Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
The VBC team likes a good fairy tale retelling, but what we like even more is when they go totally fresh and plenty dark. Naturally, we were big into Christina Henry’s Alice. The sequel Lost Boy made our 2017 Most Anticipated List for a reason. Late VBC reviewer Amanda adored this book, and recommended it to practically ever person she met. Here’s a rather convincing snippet from her review of Alice: This... 
Christina Henry is the author of the Black Wings urban fantasy series, books featuring an angel of death and—wait for it—her loyal gargoyle. To be honest, however, I didn’t hear of her until she took a huge departure and went classical—with a twist. Alice came out last year, and I was blown away by the way the story is utterly changed, and yet so very similar. Frankly, I loved it. As did so many others...
Alice Christina Henry Published: Aug. 4, 2015 (Ace) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review Reviewed by: Amanda Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars What if Alice wasn’t a silly girl who’d chased after a white rabbit? What if she was crazy instead? Christina Henry takes Lewis Carroll’s classic tale and turns it on its ear, giving us a dark and... 
Black Spring (Black Wings #7) Christina Henry Published: Oct. 28, 2014 (Ace) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review source: Purchased Reviewed by: Krista Rating (out of 5): 4 stars Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it does reference events from previous books in the series. In my head the Black Wings books feel like a ‘new’ series even though we are now on book 7. It’s been one of my... 
You know how some books seem to take a little while to get started? The world is so elaborate or the language is so stylized that it takes some time to get used to it so you can really get into the story. For me Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires is the exact opposite. I instantly feel at home in that world and feel like those characters are old friends. Christina Henry’s Black Wings is another series... 
We’re in a gifting mood here at VBC. While we’d point you to our best books of 2013 list for holiday shopping, maybe you’d like a little something for yourself? (It’s okay, we’ve been known to utilize the ‘book for them, book for us’ policy.) We’ve pulled four great urban fantasy titles out of the VBC giveaway vault for one lucky VBC reader. Enter below for a chance to win copies of: On Midnight Wings by... 
Black Wings (Black Wings #1) Christina Henry Published: Nov. 30, 2010 (Ace Books) Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon Review Source: Purchased Reviewed by: Amber Rating (out of 5): 2 stars Madeline Black has been on her own since she was a young girl, her father having been absent from her birth and her mother dying on the job. With her mother’s death, Maddy was forced to take on her responsibilities as... 
It’s so much fun seeing what book y’all are recommending as the best book of 2012. (Many of you have named some of the ones you’ll see in my top list. You have excellent taste.) If you haven’t voted yet, you still have time! Plus, by nominating your favorite book you get entered to win any book VBC has reviewed—and that is more than 250 choices. For those of you who have been following my Krav Maga for...
