A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney

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A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney




Alice Kingston has been a Dreamwalker for a year now. Ever since the night her dad died and she left the hospital to find Addison Hatta killing a Nightmare. She shouldn’t have been able to see him, not with the Invisibility Verse he had cast earlier. Now she fights Nightmares in Wonderland and protects the Western Gateway. You know regular teenage girl stuff. But now she thinks one of her best friends, Chess, is dead after the largest Nightmare she’s ever faced attacker her at the high school. Her mom knows something is wrong but Alice thinks telling her the truth could endanger her life. And the Black Knight is still out there, searching for her, Hatta, the princess and the Eye.

I remember being intrigued by the first book in this series, the fresh take on Wonderland with a kick ass Black Alice who was a superhero in her own right, but I didn’t fall in love with the story. This book however is everything I wanted from the first book and more. One of the things I loved that this book, was one I felt was really lacking in the first book, the relationship between Alice and her mother Tina. It felt undeveloped to me in the first book. Alice’s mother was always a concern but she was definitely more in the background of the story. McKinney delivered in A Dream so Dark, from the very first line, creating a mother-daughter dynamic that lasted throughout the book and really developed. Not to mention the fact that her mother is absolutely hilarious and strict but caring and concerned. She felt like a Black mother who has had enough of her daughter’s shenanigans. I’ve met this mom. I love this mom and she came to life for me in this sequel. Another thing that I really enjoyed in this book was the expansion of Wonderland. McKinney really broadened her world and the background of her characters. She introduced different creatures and lands, emphasizing that there is much more to this world than even Alice is aware of. This book also has more action and does a great job building on the plot that was developing in the first book.

There is one point that I feel like I have to address because I know others will: the use of AAVE throughout this novel. If you have a problem with it, that is your problem to have. I applaud the fact that McKinney went there throughout this entire novel. It feels unforced coming out of Alice’s mouth in every day conversation. It isn’t used as a cliché. It is as much a part of Alice as it is many Black people in the real world and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it on the page imitating life in a realistic way. It grounded Alice in a reality known to many. And if a Black girl can kill Nightmares in Wonderland, while another girl speaks in riddles and Verses act as spells, then Alice can damn well speak AAVE and it make sense.

I enjoyed this book. I began reading it and was immediately sucked back into the story and excited. A Dream So Dark was fun and exciting to read. I ended up finishing it in two days and now I’m just ready for the next book. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Edelweiss for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.




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