Review: The Collectors' Society by Heather Lyons

Genre: NA, romance, fantasy, retelling
Series: The Collectors’ Society #1

After years in Wonderland, Alice has returned to England as an adult, desperate to reclaim sanity and control over her life. An enigmatic gentleman with an intriguing job offer too tempting to resist changes her plans for a calm existence, though. Soon, she’s whisked to New York and initiated into the Collectors’ Society, a secret organization whose members confirm that famous stories are anything but straightforward and that what she knows about the world is only a fraction of the truth.

It’s there she discovers villains are afoot—ones who want to shelve the lives of countless beings. Assigned to work with the mysterious and alluring Finn, Alice and the rest of the Collectors’ Society race against a doomsday clock in order to prevent further destruction . . . but will they make it before all their endings are erased?

My review: ★★★★+0.5

‘‘The book isn’t how Wonderland really is. The people there, the animals, the sights…None are silly and cartoonish, Finn. Wonderland has its mysteries and beauty, but there’s a lot of darkness there, too.’’

First of all, I want to thank Yvonne (from A World Between Folded Pages, also known as my best friend) for recommending me this book! I have a challenge with Yvonne where we recommend 10 books to each other. We basically challenged ourselves to read the list of books we got before the end of the year. The Collectors’ Society is the first book I read of this list and I AM SO GLAD I DID!!!

I have to admit, at first I was a bit suspicious about this book because I’ve never read a retelling before. But now that I devoured this book, I want more!

“Knowledge is always one of the fiercest of advantages a lady can have.”

Alice is so badass and certainly not the little girl I remembered from the children story. She’s independent and determinate. She fights as a pro and is ready for every challenge that comes into her path. She’s truly amazing. Heather made me connect with her immediately.

“AF. Alice/Finn. Goddamn my knees for being useless body parts. Why is it always my knees to go first? Don’t they know a lady needs to stand?”

But when Alice meets Finn Van Brunt, well… we both are completely awestruck of this beautiful human being. I immediately fell in love with Finn (my book boyfriend list is seriously starting to be VERY big), I mean how couldn’t I? He’s so handsome, kind, smart… He’s perfect for Alice and the way they connected to each other is so beautiful. Gosh. I just love him. Hell, I even caught myself daydreaming about him a few times!! The little romantic moments are so effortless and I just love it! I SHIP THEM SO MUCH!

“In pages, we find words. In words, we find life.”

Aaah, I don’t even know how to express my feelings about this book. It’s BRILLIANT! Heather based her story on Alice in Wonderland, but she created something even better with it. The secret community, Wonderland, the (AMAZING!!) characters, …. Heather developed everything in details. I had absolutely no problems imagining the sceneries and the characters. A few times I caught myself being stunned about the fact that everything seemed so … logic and real. I did not have the feeling I was reading a retelling or a fantasy book (except when we were in Wonderland of course). The storyline is full of emotions and action. I'm extremely impressed about Heather's writing!

“Your happiness is my happiness, even if it means your heart is held in another’s hands.”

I’m not going into the plot of this book, because I don’t want to spoil anything and I think you should definitely start this book without knowing too much about the plot. So please, please, please, GO READ THIS BOOK! You will end up fangirling like me, I’m 100% sure of that! I'm really surprised about the fact that not a lot of people have read this book. The Collectors' Society deserves soooo much more attention!

“The most truthful answers are found through observation. Words allow lies.”

PS 1: In case you were wondering why I gave this book 4.5 instead of 5 stars: I don’t even know myself. 4 is too less, but I want to save my full 5 stars for one of the next books in the series. Does this make sense? Probably not… whatever haha :D

PS 2: Here’s one of the most accurate quotes EVER:

“There are multiple ways to label people, as you may well know. In the literate world, we can simplify this in that there are readers and non-readers. Within the readers category, we can further label people by how passionate they are with the books they choose. Some people escape into the stories they read. Some read for purpose or information. Some read out of resentment or necessity. But let us, in this moment, focus on those who find books to be an escape or an extension of their imagination. These readers see, within their mind’s eye, the characters and settings in the pages below their fingers. They feel the emotions woven between the words. They live through every heartache, every embrace, every terror. Books, to these people, become tangible, living things. The characters they read become genuine souls.” A half smile curves his lips. “People like this are often accused of living within their fantasies. They’re said to have their noses stuck in books. But the reality is that some of these people actually do escape into books.”