Manga Review: Alice in the Country of Hearts, Vol. 5 [Paperback]

I've finished "Alice in the Country of Hearts Vol. 5" by QuinRose.
Product Description

A clever retelling of the Alice in Wonderland tale - manga-style! As the big ball approaches, everyone has an opinion on whether Alice should attend or not, and, more importantly, what kind of dress she should wear. But when Alice hears Blood's going to be there as well, she changes her mind about spending time with Wonderland's finest. The party promises to offer more than dresses and dancing in Alice in the Country of Hearts Volume 5!

Product Details
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: TokyoPop (November 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1427831475
ISBN-13: 978-1427831477

My Review:

I'm going to state this again but I highly recommend this series to an older teen audience since there is some scenes or language a younger audience shouldn't see or hear.

This manga opens with Boris talking to Alice about the Ball that night and if she has a dress.  Then Gowland arrives and then he starts getting into it with Boris about he's hurt, etc.  Alice starts yelling at them to stop it and Boris is hurt is what's more important.

Alice says she won't be going to the ball because she doesn't know how to dance when suddenly more people arrive and they teach her to dance.  She finds out that Blood will be there and she says she won't be going.  Later on we see Ace dressed up and says Julius and Alice aren't you dressed yet?  Alice says she won't be going because she doesn't have a dress.  Julius tells Alice to step over where his clocks are and then he claps his hands and a dress magically appears on Alice.  He also says he doesn't want to go but she's going too.

They arrive at the Heart Mansion and she tries to sneak away but the guards won't open the door.  The Queen is about to speak and she announces that for this night everyone will forget their competition and have fun.  Alice starts dancing with Boris when all of a sudden the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum arrive and complain that Boris is dancing with the Lady and didn't tell them.  They want to dance with her too and to save the problem those people arrive again.  They decide to dance in a circle with everyone holding hands.

During the festival Blood comes out of Vivaldi's tea room because he couldn't tear himself away from her Black Tea he loves.  He sees Alice and he starts talking to her when Elliot asks him if he would like some more tea and they leave.

Alice goes chasing after him but she sees Peter in the hallways and he starts talking to her.  He starts hugging her when Blood suddenly appears behind them and he says that she is proving him right that she leads all the guys on and to get a room.  Then he leaves and Alice chases after him again and barges into his room.  Blood is looking out the window and they start chatting about how he hates outsiders.  They come to an agreement that he would forget she's an outsider and she would pretend she wouldn't compare him to her ex-boyfriend.

The next day Alice is having tea with Blood and friends and then they start chatting. Everyone is surprised to see Alice there and they start asking her did she make up with Blood?  She says Blood is pretending to forget she's an Outsider and then he says I thought you wanted me to forget you are an Outsider, etc?

After Blood asks Alice to follow him and they arrive at the Rose Garden where she sees Vivaldi.  She learns they are brother and sister and that no knows and they are keeping it a secret.  Everyday they have tea in the Rose Garden and then Blood prunes his roses while Vivaldi and Alice have a nice chat.

5/5