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Take Your Medicine
Alice “Al” Liddell is from Echola, Alabama. She leads the life of a normal teen until the day she’s diagnosed with vasovagal syncope – a fainting disorder which causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly.
Her mother, the “Queen of Hearts,” is the best cardiothoracic surgeon this side of the Mason-Dixon Line and a bit of a local hero. Yet, even with all her skill she is unable to cure her daughter of her ailment, leading Al into the world of backwater witchcraft.
Along the way she meets a wacky cast of characters and learns to accept her new normal.
Take Your Medicine is a southern gothic retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Her mother, the “Queen of Hearts,” is the best cardiothoracic surgeon this side of the Mason-Dixon Line and a bit of a local hero. Yet, even with all her skill she is unable to cure her daughter of her ailment, leading Al into the world of backwater witchcraft.
Along the way she meets a wacky cast of characters and learns to accept her new normal.
Take Your Medicine is a southern gothic retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
95 pages, ebook
First published March 5, 2018
1 person is currently reading
228 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Carmack
6 books11 followers📕queer author & 💊ibd warrior who's still finding her guts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
February 25, 2018
I have literally nothing to say about this book. there is no character arc and no real plot and no real resolution and no real romance. this novella had no arc, no... anything?
I don’t even think I can write a full review. this was just... not even a novella. maybe a decent short story but not a novella by any means.
✨me, trying to read novellas as fast as possible so I don’t feel like I totally failed at reading over break? it’s more likely than you think [buddyread with if I dislike this the review will shoot to the top of the page and I feel bad]
I don’t even think I can write a full review. this was just... not even a novella. maybe a decent short story but not a novella by any means.
✨me, trying to read novellas as fast as possible so I don’t feel like I totally failed at reading over break? it’s more likely than you think [buddyread with if I dislike this the review will shoot to the top of the page and I feel bad]
April 16, 2018
3 “I wish this was a whole book” Stars
Disclaimer: Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Words I will use to describe this book: Weird, Bizarre, Magical, Cute, Confusing.
I think a good metaphor to explain how this book felt for me is “Like a sting from a small fairy dust shot in my butt”.
I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would because I started reading with low expectations. You need to know this is not a full develop book of 345 pages, is a very short novella. Thus, you get dived into the world without much world building or information, so you will have to swim through it until you kind of get what's happening. You don’t get much background story of the characters or the reason of why are they like that. I will compare this to savoring a small melting piece of chocolate. It finishes and you still wish there was more. Yes yes, I had to involve chocolate whatever.
Things I enjoyed:
Magical realism: I am really not into this genre, and I usually end up disliking most of those books, but this was different. I could relate to the main character and the magical touch appeared to me as cute and funny.
Lgbt representation: It was light and sweet and just the small dose of gayness I was needing in this short story. F/F romance and I cannot tell you the label this character identified with because is never explicitly acknowledged. Also, I mean cute witch + cute sick girl, sign me on it.
Family representation: I loved how the mom was a very present character throughout, she was a caring, loving mother, that freaked out when she needed to. I loved how the character was afraid of not following her others, not because of fear of violence or treatment but rather because she just didn’t want to disappoint her.
Characters: They were interesting, I wanted to know more. What threw me a bit was the whole rabbit name, I mean it was kind of too forced and it just made me wonder how people would react if I said I go by the name Giraffe.
Illness: I loved this aspect, it was wonderful. The illness was bizarre but I could seriously relate. The impact on the life of this character and mother was real and I just wanted more.
Things I didn’t enjoy:
Plot: I need to agree there wasn’t much plot or purpose of the story. I would like to say this is more of a character-driven story, but is not, because you don’t get much depth. I feel this was just a small story the author just wanted to share. And this exactly why I feel it would have been wonderful if the author had kept it for herself a bit longer and develop it into a magical wonderful story, I would read it. There was potential but it wasn’t exploited.
Length: Again, it was too short. Like hell, I was thrown to this Alice Wonderlic land without any clue and I had to figure stuff out for the first 30% of the book. I was lost and confused and everything was so bizarre, this could certainly throw someone away to continue, but for me, it just sparked my curiosity. The thing is when I was finally invested in the story and the characters, boom it was the end.
Writing: It’s a bit too childish for a 17-year-old narrator in my opinion, and I just couldn’t understand or get used to the southern accent, ups. Also, I may have encountered some spelling mistakes.
“Doctor tells you not define your life in terms of your illness, but it’s hard. There's before you got sick and there’s after. Things just seemed a lot easier before, that’s all.”
Anyway if you are into weird, bizarre, a bit gay short story. This is for you my friends.
“Some girls dance. Some girls ski. Some girls faint.”
Disclaimer: Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Words I will use to describe this book: Weird, Bizarre, Magical, Cute, Confusing.
I think a good metaphor to explain how this book felt for me is “Like a sting from a small fairy dust shot in my butt”.
I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would because I started reading with low expectations. You need to know this is not a full develop book of 345 pages, is a very short novella. Thus, you get dived into the world without much world building or information, so you will have to swim through it until you kind of get what's happening. You don’t get much background story of the characters or the reason of why are they like that. I will compare this to savoring a small melting piece of chocolate. It finishes and you still wish there was more.
Things I enjoyed:
Magical realism: I am really not into this genre, and I usually end up disliking most of those books, but this was different. I could relate to the main character and the magical touch appeared to me as cute and funny.
Lgbt representation: It was light and sweet and just the small dose of gayness I was needing in this short story. F/F romance and I cannot tell you the label this character identified with because is never explicitly acknowledged. Also, I mean cute witch + cute sick girl, sign me on it.
Family representation: I loved how the mom was a very present character throughout, she was a caring, loving mother, that freaked out when she needed to. I loved how the character was afraid of not following her others, not because of fear of violence or treatment but rather because she just didn’t want to disappoint her.
Characters: They were interesting, I wanted to know more. What threw me a bit was the whole rabbit name, I mean it was kind of too forced and it just made me wonder how people would react if I said I go by the name Giraffe.
Illness: I loved this aspect, it was wonderful. The illness was bizarre but I could seriously relate. The impact on the life of this character and mother was real and I just wanted more.
Things I didn’t enjoy:
Plot: I need to agree there wasn’t much plot or purpose of the story. I would like to say this is more of a character-driven story, but is not, because you don’t get much depth. I feel this was just a small story the author just wanted to share. And this exactly why I feel it would have been wonderful if the author had kept it for herself a bit longer and develop it into a magical wonderful story, I would read it. There was potential but it wasn’t exploited.
Length: Again, it was too short. Like hell, I was thrown to this Alice Wonderlic land without any clue and I had to figure stuff out for the first 30% of the book. I was lost and confused and everything was so bizarre, this could certainly throw someone away to continue, but for me, it just sparked my curiosity. The thing is when I was finally invested in the story and the characters, boom it was the end.
Writing: It’s a bit too childish for a 17-year-old narrator in my opinion, and I just couldn’t understand or get used to the southern accent, ups. Also, I may have encountered some spelling mistakes.
“Doctor tells you not define your life in terms of your illness, but it’s hard. There's before you got sick and there’s after. Things just seemed a lot easier before, that’s all.”
Anyway if you are into weird, bizarre, a bit gay short story. This is for you my friends.
February 20, 2018
3.25 Stars. This is a YA novella that is a modern retelling of Alice in Wonderland. The story is well written and sweet, but it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. I think if I was 16 years-old, I would have loved this. I would actually recommend this novella for people wanting sweet F/F stories that a young person could read. This is the type of book I wished would have been in my high school library back in the day.
When I read the blurb about this being Alice, with witches, I was looking for a real magical adventure. But that’s not what this book is. It’s actually realistic holistic medicine as compared to magic. It doesn’t make the book bad in anyway, it was actually interesting, I was just looking for something different.
On the good side, the book is well written. The setting of the south was fantastic. It’s so well described that you feel like you are actually there.
I’m not sure I would call this a romance, but the main character Al does have feelings for another character. It is very much at the beginning stages, but still sweet. I liked how Al’s sexuality was not a big deal. She had never had feelings for a girl before. She was asked if that was a problem that she does now, she said nope, and that was it. No long coming out process, it just was what it was. There was a refreshing youthful innocence about the whole thing.
The biggest issue really for me was the length. I knew this was a novella, but it felt like the story just abruptly ended. I was at the 80% mark in my Kindle, so I was extra caught off guard. I guess most things were resolved, but the ending just didn’t sit right.
While this was a well written story, it was not to my personal tastes as much as I hoped. I believe people will find this to be a very sweet story. As I mentioned above, if you are looking for a light lesfic story that a younger audience could read, this would be a good choice.
P.S. I just have to point out that the cover is beautiful. NineStar Press has been putting out some really good covers lately.
An ARC was given to me by NineStar Press, for a honest review.
When I read the blurb about this being Alice, with witches, I was looking for a real magical adventure. But that’s not what this book is. It’s actually realistic holistic medicine as compared to magic. It doesn’t make the book bad in anyway, it was actually interesting, I was just looking for something different.
On the good side, the book is well written. The setting of the south was fantastic. It’s so well described that you feel like you are actually there.
I’m not sure I would call this a romance, but the main character Al does have feelings for another character. It is very much at the beginning stages, but still sweet. I liked how Al’s sexuality was not a big deal. She had never had feelings for a girl before. She was asked if that was a problem that she does now, she said nope, and that was it. No long coming out process, it just was what it was. There was a refreshing youthful innocence about the whole thing.
The biggest issue really for me was the length. I knew this was a novella, but it felt like the story just abruptly ended. I was at the 80% mark in my Kindle, so I was extra caught off guard. I guess most things were resolved, but the ending just didn’t sit right.
While this was a well written story, it was not to my personal tastes as much as I hoped. I believe people will find this to be a very sweet story. As I mentioned above, if you are looking for a light lesfic story that a younger audience could read, this would be a good choice.
P.S. I just have to point out that the cover is beautiful. NineStar Press has been putting out some really good covers lately.
An ARC was given to me by NineStar Press, for a honest review.
March 8, 2018
Actual Rating: 3.25
I really did enjoy this book in the end and I do think it's worth a read! However I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would either.
It's said to be a gothic retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (which I have read, and enjoyed, though it's been awhile) and...I didn't see any of that. I'm not sure where the Gothic part comes in honestly, the Alice in Wonderland part felt forced with it just being (that I saw) the characters names. There's the MC Alice and she makes friends with Rabbit and Kat...and they have some friends named Mads and March.
However I did see some reviews before hand mentioning that so I didn't go in really expecting anything from that, just hoping for a short story with a queer disabled character. It definitely has a contemporary feel to me, which isn't a bad thing, I like diverse contemporary and it definitely is that.
Alice has vasovagal syncope – a fainting disorder which causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly, which the synopsis states. I have other rare disorders that when I tell them, including doctors, that I have they look at me like I have 3 heads, so when my initial reaction was that I hadn't heard of this, I googled. It seemed odd...fainting from emotions? It's real! I've heard others saying it's bizarre....real people suffer from it. I can't imagine what it must be like to not be able to experience emotions, a huge part of life, without fainting.
"Anger, sadness, surprise, happiness, I wasn't supposed to feel any of it too strongly. What's the point of living if you can't live how you feel?"
Just take that in and think about that for a minute, it's heart-breaking.
Even though I have different medical issues I did relate to her in a lot of ways regarding being disabled. Alice is in the orchard, sees a girl who she hasn't seen before and a bird attacks her hair. The surprise makes her faint. When she wakes up there is the girl and her friend, Rabbit and Kat. After explaining why she fainted and her VVS (for short) Kat says "So suprise gets ya then?" and Alice suspected her next move, despite Kat's innocent tone..
""Yes." I gulped, and Kat did exactly as expected. Before I could even back up, she jumped around and sprang herself over to me. Luckily, I was used to this reaction. I don't know why kids think it's so funny to try to scare me after i've just explicitly stated Hey, surprises makes me faint. Don't try and surprise me."
Also no one really knows what causes VVS and she mentions how everyone always wants to give their 2 cents, whether it's to recommend the best doctor or just tell her to buck up. So many people do that to all kinds of disability and chronic illness. "Have you tried eating this? This exercise? Oh just think positively! Yoga?" as if anyone with a chronic illness hasn't tried all they can to feel better and researched stuff themselves. The person who knows an illness best...is the one with it! Even if 2 people have the same thing, they still have different bodies, what works for one person or helps one person may not help another. The person with the body knows their body best.
Rabbit and Kat are witches, they try natural healing. Alice's Ma, upon hearing that, gets nasty about them. Saying they want to poison her with snake oil, that they are panhandlers, and how they aren't real and just treats them like they are dirt. Being pagan myself I was so angry reading through this story, because hatred towards paganism and witches is all too real, and those attitudes are something i've dealt with and was raised by. Reading through all that I could feel the rating dropping down fast, especially when I saw the words "Ma was right" after it all.
I wasn't asking them to be able to fix her, Holistic healing all that, magic, whatever you wanna call it, is not a cure all. It's not a magical fix anything. Natural healing might help some things, but a magic fix-it-all? Yeah, that doesn't exist. A lot of stuff pagans have been saying all along? Science has now figured out. Science and paganism can go quite well together and the world is finally figuring that out. But those hateful attitudes towards Pagans still prevail and it just felt, through most of the story, that that's what it was trying to say. That they were evil. Alice went to them for help, despite not wanting to disappoint her mother (and I relate to that feeling all too well as well!), desperate for help (again, relating here!).
I didn't want them to be able to cure her, and she isn't cured by the end of the book and that's great. I just didn't want the witches painted as evil when they just appeared to be trying to help, to care. They were nice people, not your evil wicked witch, just regular people trying to see if they could help someone. Thankfully the ending turns it around! Maybe it's not perfect, but I sighed with relief at the ending. Obviously I don't want to spoil it but I will say I was glad in the end.
And no, I don't hate her Ma. I never did, I was frustrated with her. Frustrated, angry, sure. But I know she had the best of intentions and was so worried and scared because she didn't understand and just wanted to protect her daughter. I don't hate her for that. I hate the prevailing misunderstandings and hate that has been so Christian fueled in history towards Pagans. And please don't put words in my mouth. I'm talking about history and general things, not every Christian.
My only other thing I could say is the f/f romance, while it did make me make a *squee!* face, did feel rushed (it is a short story..). I definitely think this story has so much more potential if all of it had been a bit more fleshed out into a fully sized novel. Wishing it was longer though isn't a bad thing! If it was bad I wouldn't want to read more of it!
Oh and also, there was an unexpected treat of Rabbit has some anxiety that I also really related to!
So all in all I related to so many things with Alice and I loved her. She is a stubborn, sweet, black, queer, chronically ill mc that I really did love reading about. My only wish really is that the story had more time to explore it's potential. I do think it's worth a read and I will happily look to reading more from Hannah Carmack.
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I really did enjoy this book in the end and I do think it's worth a read! However I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would either.
It's said to be a gothic retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (which I have read, and enjoyed, though it's been awhile) and...I didn't see any of that. I'm not sure where the Gothic part comes in honestly, the Alice in Wonderland part felt forced with it just being (that I saw) the characters names. There's the MC Alice and she makes friends with Rabbit and Kat...and they have some friends named Mads and March.
However I did see some reviews before hand mentioning that so I didn't go in really expecting anything from that, just hoping for a short story with a queer disabled character. It definitely has a contemporary feel to me, which isn't a bad thing, I like diverse contemporary and it definitely is that.
Alice has vasovagal syncope – a fainting disorder which causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly, which the synopsis states. I have other rare disorders that when I tell them, including doctors, that I have they look at me like I have 3 heads, so when my initial reaction was that I hadn't heard of this, I googled. It seemed odd...fainting from emotions? It's real! I've heard others saying it's bizarre....real people suffer from it. I can't imagine what it must be like to not be able to experience emotions, a huge part of life, without fainting.
"Anger, sadness, surprise, happiness, I wasn't supposed to feel any of it too strongly. What's the point of living if you can't live how you feel?"
Just take that in and think about that for a minute, it's heart-breaking.
Even though I have different medical issues I did relate to her in a lot of ways regarding being disabled. Alice is in the orchard, sees a girl who she hasn't seen before and a bird attacks her hair. The surprise makes her faint. When she wakes up there is the girl and her friend, Rabbit and Kat. After explaining why she fainted and her VVS (for short) Kat says "So suprise gets ya then?" and Alice suspected her next move, despite Kat's innocent tone..
""Yes." I gulped, and Kat did exactly as expected. Before I could even back up, she jumped around and sprang herself over to me. Luckily, I was used to this reaction. I don't know why kids think it's so funny to try to scare me after i've just explicitly stated Hey, surprises makes me faint. Don't try and surprise me."
Also no one really knows what causes VVS and she mentions how everyone always wants to give their 2 cents, whether it's to recommend the best doctor or just tell her to buck up. So many people do that to all kinds of disability and chronic illness. "Have you tried eating this? This exercise? Oh just think positively! Yoga?" as if anyone with a chronic illness hasn't tried all they can to feel better and researched stuff themselves. The person who knows an illness best...is the one with it! Even if 2 people have the same thing, they still have different bodies, what works for one person or helps one person may not help another. The person with the body knows their body best.
Rabbit and Kat are witches, they try natural healing. Alice's Ma, upon hearing that, gets nasty about them. Saying they want to poison her with snake oil, that they are panhandlers, and how they aren't real and just treats them like they are dirt. Being pagan myself I was so angry reading through this story, because hatred towards paganism and witches is all too real, and those attitudes are something i've dealt with and was raised by. Reading through all that I could feel the rating dropping down fast, especially when I saw the words "Ma was right" after it all.
I wasn't asking them to be able to fix her, Holistic healing all that, magic, whatever you wanna call it, is not a cure all. It's not a magical fix anything. Natural healing might help some things, but a magic fix-it-all? Yeah, that doesn't exist. A lot of stuff pagans have been saying all along? Science has now figured out. Science and paganism can go quite well together and the world is finally figuring that out. But those hateful attitudes towards Pagans still prevail and it just felt, through most of the story, that that's what it was trying to say. That they were evil. Alice went to them for help, despite not wanting to disappoint her mother (and I relate to that feeling all too well as well!), desperate for help (again, relating here!).
I didn't want them to be able to cure her, and she isn't cured by the end of the book and that's great. I just didn't want the witches painted as evil when they just appeared to be trying to help, to care. They were nice people, not your evil wicked witch, just regular people trying to see if they could help someone. Thankfully the ending turns it around! Maybe it's not perfect, but I sighed with relief at the ending. Obviously I don't want to spoil it but I will say I was glad in the end.
And no, I don't hate her Ma. I never did, I was frustrated with her. Frustrated, angry, sure. But I know she had the best of intentions and was so worried and scared because she didn't understand and just wanted to protect her daughter. I don't hate her for that. I hate the prevailing misunderstandings and hate that has been so Christian fueled in history towards Pagans. And please don't put words in my mouth. I'm talking about history and general things, not every Christian.
My only other thing I could say is the f/f romance, while it did make me make a *squee!* face, did feel rushed (it is a short story..). I definitely think this story has so much more potential if all of it had been a bit more fleshed out into a fully sized novel. Wishing it was longer though isn't a bad thing! If it was bad I wouldn't want to read more of it!
Oh and also, there was an unexpected treat of Rabbit has some anxiety that I also really related to!
So all in all I related to so many things with Alice and I loved her. She is a stubborn, sweet, black, queer, chronically ill mc that I really did love reading about. My only wish really is that the story had more time to explore it's potential. I do think it's worth a read and I will happily look to reading more from Hannah Carmack.
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April 16, 2018
This novella is a contemporary reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, featuring a queer, disabled black girl as the main character! Set in the Southern United States, it follows Al’s story as she makes a new friend and struggles to become more independent from her overbearing mother—a cardiac surgeon known locally as “The Queen of Hearts”.
Al lives with vasovagal syndrome, a condition that causes her to faint unexpectedly when she’s startled, tired, or stressed. I was a little confused by the blurb because I thought this novella was going to have a bit of a paranormal element, but the “magic” involved is actually closer to holistic medicine. In the end, though, this isn’t a story about about Al being cured. It’s about her relationship with her mom, her personal independence, and a friendship that blossoms into a very sweet sapphic romance. I also really enjoyed the v atmospheric rural setting!
The age of the characters felt a little off—I enjoyed the writing, but the way Al’s voice was written felt closer to 14 than 17. On the whole, the novella feels slightly more geared towards the younger end of YA. I also wished it had been a bit longer. There were a handful of side characters who seemed interesting but didn’t get a ton of development, and it felt like they were only there to fulfill the Alice in Wonderland aspect of the it? I loved the creative interpretation, I just wanted to get to know them better!!
Overall, while I would have liked more side character development, this was still a sweet, well-written novella with disability rep and an f/f romance!
Many thanks to the author for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Al lives with vasovagal syndrome, a condition that causes her to faint unexpectedly when she’s startled, tired, or stressed. I was a little confused by the blurb because I thought this novella was going to have a bit of a paranormal element, but the “magic” involved is actually closer to holistic medicine. In the end, though, this isn’t a story about about Al being cured. It’s about her relationship with her mom, her personal independence, and a friendship that blossoms into a very sweet sapphic romance. I also really enjoyed the v atmospheric rural setting!
The age of the characters felt a little off—I enjoyed the writing, but the way Al’s voice was written felt closer to 14 than 17. On the whole, the novella feels slightly more geared towards the younger end of YA. I also wished it had been a bit longer. There were a handful of side characters who seemed interesting but didn’t get a ton of development, and it felt like they were only there to fulfill the Alice in Wonderland aspect of the it? I loved the creative interpretation, I just wanted to get to know them better!!
Overall, while I would have liked more side character development, this was still a sweet, well-written novella with disability rep and an f/f romance!
Many thanks to the author for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
February 17, 2018
I want to thank Hannah herself for providing me with a copy of Take Your Medicine. It was an amazing story and honest to God, not long enough. Girl, I need more.
I feel like an idiot because it specifically says this was a Southern Gothic retelling of Alice in Wonderland. It took me til about 57% through the book to get the name references as far as Rabbit, Kat, Mads, March, and the twins (their names are evading my memory at the moment.) I felt dumb. The references are there though and I adore this retelling.
Al's relationship with her friend *wink wink not giving away names because that'd spoil it* is adorable. I love the fact that Carmack incorporated her in as never having felt that way about a girl before. The way Carmack describes Al's realization, so to speak, that she likes girls, it is almost like we are discovering this new part of her with her.
I love how the main character is struggling with vasovagal syncope, which is a disorder I personally had never heard of. Vasovagal syncope is a fainting disorder that happens whenever someone feels emotions too strongly, or stressful triggers. It helps draw awareness and shows the everyday life of someone who is diagnosed. Unfortunately there is really no known way to treat VVS. The main treatment is avoidance of triggers. Which is all explained wonderfully in the book.
I really loved the descriptive factors in this novella. It made you feel like you were there in the trailer with Rabbit, Kat, and Al. One of my favorite lines in the beginning that really stood out to me was Al's description of Rabbit's hair. She is described as having "...hair as read as a marigold." HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT.
Everyone needs to read Take Your Medicine. You will absolutely love it. If you are reading this right now ADD THIS BOOK TO YOUR WANT TO READ SHELF. Do it. You will not regret it.
I feel like an idiot because it specifically says this was a Southern Gothic retelling of Alice in Wonderland. It took me til about 57% through the book to get the name references as far as Rabbit, Kat, Mads, March, and the twins (their names are evading my memory at the moment.) I felt dumb. The references are there though and I adore this retelling.
Al's relationship with her friend *wink wink not giving away names because that'd spoil it* is adorable. I love the fact that Carmack incorporated her in as never having felt that way about a girl before. The way Carmack describes Al's realization, so to speak, that she likes girls, it is almost like we are discovering this new part of her with her.
I love how the main character is struggling with vasovagal syncope, which is a disorder I personally had never heard of. Vasovagal syncope is a fainting disorder that happens whenever someone feels emotions too strongly, or stressful triggers. It helps draw awareness and shows the everyday life of someone who is diagnosed. Unfortunately there is really no known way to treat VVS. The main treatment is avoidance of triggers. Which is all explained wonderfully in the book.
I really loved the descriptive factors in this novella. It made you feel like you were there in the trailer with Rabbit, Kat, and Al. One of my favorite lines in the beginning that really stood out to me was Al's description of Rabbit's hair. She is described as having "...hair as read as a marigold." HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT.
Everyone needs to read Take Your Medicine. You will absolutely love it. If you are reading this right now ADD THIS BOOK TO YOUR WANT TO READ SHELF. Do it. You will not regret it.
November 3, 2020
Peculiar novella. It just didn't seem to go anywhere. We never got any real insight into the characters or their backstories.
I did enjoy the characters for what they were and the small storyline we got - but it definitely didn't go deep enough to satisfy in any way. I just wanted more.
I did enjoy the characters for what they were and the small storyline we got - but it definitely didn't go deep enough to satisfy in any way. I just wanted more.
March 7, 2018
I requested this book on NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book and to be honest I have nothing bad to say about it. It was a light, quick read, not thought provoking but that would definitely make your day.
One aspect that I enjoyed about this book was the mother-daughter relationship. The bond between Al and Laura is so strong and beautiful and it will melt your heart for sure. You can just see how much they care and respect each other and even though sometimes they do not disagree on some things they do not let that come between them. I liked Al a lot because she is so real and she doesn't let her condition dictate her life.
The writing style was great, respecting the southern accent and the southern way of talking. It was easy to follow it and I didn't have any problem regarding not understanding words or phrases.
The romance in this book was slow burn and it started as a friendship, Rabbit wanting to help Al with her condition. It is a girl-girl relationship and it felt very real, no elements of magic in it or forced love.
All of this being said, I really recommend this book if you are looking for a light contemporary that includes a beautiful relationship between a mother and her daughter and a cute lesbian story.
Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book and to be honest I have nothing bad to say about it. It was a light, quick read, not thought provoking but that would definitely make your day.
One aspect that I enjoyed about this book was the mother-daughter relationship. The bond between Al and Laura is so strong and beautiful and it will melt your heart for sure. You can just see how much they care and respect each other and even though sometimes they do not disagree on some things they do not let that come between them. I liked Al a lot because she is so real and she doesn't let her condition dictate her life.
The writing style was great, respecting the southern accent and the southern way of talking. It was easy to follow it and I didn't have any problem regarding not understanding words or phrases.
The romance in this book was slow burn and it started as a friendship, Rabbit wanting to help Al with her condition. It is a girl-girl relationship and it felt very real, no elements of magic in it or forced love.
All of this being said, I really recommend this book if you are looking for a light contemporary that includes a beautiful relationship between a mother and her daughter and a cute lesbian story.
March 12, 2018
This book was provided for free by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design as well as through NetGalley (accidentally requested through both) in exchange for an honest review.
This review was first posted to Love Bytes: LGBTQ Book Reviews. It has been slightly edited here for content.
This story isn’t what I expected it to be upon starting it, but it was still a decent story. It’s a very loose retelling of Alice In Wonderland in an American South setting that has Alice (“Al” in this case) going down the “rabbit hole” of holistic healing for her vasovagal syncope, a chronic illness that seems to defy all attempts at a cure. Since I have a close friend with this uncommon condition, I was excited to read a book about a girl with VSS.
Al’s quirky relationship with Rabbit, a witch who uses natural remedies and spells to cure small ailments, is very sweet and feels like it progresses naturally. We definitely get that young love, “butterflies in the tummy” feeling as Al falls for a girl for the first time. Since this is such a short story, we don’t get too in-depth with their feelings for one another, but they still have a nice little romance.
I had some issues with certain parallels drawn to original Alice In Wonderland characters. They made some logical stretches that didn’t make sense. I was mostly baffled by the inclusion of Al’s mother, a renowned heart surgeon, as the “Queen of Hearts” counterpart. We all know the Queen of Hearts is the villain of the original Alice In Wonderland, but painting Al’s mother as a villain for being wary of untested holistic treatments wouldn’t be very fair. We get a very brief POV section with her, but it doesn’t establish her as a hero, villain, or anything else. And some of the minor friend characters bear a little resemblance to their classic counterparts (Tiff and Tosh to Tweedledee and Tweedledum, for example), but in name only. Even Kat (the Cheshire cat) and Rabbit (the White Rabbit) don’t go beyond surface level comparisons.
Honestly, this story didn’t even need to be retelling. I would’ve been perfectly content with a story about Al meeting two girls who want to use their witchcraft to heal her without all of the Alice In Wonderland connections. It distracted from a very original type of story.
Even if the elements themselves didn’t really work for me, it’s nice to see a retelling of a popular classic with black folks as the main characters. Alice is commonly known as a blonde, white little girl, but Al in this story is black (born to a wealthy Southern parent), sapphic, and chronically ill. She’s an original character based off someone we all know and love, and that’s harder to do than people realize. Some of the black Southern dialect is a little clunky at times, but it’s not too bad.
If you’re looking for a quick, cute WLW read in a lush Southern setting, this story is a decent choice for a lazy afternoon. This is my second book by Hannah Carmack, and I must say, I much prefer this one to her first effort.
This review was first posted to Love Bytes: LGBTQ Book Reviews. It has been slightly edited here for content.
This story isn’t what I expected it to be upon starting it, but it was still a decent story. It’s a very loose retelling of Alice In Wonderland in an American South setting that has Alice (“Al” in this case) going down the “rabbit hole” of holistic healing for her vasovagal syncope, a chronic illness that seems to defy all attempts at a cure. Since I have a close friend with this uncommon condition, I was excited to read a book about a girl with VSS.
Al’s quirky relationship with Rabbit, a witch who uses natural remedies and spells to cure small ailments, is very sweet and feels like it progresses naturally. We definitely get that young love, “butterflies in the tummy” feeling as Al falls for a girl for the first time. Since this is such a short story, we don’t get too in-depth with their feelings for one another, but they still have a nice little romance.
I had some issues with certain parallels drawn to original Alice In Wonderland characters. They made some logical stretches that didn’t make sense. I was mostly baffled by the inclusion of Al’s mother, a renowned heart surgeon, as the “Queen of Hearts” counterpart. We all know the Queen of Hearts is the villain of the original Alice In Wonderland, but painting Al’s mother as a villain for being wary of untested holistic treatments wouldn’t be very fair. We get a very brief POV section with her, but it doesn’t establish her as a hero, villain, or anything else. And some of the minor friend characters bear a little resemblance to their classic counterparts (Tiff and Tosh to Tweedledee and Tweedledum, for example), but in name only. Even Kat (the Cheshire cat) and Rabbit (the White Rabbit) don’t go beyond surface level comparisons.
Honestly, this story didn’t even need to be retelling. I would’ve been perfectly content with a story about Al meeting two girls who want to use their witchcraft to heal her without all of the Alice In Wonderland connections. It distracted from a very original type of story.
Even if the elements themselves didn’t really work for me, it’s nice to see a retelling of a popular classic with black folks as the main characters. Alice is commonly known as a blonde, white little girl, but Al in this story is black (born to a wealthy Southern parent), sapphic, and chronically ill. She’s an original character based off someone we all know and love, and that’s harder to do than people realize. Some of the black Southern dialect is a little clunky at times, but it’s not too bad.
If you’re looking for a quick, cute WLW read in a lush Southern setting, this story is a decent choice for a lazy afternoon. This is my second book by Hannah Carmack, and I must say, I much prefer this one to her first effort.
March 4, 2018
I should have a review up on my blog tomorrow (THE BOOKS RELEASE DATE!)
March 13, 2018
(originally reviewed at
thelibraryladies.com
)
I want to extend a very special thanks to Hannah Carmack, who was kind enough to provide me with an ARC of this novella! Keep your eyes out for a guest post from Hannah that I will be posting next week!
So maybe you’re asking yourself ‘Fantasy? Isn’t that Serena’s wheelhouse?’ And yes, this is true, but I do enjoy a fantasy story every now and again! I especially like stories that make reference to “Alice in Wonderland”, as that is one of my childhood favorites. With its nonsense adventures and kooky characters, that book has had a place in my heart for a long, long time. So when Hannah Carmack asked if we would read her book “Take Your Medicine,” I kind of jumped all over it. It had been since I’d played “American McGee’s Alice” in high school that I’d encountered an adaptation of Alice that I’ve really, deeply enjoyed.
So “Take Your Medicine” was a breath of fresh air for this Alice fiend. What I liked the most about it is that while it’s not a direct adaptation of the Alice story, it takes great influence from it and peppers homages throughout the narrative. Alice ‘Al’ Liddell is not a girl from the English countryside who falls into an alternate world of Wonderland; she is a teenager living in Alabama who has been dealing with vasovagal syncope her entire life. VVS causes her to have fainting spells in moments of stress or high emotion. The ‘Wonderland’ she encounters is near her rural home, and it involves some teenage witches named Rabbit and Kat, and her own mother, a surgeon known as the Queen of Hearts. What I loved the most about Rabbit and Kat is that while they are analogs for the White Rabbit and The Cheshire Cat, Carmack was very clever in her homages. It wasn’t like Rabbit was constantly checking her watch and freaking out about time, nor was Kat grinning like a fiend all day long. Instead the similarities were more based in subtleties, like Alice being drawn to Rabbit and attracted to her, and Kat being hard to read, motivation wise. And while I was worried that Al’s Mom, being the Queen of Hearts stand in, was going to be cruel and controlling, she was definitely more loving and understanding than I expected. Her strictness and control was born of out love for her daughter, and I thought that was a poignant choice. I loved looking for the other Wonderland characters within those that Al encounters throughout the novella.
The setting is just excellent. I love a good Southern Gothic novel, with sweeping and haunting vistas in backwoods and swamps in the American South. Moving an “Alice in Wonderland” adaptation from England to the American South works so well, because the landscapes and environments are dreamy and mysterious in their own right. I could totally imagine the characters walking through the backwoods, with the heat and the sounds of birds and insects permeating my imagination. I loved the descriptions, from Rabbit and Kat’s trailer to Al’s mother’s rose garden to a backwater dance party. They always felt very surreal and whimsical, and I was completely drawn into it, as I was in Wonderland so many years ago and so many times before.
Finally, as someone who is a big believer in the importance of diversity and representation in literature, especially juvenile and young adult literature, I was VERY pleased to see the diverse cast of characters in this book. Not only is Al a POC character who is living with a chronic illness, she is also exploring her own sexuality and her attraction to Rabbit. Carmack herself lives with an auto-immune disease, and so her story and the character of Al lends a voice to other teens who are living with chronic illnesses. Within the diverse books movement the Own Voices movement is super important, so I love that this book is out there removing stigma or confusion about what it can be like to live with a chronic illness.
“Take Your Medicine” was a highly enjoyable novella that did a spot on job of adapting “Alice in Wonderland”. I completely recommend that if you like the Alice stories you should go and get your hands on this novella.
I want to extend a very special thanks to Hannah Carmack, who was kind enough to provide me with an ARC of this novella! Keep your eyes out for a guest post from Hannah that I will be posting next week!
So maybe you’re asking yourself ‘Fantasy? Isn’t that Serena’s wheelhouse?’ And yes, this is true, but I do enjoy a fantasy story every now and again! I especially like stories that make reference to “Alice in Wonderland”, as that is one of my childhood favorites. With its nonsense adventures and kooky characters, that book has had a place in my heart for a long, long time. So when Hannah Carmack asked if we would read her book “Take Your Medicine,” I kind of jumped all over it. It had been since I’d played “American McGee’s Alice” in high school that I’d encountered an adaptation of Alice that I’ve really, deeply enjoyed.
So “Take Your Medicine” was a breath of fresh air for this Alice fiend. What I liked the most about it is that while it’s not a direct adaptation of the Alice story, it takes great influence from it and peppers homages throughout the narrative. Alice ‘Al’ Liddell is not a girl from the English countryside who falls into an alternate world of Wonderland; she is a teenager living in Alabama who has been dealing with vasovagal syncope her entire life. VVS causes her to have fainting spells in moments of stress or high emotion. The ‘Wonderland’ she encounters is near her rural home, and it involves some teenage witches named Rabbit and Kat, and her own mother, a surgeon known as the Queen of Hearts. What I loved the most about Rabbit and Kat is that while they are analogs for the White Rabbit and The Cheshire Cat, Carmack was very clever in her homages. It wasn’t like Rabbit was constantly checking her watch and freaking out about time, nor was Kat grinning like a fiend all day long. Instead the similarities were more based in subtleties, like Alice being drawn to Rabbit and attracted to her, and Kat being hard to read, motivation wise. And while I was worried that Al’s Mom, being the Queen of Hearts stand in, was going to be cruel and controlling, she was definitely more loving and understanding than I expected. Her strictness and control was born of out love for her daughter, and I thought that was a poignant choice. I loved looking for the other Wonderland characters within those that Al encounters throughout the novella.
The setting is just excellent. I love a good Southern Gothic novel, with sweeping and haunting vistas in backwoods and swamps in the American South. Moving an “Alice in Wonderland” adaptation from England to the American South works so well, because the landscapes and environments are dreamy and mysterious in their own right. I could totally imagine the characters walking through the backwoods, with the heat and the sounds of birds and insects permeating my imagination. I loved the descriptions, from Rabbit and Kat’s trailer to Al’s mother’s rose garden to a backwater dance party. They always felt very surreal and whimsical, and I was completely drawn into it, as I was in Wonderland so many years ago and so many times before.
Finally, as someone who is a big believer in the importance of diversity and representation in literature, especially juvenile and young adult literature, I was VERY pleased to see the diverse cast of characters in this book. Not only is Al a POC character who is living with a chronic illness, she is also exploring her own sexuality and her attraction to Rabbit. Carmack herself lives with an auto-immune disease, and so her story and the character of Al lends a voice to other teens who are living with chronic illnesses. Within the diverse books movement the Own Voices movement is super important, so I love that this book is out there removing stigma or confusion about what it can be like to live with a chronic illness.
“Take Your Medicine” was a highly enjoyable novella that did a spot on job of adapting “Alice in Wonderland”. I completely recommend that if you like the Alice stories you should go and get your hands on this novella.
March 6, 2018
This review and others can be found at BW Book Reviews.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Take Your Medicine will be released on March 5th, 2018.
2/5 – This story is a loose retelling of Alice in Wonderland in which a girl named Alice or “Al” as she likes to be called, has vasovagal syncope which is a fainting disorder. A chance meeting in the woods leads her to some new friends and a cute f/f romance.
There were things I really enjoyed about this book. I loved that it was queer. I enjoyed the main character Al, I enjoyed Al’s love interest who went by “Rabbit”. I thought their romance was adorable even if a bit rushed. I enjoyed the relationship between Al and her mother as well as the Alabama setting. The writing was good and I was entertained throughout despite not being a huge Alice in Wonderland fan. I think this book had a lot of potential and it didn’t end up living up to it for me.
For one, I think it was too short and because of that I didn’t get quite as invested as I would’ve liked. The story ended rather abruptly and I was left wanting more. If it had been lengthened, I might have enjoyed more of a slow burn romance between Al and Rabbit and would’ve liked the conflict between Al and her mom to be dragged out more. Instead, it almost felt incomplete as if there was more to the story than what I read.
Secondly, there was something about the concept of the main character wanting to be cured that rubbed me the wrong way. She has vasovagal syncope and as a result, she faints whenever she is overwhelmed. This causes her to get injured a few times as it’s not always safe for her to be out on her own in case she faints. However, she is adamant about wanting to be cured that she seeks out two girls her age that claim to be witches in order to find a cure. Spoiler alert: she’s not cured. This is still a theme throughout the book until at the very end she decides that she doesn’t care if she’s cured. It would’ve been nice to see more conflict within her about this.
Lastly, I think my main issue with this book was the fact that there were random chapters in which the POV changed from Al to her mother Laura, then later to Rabbit. I felt this was completely unnecessary as the POV shifts came completely out of nowhere and took me out of the story. It’s one thing to have multiple POVs, but that was never established from the beginning. In the beginning, Al is our narrator and yet there are at least two random POV shifts that didn’t work for me.
Overall, I would’ve liked this more if it had been a bit longer and I had more time to get invested in the characters. I think it had potential, but instead, it left me wanting more out of it.
I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Take Your Medicine will be released on March 5th, 2018.
2/5 – This story is a loose retelling of Alice in Wonderland in which a girl named Alice or “Al” as she likes to be called, has vasovagal syncope which is a fainting disorder. A chance meeting in the woods leads her to some new friends and a cute f/f romance.
There were things I really enjoyed about this book. I loved that it was queer. I enjoyed the main character Al, I enjoyed Al’s love interest who went by “Rabbit”. I thought their romance was adorable even if a bit rushed. I enjoyed the relationship between Al and her mother as well as the Alabama setting. The writing was good and I was entertained throughout despite not being a huge Alice in Wonderland fan. I think this book had a lot of potential and it didn’t end up living up to it for me.
For one, I think it was too short and because of that I didn’t get quite as invested as I would’ve liked. The story ended rather abruptly and I was left wanting more. If it had been lengthened, I might have enjoyed more of a slow burn romance between Al and Rabbit and would’ve liked the conflict between Al and her mom to be dragged out more. Instead, it almost felt incomplete as if there was more to the story than what I read.
Secondly, there was something about the concept of the main character wanting to be cured that rubbed me the wrong way. She has vasovagal syncope and as a result, she faints whenever she is overwhelmed. This causes her to get injured a few times as it’s not always safe for her to be out on her own in case she faints. However, she is adamant about wanting to be cured that she seeks out two girls her age that claim to be witches in order to find a cure. Spoiler alert: she’s not cured. This is still a theme throughout the book until at the very end she decides that she doesn’t care if she’s cured. It would’ve been nice to see more conflict within her about this.
Lastly, I think my main issue with this book was the fact that there were random chapters in which the POV changed from Al to her mother Laura, then later to Rabbit. I felt this was completely unnecessary as the POV shifts came completely out of nowhere and took me out of the story. It’s one thing to have multiple POVs, but that was never established from the beginning. In the beginning, Al is our narrator and yet there are at least two random POV shifts that didn’t work for me.
Overall, I would’ve liked this more if it had been a bit longer and I had more time to get invested in the characters. I think it had potential, but instead, it left me wanting more out of it.
February 13, 2018
Alice “Al” Liddel had lived a normal life until she was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, a fainting disorder that causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly. Since her diagnosis she has been at home, bouncing between doctor and doctor to see if someone can find a cure for her illness.
One day as she’s out in the orchard behind the property of her house, she runs into Kat and Rabbit. Two very unique girls who offer to help her in a nontraditional way, with herbs, spells and potions. It’s a bit shocking for Al to see people so different than herself. I love the cast of characters that show up, they bring you deeper into Wonderland.
What I really admired about this was the fact that I felt like I was there. I live in the south (Louisiana) and I could hear the cicadas, feel the heat and know what it’s like to spend hours in the garden (vegetable in my case) making sure everything would flourish.
Al also normalized vasovagal syncope. It had become a part of her life that she dealt with and she wasn’t letting it stop her from exploring the world that Rabbit and Kate were willing to show her. There were times where I cracked up laughing because Al was going to get mad, or going to have a conversation but well, there went all her plans of doing so when she fainted. Oh well.
While some people would have seen Al giving the tea and everything else Rabbit offered her as crazy but I didn’t. I completely understood why she would try it. Even thought she was firmly rooted in traditional medicine, when you go to enough doctors who can’t figure out what’s wrong? You are willing to try anything. I speak from experience.
In the course of all of this, Al starts to learn more and more about herself and what true friends really are. You might get into an arguments like Rabbit and Kat did, but you find a way to work them out.
The only thing I didn’t like was it was so short! I wanted there to be more! (Which is always a good thing) I would have liked to see a bit more development between Al and Rabbit. I was really hoping for a little more than what we got but I loved this so much.
Would I recommend this? Oh definitely. Go pre-order it! I loved every minute of it and read it in one sitting. That’s how much I liked it.
One day as she’s out in the orchard behind the property of her house, she runs into Kat and Rabbit. Two very unique girls who offer to help her in a nontraditional way, with herbs, spells and potions. It’s a bit shocking for Al to see people so different than herself. I love the cast of characters that show up, they bring you deeper into Wonderland.
What I really admired about this was the fact that I felt like I was there. I live in the south (Louisiana) and I could hear the cicadas, feel the heat and know what it’s like to spend hours in the garden (vegetable in my case) making sure everything would flourish.
Al also normalized vasovagal syncope. It had become a part of her life that she dealt with and she wasn’t letting it stop her from exploring the world that Rabbit and Kate were willing to show her. There were times where I cracked up laughing because Al was going to get mad, or going to have a conversation but well, there went all her plans of doing so when she fainted. Oh well.
While some people would have seen Al giving the tea and everything else Rabbit offered her as crazy but I didn’t. I completely understood why she would try it. Even thought she was firmly rooted in traditional medicine, when you go to enough doctors who can’t figure out what’s wrong? You are willing to try anything. I speak from experience.
In the course of all of this, Al starts to learn more and more about herself and what true friends really are. You might get into an arguments like Rabbit and Kat did, but you find a way to work them out.
The only thing I didn’t like was it was so short! I wanted there to be more! (Which is always a good thing) I would have liked to see a bit more development between Al and Rabbit. I was really hoping for a little more than what we got but I loved this so much.
Would I recommend this? Oh definitely. Go pre-order it! I loved every minute of it and read it in one sitting. That’s how much I liked it.
March 18, 2018
I am a fan of Alice and Wonderland and I'm a fan of retellings. That definitely made me want to pick this one up. It's an interesting story and the way the author writes was very smooth and it didn't take me long to get into the story or finish it. I can't imagine what it's like to have a disorder like Alice does and I didn't know anything about it before reading this novella. Alice is still learning to live with her new reality and that isn't easy. She's really close with her mother and even though she's an amazing surgeon, even she can't fix this disorder. During her chore of watering the trees, she sees someone near the house and this interests her. She meets Rabbit and Kat who are quirky in their own way and want to help Alice. Her mother is against this idea when she finds out, but after certain events she's willing to get to know Rabbit. As long as there aren't any other medical experiments. I could clearly see references to different Alice and Wonderland characters and this was done in more subtle ways. I started caring for Alice and hoped they would eventually find a cure for her. This is where it gets tricky. Take Your Medicine is only a novella, so with this said, I missed some character development. While there is a storyline, the ending is a bit sudden. There wasn't really much closure. That being said, I get that it's hard in a novella. I think there would've been more development if this was a full length book. I did start loving this world. I only need more of it.
August 30, 2023
Take Your Medicine is a contemporary Novella/short story about a teenager girls called Alice (Al) with a fainting spell.
The story read very much like a fairy tale to me, but set in a modern setting. there was an air of mystery, that I held onto while reading the book. Unfortunetly, the story cuts short before even beginning to fully develop.
The book had multiple elements going on for it and it could have been a nice retelling of 'Alice in Wonderland'. However, non of the elements the book begins are developed. Where did the curse come from? How did it start? Who really are the witches? There are so many questions that need answers. Moreover, the ending is too abrupt. I was swiping on my reader to get to the next page, only to find out this is the end of the story. There was no resolution, and the end left me disappointed.
The writing style is nice, and I enjoyed reading the characters' descriptions. It is a quick read, and I would only recommend it if you are looking for something quick and fluffy to read.
2.5/3 stars
[I have received an ARC of this book through NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review]
The story read very much like a fairy tale to me, but set in a modern setting. there was an air of mystery, that I held onto while reading the book. Unfortunetly, the story cuts short before even beginning to fully develop.
The book had multiple elements going on for it and it could have been a nice retelling of 'Alice in Wonderland'. However, non of the elements the book begins are developed. Where did the curse come from? How did it start? Who really are the witches? There are so many questions that need answers. Moreover, the ending is too abrupt. I was swiping on my reader to get to the next page, only to find out this is the end of the story. There was no resolution, and the end left me disappointed.
The writing style is nice, and I enjoyed reading the characters' descriptions. It is a quick read, and I would only recommend it if you are looking for something quick and fluffy to read.
2.5/3 stars
[I have received an ARC of this book through NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review]
February 28, 2018
3.75/5
I was contacted by the author and asked if I would give an honest review of this novella in exchange for her providing me with a free copy. Now, normally you can't tie me to a chair and force me to read anything shorter than 300 pages. I make it no secret that I do not like novellas or *shudder* short stories. My preference is long, epic sagas where I can stay with the characters and in the world for as long as possible. I have trouble letting go once I get attached and want to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. However, that being said, I wanted to give this book a try, because 1) I do like a good retelling/re-imagining, and 2) I was eager to see how the LGBT and disability representation was handled.
I have a chronic illness that's not fully diagnosed and not well treated, so right off the bat I could relate to Al. We are at different places in our chronic illness journey so while her immediate eagerness to try another potential, unproven cure was not in line with how I feel when meeting someone new and they claim they know just what might help me, if I remember back to the initial few year after my condition worsened, I can see where she's coming from.
I think the details in the novella of what it's like for someone with a chronic condition were pretty spot on, at least for me. Having to be so careful, never knowing when your condition will be triggered, how much energy you'll have at any given time, micromanaging your entire world hit home for me.
"If I had a chance to get better, I'd take it. No matter the risk. Modern medicine sure as hell wasn't doing anything for me. Being proactive, learning your triggers, avoiding intense emotion. Yeah, there's something that'll suck the life right out of you- avoiding intense emotion. Anger, sadness, surprise, happiness, I wasn't supposed to feel any of it too strongly. What's the point of living if you can't live how you feel?"- Take Your Medicine, by Hannah Carmack
This is one of the few times I have been able to really connect with a book character and say "she gets it, this is what it's like." The other times were The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, and Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley. Most authors can depict the wilting violet, pale and tragically afflicted protagonist, but very few are able to capture the frustration, the constant need to be extremely careful and mindful, and the inability to even feel strong emotion without causing a flare up. Most miss how you never know when you'll reach your limits, for that amount can be different every single day, and how hard it is to plan anything in advance. That you can miss out on so many good things, and have to give up things that once defined you and were your passions. Hannah Carmack doesn't shy away from any of this, and boldly depicts Al's heartbreaking longing for the person she once was before getting sick. For a person with a chronic illness, that's one of the hardest mental hurdles- reconciling who you are now, what you are capable of, with who you once were.
The characters are all vivid and interesting, and I wish more of them could have been developed further. Some we only see snippets of, but those snippets are brightly coloured and intoxicating. That same longing can be said for the story too. I wanted more. I know it's a novella, but I would have preferred this to be a full length novel. There was enough in the setting, the characters and the story to definitely warrant it. It almost functions as a character driven piece, more than a traditional plot driven story. The plot was the weakest part, but all the building blocks for a larger story are there. It's like looking into the foundation of an abandoned construction project. You can see what it could be if it was finished, and you can't help be a little sad that it was never fully realized. Hannah Carmack, if you give me more to this story, I'd read it. Eagerly.
The writing is poetic without being overly flowery, or treading into what I personally call "book club, trying to hard, super mysterious vaguery™ ". It had flow, rhythm and was just descriptive enough without being overwhelming. Based on writing style alone, I'd try reading something else from the author. My one gripe was with some of the dialogue from the POC characters- I think the contractions, grammar and the voice used might have went a little far, but as I am not a POC woman from the southern US, I don't feel if I can speak on this definitively.
The cover is absolutely gorgeous. I love the colours, the font, and the slate background. There's such depth and vividness, to me it is an excellent compliment to the characters contained within it. Excellent job, whoever designed it. I'd love print for my wall.
I'm extremely thankful to have been asked to review this book. While I had some gripes (longer! more! give me more!), I enjoyed reading the book and was sad to see it end. Excellent job Hannah, I'm looking forward to following your career and seeing what you do next. Best of luck with the release of Take Your Medicine!
I was contacted by the author and asked if I would give an honest review of this novella in exchange for her providing me with a free copy. Now, normally you can't tie me to a chair and force me to read anything shorter than 300 pages. I make it no secret that I do not like novellas or *shudder* short stories. My preference is long, epic sagas where I can stay with the characters and in the world for as long as possible. I have trouble letting go once I get attached and want to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. However, that being said, I wanted to give this book a try, because 1) I do like a good retelling/re-imagining, and 2) I was eager to see how the LGBT and disability representation was handled.
I have a chronic illness that's not fully diagnosed and not well treated, so right off the bat I could relate to Al. We are at different places in our chronic illness journey so while her immediate eagerness to try another potential, unproven cure was not in line with how I feel when meeting someone new and they claim they know just what might help me, if I remember back to the initial few year after my condition worsened, I can see where she's coming from.
I think the details in the novella of what it's like for someone with a chronic condition were pretty spot on, at least for me. Having to be so careful, never knowing when your condition will be triggered, how much energy you'll have at any given time, micromanaging your entire world hit home for me.
"If I had a chance to get better, I'd take it. No matter the risk. Modern medicine sure as hell wasn't doing anything for me. Being proactive, learning your triggers, avoiding intense emotion. Yeah, there's something that'll suck the life right out of you- avoiding intense emotion. Anger, sadness, surprise, happiness, I wasn't supposed to feel any of it too strongly. What's the point of living if you can't live how you feel?"- Take Your Medicine, by Hannah Carmack
This is one of the few times I have been able to really connect with a book character and say "she gets it, this is what it's like." The other times were The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, and Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley. Most authors can depict the wilting violet, pale and tragically afflicted protagonist, but very few are able to capture the frustration, the constant need to be extremely careful and mindful, and the inability to even feel strong emotion without causing a flare up. Most miss how you never know when you'll reach your limits, for that amount can be different every single day, and how hard it is to plan anything in advance. That you can miss out on so many good things, and have to give up things that once defined you and were your passions. Hannah Carmack doesn't shy away from any of this, and boldly depicts Al's heartbreaking longing for the person she once was before getting sick. For a person with a chronic illness, that's one of the hardest mental hurdles- reconciling who you are now, what you are capable of, with who you once were.
The characters are all vivid and interesting, and I wish more of them could have been developed further. Some we only see snippets of, but those snippets are brightly coloured and intoxicating. That same longing can be said for the story too. I wanted more. I know it's a novella, but I would have preferred this to be a full length novel. There was enough in the setting, the characters and the story to definitely warrant it. It almost functions as a character driven piece, more than a traditional plot driven story. The plot was the weakest part, but all the building blocks for a larger story are there. It's like looking into the foundation of an abandoned construction project. You can see what it could be if it was finished, and you can't help be a little sad that it was never fully realized. Hannah Carmack, if you give me more to this story, I'd read it. Eagerly.
The writing is poetic without being overly flowery, or treading into what I personally call "book club, trying to hard, super mysterious vaguery™ ". It had flow, rhythm and was just descriptive enough without being overwhelming. Based on writing style alone, I'd try reading something else from the author. My one gripe was with some of the dialogue from the POC characters- I think the contractions, grammar and the voice used might have went a little far, but as I am not a POC woman from the southern US, I don't feel if I can speak on this definitively.
The cover is absolutely gorgeous. I love the colours, the font, and the slate background. There's such depth and vividness, to me it is an excellent compliment to the characters contained within it. Excellent job, whoever designed it. I'd love print for my wall.
I'm extremely thankful to have been asked to review this book. While I had some gripes (longer! more! give me more!), I enjoyed reading the book and was sad to see it end. Excellent job Hannah, I'm looking forward to following your career and seeing what you do next. Best of luck with the release of Take Your Medicine!
March 6, 2018
Originally posted on Cat on the Bookshelf.
I received this electronic Advanced Reader Copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
In this Alice in Wonderland retelling, Alice Liddell has “vasovagal syncope – a fainting disorder which causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly.” Her mother, a cardiothoracic surgeon, cannot cure her, but some new witchy friends think they can. Take Your Medicine, by Hannah Carmack, is an okay retelling with a focus on disability and without going Wonderland.
Our Alice of the novella is legally named Alice Liddell, but she goes by “Al.” She is a person of color who has vasovagal syncope. I expected this fainting disorder to either happen along a magical adventure or be the thing that keeps sending her back to Wonderland in a dream state. Instead, the two witches she meets try to treat her disorder with holistic medicine. That was an interesting turn of events, but the way it’s executed doesn’t scream Alice in Wonderland or a major twist on it, like a new way to examine the relationship between mother and daughter. It sort of gets into comparing holistic medicine and traditional medicine, but it doesn’t go far enough for it being the driving force of the plot.
Two more things about Al:
1. There are times in the book where she interprets some people’s behaviors more like an adult than a teenager, and I don’t think it comes down to her being mature.
2. She also starts falling for one of the other female characters in the book.
The other primary characters are her mother, a.k.a. the Queen of Hearts, and two witches who live nearby. Unfortunately, they’re all flat. The mother is just there for her daughter, does surgeon things, and reads classics. She didn’t change or even serve as a great antagonist to the holistic medicine her daughter wants to use. The two witches, Rabbit and Kat, are quirky, but I couldn’t tell them apart. They try to help Al and invite her to do things with them.
At 60% of the way through the book, there were sudden shifts in point-of-view that happens only once toward the beginning of the book. This is indicated with a name of a character at the start of a chapter, but it never happens on Al’s chapters. This is made more confusing to tell the perspectives apart, but it could have changed in time for the release today.
Since those perspective shifts happened at the end, I need to talk about how unsatisfying the ending was. What was that ending? It ends abruptly. The end is illogical about certain character reactions (not in a dream-state way) and doesn’t feel concluded. It could have used maybe 20 more pages to flesh out that ending.
On a minor note, the cover is beautiful and looks like something that would go on an Alice in Wonderland retelling.
Take Your Medicine is an okay book, but I don’t recommend it. You might have a different perception of this book than me if you’ve read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland because I haven’t read it.
I received this electronic Advanced Reader Copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
In this Alice in Wonderland retelling, Alice Liddell has “vasovagal syncope – a fainting disorder which causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly.” Her mother, a cardiothoracic surgeon, cannot cure her, but some new witchy friends think they can. Take Your Medicine, by Hannah Carmack, is an okay retelling with a focus on disability and without going Wonderland.
Our Alice of the novella is legally named Alice Liddell, but she goes by “Al.” She is a person of color who has vasovagal syncope. I expected this fainting disorder to either happen along a magical adventure or be the thing that keeps sending her back to Wonderland in a dream state. Instead, the two witches she meets try to treat her disorder with holistic medicine. That was an interesting turn of events, but the way it’s executed doesn’t scream Alice in Wonderland or a major twist on it, like a new way to examine the relationship between mother and daughter. It sort of gets into comparing holistic medicine and traditional medicine, but it doesn’t go far enough for it being the driving force of the plot.
Two more things about Al:
1. There are times in the book where she interprets some people’s behaviors more like an adult than a teenager, and I don’t think it comes down to her being mature.
2. She also starts falling for one of the other female characters in the book.
The other primary characters are her mother, a.k.a. the Queen of Hearts, and two witches who live nearby. Unfortunately, they’re all flat. The mother is just there for her daughter, does surgeon things, and reads classics. She didn’t change or even serve as a great antagonist to the holistic medicine her daughter wants to use. The two witches, Rabbit and Kat, are quirky, but I couldn’t tell them apart. They try to help Al and invite her to do things with them.
At 60% of the way through the book, there were sudden shifts in point-of-view that happens only once toward the beginning of the book. This is indicated with a name of a character at the start of a chapter, but it never happens on Al’s chapters. This is made more confusing to tell the perspectives apart, but it could have changed in time for the release today.
Since those perspective shifts happened at the end, I need to talk about how unsatisfying the ending was. What was that ending? It ends abruptly. The end is illogical about certain character reactions (not in a dream-state way) and doesn’t feel concluded. It could have used maybe 20 more pages to flesh out that ending.
On a minor note, the cover is beautiful and looks like something that would go on an Alice in Wonderland retelling.
Take Your Medicine is an okay book, but I don’t recommend it. You might have a different perception of this book than me if you’ve read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland because I haven’t read it.
February 27, 2018
Actual rating: 3.75
There were a few things that I thought this book was but it is not and I want you readers to know so you don't have damaged expectations:
But despite all this, I adored this book, its characters, and the notes of Alice in Wonderland in quirk and character.
I flew through this book so much quicker than I expected. Carmack's writing style has something that I really love and admire. It is wonderfully paced and held a waft of fairy tale atmosphere, despite the modern setting.
I quickly feel in love with the setting and atmosphere. Described as a 'southern gothic retelling', I truly adored the physical setting, with the out of town house filled with gardens and trees, backed onto plenty of land to wander through. The gorgeous mother-daughter bond, as well, gave so much depth to the southern feel of the story.
Each and every character in this book is filled to the brim with their own quirks, just as their Alice in Wonderland names and nicknames suggest. From the MC Al, who is finding her way despite her struggle with VVS; to the 'backwater witches' Kat and Rabbit, who have their own quirks and mystery, but also astounding genuineness; to a whole cast of side characters who dabble in holistic witch-craft.
Al's mother, the 'Queen of Hearts', was by far my favourite and I only wish there was more screen-time with her. Such a strong, glamorous, protective, and sure female character - I just couldn't get enough.
The romance was quaint, but not much more. I am glad to see it wasn't a key plot in the story, but just as happy it was included. While it seemed mildly sudden and insta-love to me, it is introduced more as the start of something which I quite liked.
The ending as well felt it needed a little something more. While it wrapped up really nicely, I was a bit disappointed to find out there was no more of the glorious, quirky characters I had been introduced to. But isn't that also the point of a good book? You want more even though it's over and done.
Such a lovely little quick read that will feel you with the warm fuzzies.
More reviews | Twitter | Pinterest | One must always be careful of books and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us. (C. Clare)
There were a few things that I thought this book was but it is not and I want you readers to know so you don't have damaged expectations:
+it is not a full-length novel
+it is not a full-fledged fantasy story
+it is not a retelling in the strictest sense
But despite all this, I adored this book, its characters, and the notes of Alice in Wonderland in quirk and character.
"I’d prune all my roses to nothing for you."
I flew through this book so much quicker than I expected. Carmack's writing style has something that I really love and admire. It is wonderfully paced and held a waft of fairy tale atmosphere, despite the modern setting.
I quickly feel in love with the setting and atmosphere. Described as a 'southern gothic retelling', I truly adored the physical setting, with the out of town house filled with gardens and trees, backed onto plenty of land to wander through. The gorgeous mother-daughter bond, as well, gave so much depth to the southern feel of the story.
"To the family, there is something beautiful in a beating cadaver. Something tragic and sad beyond belief, but something beautiful nonetheless"
Each and every character in this book is filled to the brim with their own quirks, just as their Alice in Wonderland names and nicknames suggest. From the MC Al, who is finding her way despite her struggle with VVS; to the 'backwater witches' Kat and Rabbit, who have their own quirks and mystery, but also astounding genuineness; to a whole cast of side characters who dabble in holistic witch-craft.
Al's mother, the 'Queen of Hearts', was by far my favourite and I only wish there was more screen-time with her. Such a strong, glamorous, protective, and sure female character - I just couldn't get enough.
"Call it whatever you like, but I refuse to believe something this beautiful is anything less than magic"
The romance was quaint, but not much more. I am glad to see it wasn't a key plot in the story, but just as happy it was included. While it seemed mildly sudden and insta-love to me, it is introduced more as the start of something which I quite liked.
The ending as well felt it needed a little something more. While it wrapped up really nicely, I was a bit disappointed to find out there was no more of the glorious, quirky characters I had been introduced to. But isn't that also the point of a good book? You want more even though it's over and done.
Such a lovely little quick read that will feel you with the warm fuzzies.
More reviews | Twitter | Pinterest | One must always be careful of books and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us. (C. Clare)
March 5, 2018
Alice is a girl with vasovagal syncope--feeling strong emotions or being surprised causes her to faint. Some months after her diagnosis, she meets an interesting pair of girls who live in the area, Kat and Rabbit. They're practicing witches, amateurs at holistic remedies. They say they can help to cure Alice's condition the natural way. So, although her surgeon mother disapproves, Alice starts using their herbal treatments and hanging out with them more and more. Meanwhile, she might be falling for Rabbit.
My Thoughts
Rabbit, Kat and Alice were all distinct and interesting characters. There was certainly a nice sense of setting in this book too--a constant awareness of southern heat, the possibility of snake attacks, and friendly accents. These created a distinct voice that I appreciated while reading it.
I've never had a condition similar to Alice's, nor have I ever gotten involved in holistic medicine. Can't say how accurate any of this is, though it felt accurate enough. I'd like to know more about how the remedies mentioned in the book are supposed to work tbh. Don't know much about herb work.
My problem reading this book was that for me it felt kind of slow. Especially at the beginning, where the three girls meet and Alice's condition is established along with the setting, sometimes my attention began to drift because of the slow pace. About halfway through the pace picked up a bit, but even then I sometimes lost interest. Might just be that I'm getting kind of old for YA or that again, herbal remedies are interesting but not my forte.
Overall a decent book. Has some nice f/f fun that is surprisingly not central to the plot, and should be good reading for anyone who is interested in modern witchcraft/herbal remedies and holistic treatments. I don't totally see why the Alice in Wonderland elements were thrown in but perhaps it's something of a metaphor for going into a world where your life is different and everything is slightly weird? I'm a little confused on that aspect.
I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
My Thoughts
Rabbit, Kat and Alice were all distinct and interesting characters. There was certainly a nice sense of setting in this book too--a constant awareness of southern heat, the possibility of snake attacks, and friendly accents. These created a distinct voice that I appreciated while reading it.
I've never had a condition similar to Alice's, nor have I ever gotten involved in holistic medicine. Can't say how accurate any of this is, though it felt accurate enough. I'd like to know more about how the remedies mentioned in the book are supposed to work tbh. Don't know much about herb work.
My problem reading this book was that for me it felt kind of slow. Especially at the beginning, where the three girls meet and Alice's condition is established along with the setting, sometimes my attention began to drift because of the slow pace. About halfway through the pace picked up a bit, but even then I sometimes lost interest. Might just be that I'm getting kind of old for YA or that again, herbal remedies are interesting but not my forte.
Overall a decent book. Has some nice f/f fun that is surprisingly not central to the plot, and should be good reading for anyone who is interested in modern witchcraft/herbal remedies and holistic treatments. I don't totally see why the Alice in Wonderland elements were thrown in but perhaps it's something of a metaphor for going into a world where your life is different and everything is slightly weird? I'm a little confused on that aspect.
I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 5, 2018
Warnings: medical distress, animal death
While not strictly a retelling, Take Your Medicine is instead like an AU that has these characters interacting with each other; the story is very much rooted in a contemporary setting though it often feels like it could be an urban fantasy. Alice has an illness that causes her to faint at moments of high emotion, which is why her mother, the Queen of Hearts, has her sequestered into a cottage during the summer, where Alice can catch up on her studies leisurely, and free from surprise distractions. Her daily routine involves maintaining the garden and orchards on the property, and on one such day she comes across Rabbit and Kat (they are nicknames, chill), two witches living at the edge of the property in a trailer. Alice's mother doesn't approve of their practice, so she forbids Alice from trying out their remedies for her illness, but out of curiosity and boredom, she goes to meet with them regularly. Soon, she also meets other friends of theirs, while also hoping that Rabbit's cure actually works.
The story has the quirky magic of Alice in Wonderland, in that it feels directionless like the original. (This is a compliment, mind you) Alice's meeting with them brings her new experiences, and a little understanding of chemistry and magic colliding. The romance is subtle, and develops spontaneously, though it is a little bit 'love at first sight'. Alice's experiences with a chronic illness, and people's reactions to it is also something the author brings out well. Ultimately, though, if you ask me how satisfying the story is at the end, I would say - it isn't really. The ending feels abrupt, and dare I say, open-ended? The introduction of the other characters didn't feel all that relevant to the plot either; it felt like they were there to insert 'Wonderland' characters into the plot. Alice's mother becomes more understanding, but it still feels like it could have developed into a more extensive story, even with the slice of life feels it gave me.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Nine Star Press, via Netgalley.
While not strictly a retelling, Take Your Medicine is instead like an AU that has these characters interacting with each other; the story is very much rooted in a contemporary setting though it often feels like it could be an urban fantasy. Alice has an illness that causes her to faint at moments of high emotion, which is why her mother, the Queen of Hearts, has her sequestered into a cottage during the summer, where Alice can catch up on her studies leisurely, and free from surprise distractions. Her daily routine involves maintaining the garden and orchards on the property, and on one such day she comes across Rabbit and Kat (they are nicknames, chill), two witches living at the edge of the property in a trailer. Alice's mother doesn't approve of their practice, so she forbids Alice from trying out their remedies for her illness, but out of curiosity and boredom, she goes to meet with them regularly. Soon, she also meets other friends of theirs, while also hoping that Rabbit's cure actually works.
The story has the quirky magic of Alice in Wonderland, in that it feels directionless like the original. (This is a compliment, mind you) Alice's meeting with them brings her new experiences, and a little understanding of chemistry and magic colliding. The romance is subtle, and develops spontaneously, though it is a little bit 'love at first sight'. Alice's experiences with a chronic illness, and people's reactions to it is also something the author brings out well. Ultimately, though, if you ask me how satisfying the story is at the end, I would say - it isn't really. The ending feels abrupt, and dare I say, open-ended? The introduction of the other characters didn't feel all that relevant to the plot either; it felt like they were there to insert 'Wonderland' characters into the plot. Alice's mother becomes more understanding, but it still feels like it could have developed into a more extensive story, even with the slice of life feels it gave me.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Nine Star Press, via Netgalley.
March 6, 2018
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Take Your Medicine is not a retelling of Alice in Wonderland per se, but it does bring back characters and mix them in order to come up with a sweet novella about making friends and living with a disease. More than that, this book plays ping-pong with magical realism – is there or isn’t there? That was on my mind all the time while reading this. I don’t know if the author intended for the story to have hints of magical realism, but that is one of the qualities of magical realism – sometimes you do not know what to believe or what is true.
Carmack’s beautiful writing styles captured me in such a way that I did not feel the time passing. It was almost like I went down the rabbit hole like Alice. It is an easy read, not because of the size, but because the pace of the story is simply perfect. Although not a retelling in the proper sense and even though Alice in Wonderland is not a fairy tale, the setting and the pace of the story did manage to create a whimsical atmosphere, which I think it was the perfect way to illustrate Al’s illness.
Although romance is present in the book, the main theme of the story is friendship and only after we get the glimpse of something romantic. It is a plus for LGBTQ representation and that always makes me happy, especially when it feels so natural and sweet as it is presented in the book. The book also emphasized a great mother-daughter relationship.
I really enjoyed this novella, and while I appreciated the conclusion, the rest of the story did leave me wanting more. I wanted to get to know all the characters better and see how Al’s love life would go in relationship with her illness too. I am sure the author could build on this story, but even left like this it makes for a nice easy read.
Full review on my blog.
Take Your Medicine is not a retelling of Alice in Wonderland per se, but it does bring back characters and mix them in order to come up with a sweet novella about making friends and living with a disease. More than that, this book plays ping-pong with magical realism – is there or isn’t there? That was on my mind all the time while reading this. I don’t know if the author intended for the story to have hints of magical realism, but that is one of the qualities of magical realism – sometimes you do not know what to believe or what is true.
Carmack’s beautiful writing styles captured me in such a way that I did not feel the time passing. It was almost like I went down the rabbit hole like Alice. It is an easy read, not because of the size, but because the pace of the story is simply perfect. Although not a retelling in the proper sense and even though Alice in Wonderland is not a fairy tale, the setting and the pace of the story did manage to create a whimsical atmosphere, which I think it was the perfect way to illustrate Al’s illness.
Although romance is present in the book, the main theme of the story is friendship and only after we get the glimpse of something romantic. It is a plus for LGBTQ representation and that always makes me happy, especially when it feels so natural and sweet as it is presented in the book. The book also emphasized a great mother-daughter relationship.
I really enjoyed this novella, and while I appreciated the conclusion, the rest of the story did leave me wanting more. I wanted to get to know all the characters better and see how Al’s love life would go in relationship with her illness too. I am sure the author could build on this story, but even left like this it makes for a nice easy read.
Full review on my blog.
February 16, 2018
Alice “Al” Liddell is from Echola, Alabama. She leads the life of a normal teen until the day she’s diagnosed with vasovagal syncope – a fainting disorder which causes her to lose consciousness whenever she feels emotions too strongly.
Her mother, the “Queen of Hearts,” is the best cardiothoracic surgeon this side of the Mason-Dixon Line and a bit of a local hero. Yet, even with all her skill she is unable to cure her daughter of her ailment, leading Al into the world of backwater witchcraft.
Along the way she meets a wacky cast of characters and learns to accept her new normal.
Take Your Medicine is a southern Gothic retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
My Review :
Just from the cover this book is so beautiful. and really well written, to be honest i preferred it to a lot of other YA books, it goes straight to the point, you learn a lot about the characters right away. in the first 2 chapters. Then you meet others. At the end i was scared of what was going to happens, this is a novella so its shorter than a novel. if you like Alice in wonderland , this is the kind of book you would like. Daughter mother bonding too.
I would give this 5/5 Stars
Con: Would of wished it would be a full book, a few pages of this is not enough ;)
Pro: All was perfect good writing, good story. Good ending.
Quotes:
I woke up to the sound of my mother heaving and groaning as she pulled at the based of her rose.
If you are intrested book comes out March 5th 2018.
Enjoy!
Her mother, the “Queen of Hearts,” is the best cardiothoracic surgeon this side of the Mason-Dixon Line and a bit of a local hero. Yet, even with all her skill she is unable to cure her daughter of her ailment, leading Al into the world of backwater witchcraft.
Along the way she meets a wacky cast of characters and learns to accept her new normal.
Take Your Medicine is a southern Gothic retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
My Review :
Just from the cover this book is so beautiful. and really well written, to be honest i preferred it to a lot of other YA books, it goes straight to the point, you learn a lot about the characters right away. in the first 2 chapters. Then you meet others. At the end i was scared of what was going to happens, this is a novella so its shorter than a novel. if you like Alice in wonderland , this is the kind of book you would like. Daughter mother bonding too.
I would give this 5/5 Stars
Con: Would of wished it would be a full book, a few pages of this is not enough ;)
Pro: All was perfect good writing, good story. Good ending.
Quotes:
I woke up to the sound of my mother heaving and groaning as she pulled at the based of her rose.
If you are intrested book comes out March 5th 2018.
Enjoy!
March 8, 2018
Originally posted at The Lesbian Bookworm:
When I saw the novella Take Your Medicine by Hannah Carmack on NetGalley I was drawn to it because it was about a girl that has vasovagal syncope. This is something that hits close to home for me because my younger sister suffered from vasovagal syncope. I am also a huge fan of gothic literature and Alice in Wonderland so what is there not to like.
This book took me a little while to get into but once I got into it I was hooked. I really liked the relationship between the names of the characters and Alice in Wonderland characters. One of my favorite characters was Rabbit. I could really relate to her. Her being anxious about dancing and socializing was very relatable.
I also like the relationship between Al and Rabbit. It felt really natural. That first love type of relationship. I thought that it was very authentic that Al didn't know how to react to their first kiss. She was just discovering her attraction. I wish there was more to this book.
The only problem that I had with the book was Al and her mother's relationship. It seemed really smothering. Like Al was not allowed to have a life of her own outside of her life with her mother. It seemed that because Al was sick her mother didn't want her to do anything other than staying home, study, and mind the garden.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Alice in Wonderland. As well as anyone who likes YA novels.
When I saw the novella Take Your Medicine by Hannah Carmack on NetGalley I was drawn to it because it was about a girl that has vasovagal syncope. This is something that hits close to home for me because my younger sister suffered from vasovagal syncope. I am also a huge fan of gothic literature and Alice in Wonderland so what is there not to like.
This book took me a little while to get into but once I got into it I was hooked. I really liked the relationship between the names of the characters and Alice in Wonderland characters. One of my favorite characters was Rabbit. I could really relate to her. Her being anxious about dancing and socializing was very relatable.
I also like the relationship between Al and Rabbit. It felt really natural. That first love type of relationship. I thought that it was very authentic that Al didn't know how to react to their first kiss. She was just discovering her attraction. I wish there was more to this book.
The only problem that I had with the book was Al and her mother's relationship. It seemed really smothering. Like Al was not allowed to have a life of her own outside of her life with her mother. It seemed that because Al was sick her mother didn't want her to do anything other than staying home, study, and mind the garden.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Alice in Wonderland. As well as anyone who likes YA novels.
March 12, 2018
I enjoyed reading this novella, but while reading this I realized my knowledge of Alice in Wonderland is based on Grace Slick’s rendition of White Rabbit. That’s not a bad thing but it didn’t give me much of a frame of reference except for the names. However, the story was still entertaining. The setting was described vividly enough to make me realize I can cross off ever living in the South (wasps!).
Alice has a fainting disorder that her surgeon mother, the Queen of Hearts, can’t fix. She’s dealing with it following her mother’s strictures just fine until she meets Rabbit spritzing the river. This leads to some adventures which are sometimes silly with Rabbit, Kat, and their friends. There’s a sweet little romance there, too, that doesn’t go very far but the potential is there.
I was surprised when the book ended; for some reason, I was expecting more, but it makes sense where the story ends. I would have liked to see Rabbit and Alice become closer, but this is sort of a snapshot of a teen’s summer. She meets new people, tries a new treatment that her mother disapproves of, and realizes she is attracted to a girl. Al goes from being obedient and treated like a child to gaining more respect and autonomy from her mother by the end. I just reread the story today to see what I was missing in light of the negative reviews and I think this is a sweet story of a girl coming to terms with her illness.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
Alice has a fainting disorder that her surgeon mother, the Queen of Hearts, can’t fix. She’s dealing with it following her mother’s strictures just fine until she meets Rabbit spritzing the river. This leads to some adventures which are sometimes silly with Rabbit, Kat, and their friends. There’s a sweet little romance there, too, that doesn’t go very far but the potential is there.
I was surprised when the book ended; for some reason, I was expecting more, but it makes sense where the story ends. I would have liked to see Rabbit and Alice become closer, but this is sort of a snapshot of a teen’s summer. She meets new people, tries a new treatment that her mother disapproves of, and realizes she is attracted to a girl. Al goes from being obedient and treated like a child to gaining more respect and autonomy from her mother by the end. I just reread the story today to see what I was missing in light of the negative reviews and I think this is a sweet story of a girl coming to terms with her illness.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
March 4, 2018
I was very excited to read this one. And I really fell in love with it on the first pages. The writing itself is charming and captivating right from the start.
That's why I was eager to finish reading because I could barely put my Kindle out of my hands but the ending came way to soon - I knew that this is a kinda short read and that's pretty okay for me but I whish there would be more flesh to the sweet romance which takes place in the story. It was just sketched with almost no depths to it.
The character over all are nice, interesting and captivating as well. I really enjoyed the setting, the characters and the writing but wished there would be something more. More for my romantic heart at least.
But it was a nice and solid read. I liked it a lot and after all it is not that bad that there is not much about the lovestory - a good writer is one who encourages the reader to follow their story even after reading the book. And this is what happened to me.
That's why I was eager to finish reading because I could barely put my Kindle out of my hands but the ending came way to soon - I knew that this is a kinda short read and that's pretty okay for me but I whish there would be more flesh to the sweet romance which takes place in the story. It was just sketched with almost no depths to it.
The character over all are nice, interesting and captivating as well. I really enjoyed the setting, the characters and the writing but wished there would be something more. More for my romantic heart at least.
But it was a nice and solid read. I liked it a lot and after all it is not that bad that there is not much about the lovestory - a good writer is one who encourages the reader to follow their story even after reading the book. And this is what happened to me.
June 8, 2018
I really wanted to love this book. I love Alice in Wonderland, I love Southern Gothic, and, oh yeah, I'm a queer woman with vasovagal syncope.
I did not love this book. I did like it! I definitely enjoyed parts of it! But the thing that brought it down for me was the portrayal of the illness I have lived with for ten years. That, and that it seemed to be a little lacking in description.
My full review can be found here.
I did not love this book. I did like it! I definitely enjoyed parts of it! But the thing that brought it down for me was the portrayal of the illness I have lived with for ten years. That, and that it seemed to be a little lacking in description.
My full review can be found here.
April 10, 2018
I ended up putting this one down halfway through. I did not connect woth the main character as I felt she was quite whiny and this may have been down to her age or me but I just didn't care about her. The premise was interesting though and I liked Carmack used the language as it displayed a warmth and intrigue for the story.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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April 25, 2023Trigger & Content Warnings:
Animal death
Animal death
April 12, 2018
AS POSTED ON THE WORDY HABITAT
Note: I received an eARC from the author in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a modern retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and I was pretty interested when I heard of it. I read through the book but unfortunately, I didn’t find it holding up to my expectations.
The Plot
Alice ventures farther than her family’s property and comes across two girls who go by Rabbit and Kat. The main issue we focus on, as far as I could discern, is her VVS—vasovagal syncope. This causes her to faint whenever she feels emotions strongly, which isn’t good at all. Even though her mother, a surgeon popularly known as “Queen of Hearts”, has consulted the best doctors and has researched, any cure hasn’t been found.
So when Al meets Rabbit, who dabbles in “witchcraft” and offers to try to find a cure, Al jumps on it. She also really wants friends so she starts hanging out with them.
On the story overall, I didn’t see a point. We see romance between Al and Rabbit, Al’s problem with VVS and her relationship with her mother but what I DIDN’T see was a point to the story. It’s a simple retelling without a buildup or crescendo. There isn’t a specific plot that gets you in, and that made me really befuddled when I finished the book. What was the point of the book?
The Characters
Alice‘s life was PERFECT before she got diagnosed with VVS. She has a “before” and “after” now. I think what I liked about Al was that, even though she loves her mom and respects her opinions, Al still has hope that there could be a cure. So she lies to her mom and sneaks out, making friends with people she’s not meant to meet.
Rabbit is a cautious person, really good at healing and.. she’s okay. Honestly, I didn’t get very much of a feel on her.
Alice’s mother is the mother hen you would expect. Especially since she’s a doctor, she’s very good at caring for Alice. She also really knows Al, takes interest in her and is very protective of her. It backfires sometimes but it’s all for the good.
Overall
As I said, I don’t understand what the point of the book was. What was the plot, except reading about VVS and a teenage love between two girls? Characters loosely based on a classic story but what is the plot?
If you want a light-hearted read to breeze through, you can pick this. But to be honest, I probably won’t remember a thing about the book in a few days.
Note: I received an eARC from the author in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a modern retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and I was pretty interested when I heard of it. I read through the book but unfortunately, I didn’t find it holding up to my expectations.
The Plot
Alice ventures farther than her family’s property and comes across two girls who go by Rabbit and Kat. The main issue we focus on, as far as I could discern, is her VVS—vasovagal syncope. This causes her to faint whenever she feels emotions strongly, which isn’t good at all. Even though her mother, a surgeon popularly known as “Queen of Hearts”, has consulted the best doctors and has researched, any cure hasn’t been found.
So when Al meets Rabbit, who dabbles in “witchcraft” and offers to try to find a cure, Al jumps on it. She also really wants friends so she starts hanging out with them.
On the story overall, I didn’t see a point. We see romance between Al and Rabbit, Al’s problem with VVS and her relationship with her mother but what I DIDN’T see was a point to the story. It’s a simple retelling without a buildup or crescendo. There isn’t a specific plot that gets you in, and that made me really befuddled when I finished the book. What was the point of the book?
The Characters
Alice‘s life was PERFECT before she got diagnosed with VVS. She has a “before” and “after” now. I think what I liked about Al was that, even though she loves her mom and respects her opinions, Al still has hope that there could be a cure. So she lies to her mom and sneaks out, making friends with people she’s not meant to meet.
Rabbit is a cautious person, really good at healing and.. she’s okay. Honestly, I didn’t get very much of a feel on her.
Alice’s mother is the mother hen you would expect. Especially since she’s a doctor, she’s very good at caring for Alice. She also really knows Al, takes interest in her and is very protective of her. It backfires sometimes but it’s all for the good.
Overall
As I said, I don’t understand what the point of the book was. What was the plot, except reading about VVS and a teenage love between two girls? Characters loosely based on a classic story but what is the plot?
If you want a light-hearted read to breeze through, you can pick this. But to be honest, I probably won’t remember a thing about the book in a few days.
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