Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor

Wonderland under attack.

Alyss of Wonderland's rule has only just begun, and already those who prefer chaos to peace are threatening to destroy everything worth imagining. With her life now a mix of duty, love, and tough decisions, Alyss is doing her best to keep peace with the nonstop demands. And then a series of phantom sightings set fire to an urban myth. The people think Her Imperial Viciousness has returned. And everyone is seeing Redd.
But has Redd somehow freed herself and her chief assassin, The Cat, from the confines of the Heart Crystal? If not, then who has resurrected Redd's brutal foot soldiers, the Glass Eyes, and set them loose to attack Wonderland on all sides? Can Alyss unite her country and her people to defend White Imagination, or will Wonderland be lost?
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The Looking Glass Wars was a good book, and I couldn't wait to get to Seeing Redd. I usually don't like sequels as much as their predecessors,  but I liked this sequel better. The main problem was that they treated death too lightly. It seemed like every few pages, someone was dying, and it bothered me that the violence was so carelessly thrown about. I know there's a war going on, but it got to the point where I felt like I was reading a horror movie script. But anyways, Alyss, though I didn't like her as much in the last book, definitely came more alive for me in this one. Dodge, though he remained alusive, was more humanized also. This book didn't focus on the characters so much as the sinister plots Redd and King Arch were planning. There was plenty of suspence, and while I didn't exactly bite my nails while reading it, it went surprisingly fast consiering it was moderately long. I'm a bit impatient for something to happen to advance thw story though, because honestly, all the events in SR could've happened in the first one hundred pages of it, with more plot-advancing events taking place later. We got from point A to B, but it took a little too long.
3.5 stars (maybe that's a bit harsh, but it doesn't deserve a 4) and a recommendation to Alice in Wonderland fans and fans of The Looking Glass Wars.