different Wonderlands.

Synopsis:
Curiosity often leads to trouble...

Thirteen powerful voices in young adult fiction invite you to journey into startling new Wonderlands in this nod to the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s timeless character, ALICE.

Mystery. Madness. Mayhem. Each story in this collection will intrigue, bewitch, and enchant. Through rich historicals, castles and keeps, wild wormholes, secret workshops, deadly plagues, and gritty urban explorations, we present new tales of Alice and her white rabbit.

Whether an intrepid reporter, a would-be car thief, or the last human in a world ruled by machines, at the heart of each story Alice is a girl discovering who she really is in worlds that never fail to surprise.

What wonders await, oh curious reader? Leap down the rabbit hole and discover the truth...

Purchase At:
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Audible


My Thoughts and Summary:
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com, at my request.


The magnificent thing with this anthology in audio form is immediately seeing how vast the narrators voice is. She slips into different persona's and emotions with each story.

Each story has something the Alice's need to work through or learn. There is something, even small, that bothers them about their self or the world they are in and through following the white rabbit they learn there is something better at the other end of the tunnel. There is something for living in the world and working through it all or even, in some cases, that things aren't as bad as they had thought.

This book of Alice tales can be read by young readers and young adults just as well as adults. We all enjoy Alice and her adventures. This book adds more to that setting, and even has a few lessons to share as well.

Alice Through the Wormhole
When leaving the seedy bar on this space station where she meet her dealer and purchased her rare tea, a white rabbit bumps into her. He's late! And off he goes. Alice checks her pocket to find it empty. The overgrown rabbit has stolen her rare tea! She's not going to let him get away with that. Skipping through space and landing on a planet, Alice follows the rabbit to a tea party.

This was a fun space setting with Alice and the white rabbit. I enjoyed this short story. It was different and had the few highlights we see in Alice in Wonderland. Off with her head, Tea party, Cheshire cat, and the color red.

The narrator has fun with the personality of the Queen along with Alice. But it's neat to hear the electronic tone to her voice as she does the cover voice for Alice and the electronic Sentries.

They Call Me Alice
Alice is living a different life than she knows. Alice is a young girl who's lost and misses her parents and China. Her chase for the rabbit brings her to the moon goddess and an offer to stay with her, over tea.

This story is based on an old legend mixed with Alice in wonderland. Chang'e's story. It's a young girl who struggles to adjust to the new world and home she now has. But chasing the rabbit gives her a vision where she gets to talk and decide where she wants to live.

This story is very heart felt for me. I even started to tear up at the end. It's not my normal story style, but was well done.

The narrator has shown a different side to her voice here. She's soft and kind sounding when voicing Betsy, the adoptive mother. And even as she tells Alice's story from the heart. She even calls out as mothers do looking for their child who's upstairs and are worried for them on their first day of school, hoping they like school and find friends.

Alice, Last of the Beating Hearts
Alice is the last of the beating hearts, humanity. She's determined to fight the mechanicals to survive and avenge her mother's murder by the Queen. But when she arrives at the Queen's lair, what she finds is something that will pull at her heart.

This story was a bit hard for me to get into. I love the creation of the world, but I also got lost in the world. I kept trying to visualize it all and the story moved quickly to get through the events to come. The world is a sort of mechanical dystopian-ish feel. It is strange and has a warped feel (which Wonderland does have too) to it.

It does have the pieces of the Wonderland story, Drink Me (Drink Mead here in the story), tea, the watch, Hatter, and a twist to Chesire Cat.

In this story the narrator creates slightly different voices. The Hatter has a small voice that seems to fit his personality well.

The Watchmakers Ball
Alice is attending the Centennial Exposition with her mother and sister. However, she's stuck in the Woman's Pavilion instead of visiting the Machinery Hall to take in the sight of the clockwork and magnificent machines. A clockwork rabbit takes her to a ball she's invited to, the Watchmakers ball. But the Watchmaker plans to keep her with his other dolls and toys.

In listening in order, this is my favorite story thus far. Alice falls into another adventure of a clockwork world! This story feels like it's another adventure for Alice in a magical wonderland world, but with clockworks. The author pulled a few items from the world of Wonderland but the story isn't held strictly to the Alice in Wonderland feel. It's a story of it's own in a clockwork world. It has a similar feel of the original story once you get through it too.

The world was easy to picture which made it easy to enjoy the story. I really liked the drawing of the world and the story together.

The narrator, Rhiannon, did a wonderful job of voicing the characters here. The rabbit's voice is small like a little child and her proper speak for Alice along with the stern proper feel for her mother felt right on with the characters.

Well done all around on this one!

Rabbit Fever
Alice has been caring for her plague sick brother. There is no where for her to go to escape the plague as only the rich get the passes to leave. Exhausted Alice falls into a deep sleep, and possibly coming down with the plague herself, to fall from the sky on the white rabbit. The Queen comes along, warning Alice to not touch her rabbit. All Alice wants is the unicorn horn ground into powder to help her brother, then to find an escape to return home and help Edward.

Aaah. This was another great story here. I love the use of the plague and the trip following the rabbit to see the queen.

Wow. This is a sad time with the plague. A terrible world to live through. The author has done an amazing job of drawing the dreary world in this short story. In doing so, the thoughts of the plague infested world where only the rich escape comes through in her visit to "Wonderland".

There is some history here with the plague. Very neat to see the meaning of what the "Queen" says in relation to the plagued world. And that Alice puts it together in the real world.

Rhiannon seems to slip into the characters and their demanding, or weakened voices well here. She does the calls as the characters would along with Edwards sick, weak speak. Her cadence picks up when speaking faster, or slows as directed from the story.

Mustang Alice
Alice is on a school field trip for her exceptional grades and hard work. At a rest stop, Alice is attracted to a black mustang that pulls in. The man goes inside and she goes to check it out, finding the keys in the ignition when she sits behind the wheel, admiring the car. Scared, she finds herself taking off in the car as the man comes out. To find a cute boy in the back seat.

Can I like a story but not find it believable? This is how I feel on this one. I don't believe the homebody, excellent grade student would steal a mustang, even unintentional. Yet I enjoyed the time that Alice spent with Lou. Though I felt bad for Lou in the end. This story felt as it had a small touch on bullying. Just a small reflect on it.

Rhiannon gets to do a few new voices here. They might be quick as they are calls in an amusement park, but they are present. She has a feel of remembering when Alice reflects on old memories.

White is a Human Construct
Alice hasn't spoken to anyone in a while. Not with all the rumors of her Congressman father up and leaving her mother. When she sees a white rabbit in a cage on her way to school, she stops to say hi and he answers. The rabbit is a conscience that helps her with how to deal with her mother who's locked herself in her own world. And Finn, the new resident at the home of the rabbits, is the person who is there for Alice when she need a touch or reality and help.

Oh, we get a touch of a southern accent with the characters here. I like the extra sway in the words.

In this story, the fantasy world falls in the white rabbit's presence and how Alice deals with what's happened to her.

This is a story that touches my heart. Alice seems to have troubles with what's real and what's not. Finn seems to be her lifeline to the real world, and really helps just by being here. Alice has dealt with some terrible things in her life, which is why she shuts things away and tries to pretend. Poor girl.

Alice and Her Shadow
Alice has an admirer. Someone who's watched her whole life and feels it's starting to get boring, so she has taken over.

Mmm, this story didn't really work for me. I didn't feel there was really anything here in the meaning of the story and it didn't feel as if there was much resolve in the end, for me. You might feel different. The story also talks in You form at the beginning. That You (I the reader/listener) is Alice and doing these actions. With this it throws the story off for me.

Alice in Wilderland
Alice enjoys nature. She's part of the Wilderland camping trip and falls behind the group as she photographs a beautiful rare flower. Aaron comes to bring her back to the group. Alice and Aaron need to spend the night in the woods alone so they don't get more lost.

This is a sweet story. It's a young adult romance. Alice has had a crush on Aaron, and maybe Aaron has been eyeing her too? I enjoyed this one. It's clean and sweet as two older teens spend an evening together learning a bit more about each other. I enjoyed this story as nothing goes too far, they get to know each other and act as proper adults, not pushy on the other.

Rhiannon reads Alice as a young innocent girl that has insecurities at moments with Aaron, filling in the feelings with the words written.

The Aviary
Alice and her family have remained locked in their castle, away from the plague. Her father is determined to keep them safe until they join her mother again. Food is dwindling and her beloved birds are dying from the scarce scraps of meat they receive. Alice does have a friend she's never seen face to face. A young girl she talks to through the large shrubs while sitting in the hidden garden sanctuary. Diana wants to share the world with Alice.

This is a sweet short story. The world isn't as Alice is told and her eyes are opened to what is really going on and the world outside the walls of her fathers castle. I really enjoyed the twist with her father and how the story comes around to the ending.

The stern voice of her father comes through when Rhiannon speaks for him. We get the wondrous view of the world as Alice sees and lives it with Rhiannon's voice. It almost feels as it's a dream. Maybe it is, a dream come true.

Broken Tethers
Alice is looking to break the tethers to the world for a little while, to find peace and quiet from all. She works her way through the overgrown brush and yard to come to a dilapidated abandoned mansion. She takes pictures of the abandoned home and finds a way inside. Finding a children's book she loves, she falls through the weakened floor to the basement, and finds a door to a magical world.

Rhiannon gets a great voice workout in this short story. She shares her talent of different accents with different eras the men in the magical world are from.

I really enjoyed this story and how Alice came to the magical world. It's a modern way but very believable. It's well written to fit the character and her curious ways. Oh! I did love what Alice calls one man who has some really cheesy pick up lines. lol. I did laugh at it. Great creation!

This story is a bit of a safety lesson. When traveling on your own, have a way to contact the world if you happen to get hurt.

Undercover Alice
Alice is working to get the big story and photos of Maddy Hatter and her new hat line to impress Jason. Alice uncovers more than she ever imagined in Maddy Hatter's shop and big presentation of her newest hat, thinking it all was a crazy dream.

Rhiannon shares her British accent in this story as Alice along with the proper prissy persona for Maddy. The rabbits even have small voices too.

This is an interesting story with animal rights motive behind it. The rabbits. Oh my. Nice turn of events and adventure for Alice in this story. What she finds is nothing as what she was looking to learn when first sneaking into the event. She even thinks it's all a dream!

Follow the Steam Rabbit
Alice is relaxing, reading her text book under a tree when a steam powered rabbit comes by, looks at it's clock and announces it's late. Alice follows the point of the rabbit to a hole. A back entrance to her Uncle's work room. Falling down the hole, Alice finds herself in her Uncle's lab wanting what she's designed.

Rhiannon gets to share the sounds of an intellectual young woman full of determination and a kind Uncle who knows new creations can be used in ways never intended.

Alice is a very smart young lady and has big plans for her future. She's determined to solve mankind's problems instead of create for fun, like her Uncle seems to do. This was a nice little story with the thought of all things made for good could be used for the opposite as well.

I do enjoy the idea's of steampunk and this story uses those to the fullest.