Seeing Redd

I have read the first 90 pages of Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor. This is the sequel to the book The Looking Glass Wars, and I am excited to continue in this series because I have really enjoyed reading them. Seeing Redd starts off with Alyss just having been put on the throne and becoming Queen of Wonderland. However, her rein is rather rocky because she is ruling after her Aunt who destroyed much of Wonderland. Early on we find out that the King of Boarderland, Arch, is plotting against Alyss and wants to overthrow her. Arch, who is a sexist idiot, believes that he should be the supreme ruler of Boarderland and Wonderland, and he eventually wants to take over Earth as well. He plans to destroy Alyss through Molly, Alyss's trusted bodyguard. Molly is very loyal, unfortunately, she is rather impulsive and not very bright at times. She is also very young and inexperienced and thinks that she is treated differently because she is not allowed to go on many military adventures and she thinks that is because people do not understand her fighting skills, so she is desperate to prove herself. In the story there is also a side story of Hatter, Alyss's old bodyguard who went on leave to mourn the death of his love. So far, we do not know if he can overcome his grief and return to his post or if he will just continue mourning. Also, in the story there is the issue of Queen Alyss being in love with Dodge, her captain of the guards. She and Dodge were childhood friends, but Alyss's love may get in the way of her duty as Queen and Dodge is sort of obsesed about revenge for the death of his father.

I really hope that in this book Alyss doesn't forget about her duty as queen because she loves Dodge. I am fine with romance novels, unless the people get stupid because of their love. I think that Alyss needs to focus on being Queen and securing the peace in Wonderland, before she thinks about dating Dodge. I also hope that this book keeps the series good, because a lot of times sequels are not nearly as good as the first books. One thing that I really like about this book is how the people are realistic and have many flaws. Alyss is in love with Dodge and is rather inexperienced. Dodge is rather obsessed about revenge against Redd and the Cat and that tends to make him do stupid things. Bibwit, Alyss's advisor, is wise, but not very brave and in times of battle he can be a little cowardly. Molly has the flaws of being inexperienced and not thinking things through, and is rather conceded and overestimates her own skills. Hatter is realistic because he fell in love with this woman who died and now has left his duty to mourn for her.