I Kissed Alice

June 8, 2020
Through alternating chapters, the first thing readers learn about Iliana Vrionides and Rhodes Ingram is that they hate each other. Seniors at a prestigious Alabama arts high school, they have a history (Iliana blames Rhodes for the loss of Iliana’s college scholarship) and they fight over who’s closer to Sarah (Iliana’s childhood friend and Rhodes’s roommate). Both talented, they’re competing for the big Capstone Award, though Rhodes is struggling with an artistic block related to her mother’s overinvestment in her success. About the only time the two aren’t sniping is when they’re—separately—on fan fiction site Slash/Spot. Little do they know that under the cloak of usernames Curious-in-Cheshire and I-Kissed-Alice, they’re actually collaborating on a queer Alice in Wonderland comic, Hearts and Spades. As they get closer to the award announcement, things become more strained IRL, while online, Cheshire and Alice agree to meet up. Enemies-turned-lovers is a well-traveled premise, but author Birch keeps the tension high, presenting everything—love, hate, class differences, scheming mothers, backstabbing friends—at a fever pitch. Though scenes sometimes lean into melodrama, the characters’ ability to make things hard for themselves and others on the road to self-discovery makes for roller-coaster reading. Ying’s (City of Secrets) paneled illustrations of Iliana and Rhodes’s collaboration add a romantic fanfic flair. Ages 14–up. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary.

In this audiobook narrated by Lori Prince and Jesse Vilinsky, two teen girls find their artistic voices and learn to question toxic relationships. Art conservatory students Rhodes and Iliana are bitter rivals, driven by ignorant assumptions and jealousy over their mutual best friend, Sarah. Yet on the internet, they enjoy a passionate, pseudonymous collaboration on an Alice-in-Wonderland webcomic. It's not until they both enter a high-pressure scholarship competition that their online dynamic becomes contentious, too. Prince sounds relentlessly sardonic as outspoken working-class Iliana, while Vilinsky brings tremulous anxiety and hard-edged control to upper-class Rhodes. Though some listeners may find the story and narration too intense, others will relate to the challenges the characters face. R.A.H. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine