bluewithstars's review against another edition
3.5
This is one for Alice fans. Short stories to read independently or as a whole collection.
yusra_should_be_reading_rn's review
2.0
I love Alice in wonderland but this bored me but hey at least I finished it in less than two hours!
lucyjunee's review
2.0
I am a huge Alice fan. The biggest. Anything Alice related and I will consume it. Obsessed. So, you can probably imagine how excited I was for this anthology of wonderland inspired stories, I was buzzing with it. Sadly, it turned out to be boring, dull, unoriginal and wholly lacking in creativity.
My thoughts on each story are as follows:
- “Acorns, Biscuits and treacle”: although I appreciate the focus on the least known characters from the original novella who aren’t featured in the Disney adaptations (Pig and the girls at the bottom of the treacle well) it was the only connection to wonderland. It was both dry and uninteresting and completely lacks any sort of whimsy or quirkiness, signatures to Carroll’s writing. Two stars.
- “The Queen of Hearts and the Unwritten Written Rule”: the prose here was absolutely hilarious, so original and fun, I laughed a lot. The premise of wonderland being transformed into a tourist attraction with its own tripadvisor page was just hysterical and I adored it immensely. However, every other word being capitalised really did my head in. It was unnecessary and distracting, serving no purpose to the story or characterisation. Three stars - but it would have been four if it was just typed normally.
- “The sensible Hatter”: Hatter goes sensible, which in itself destroys his character rather than adding to it. It was lovely to see a larger cast of wonderland creatures, even if most of them were out-of-character, but that seemed to be a running theme here. I did however enjoy the little nods to contextual elements of the book, such as the doctor being named Liddell and the name Lutwidge being suggested for the new and improved sensible Hatter. Two stars.
- “The missing book”: laughably bad. Painful to read. It had absolutely no reminiscence of wonderland in the slightest and it was horrifically boring to read. One star.
- “Roll of honour”: please, what was this? Horrendous. One stars.
- “The Tweedle Twins and the Case of the Colossal Crow”: I had no clue what was happening at any point during this which makes it the most Alice - esque story so far. Very good. Three stars.
- “Ina out of wonderland”: one of my favourite authors?! And of course she exceeds my expectations, as she does every time. So inventive, unique and creative, drawing on the context and history of the creator of Wonderland. Would happily read a full novel of this. Five stars.
- “Plum cakes at dawn”: was I starting to lose hope in any of these stories (other than Robin’s) actually being good? Definitely. And this story only destroyed what little faith I had left. It’s like they’ve never actually read any of Carroll’s work - the point of the original novella is whimsy and fun and madness and this story lacks all, it’s stupid but not in an enjoyable way. The characters are boring, which is just insulting to what Carroll made them to be. One star.
- “The knave of hearts”: this had an interesting concept - whether the knave of hearts was found guilty in the trial at the end of the book, since Carroll never gives closure on the matter. But unsurprisingly, it was terrible. One star.
- “How the chesire cat got his smile”: so how did he get it? some questions are better left unanswered and this is one of them. One star.
- “The caterpillar and the moth rumour”: we finally got to the end and will we end on a sour note? Sour. Very sour. One star.
Overall rating: two stars.
I’m so sorry, Carroll. What a disgrace to your memory.
My thoughts on each story are as follows:
- “Acorns, Biscuits and treacle”: although I appreciate the focus on the least known characters from the original novella who aren’t featured in the Disney adaptations (Pig and the girls at the bottom of the treacle well) it was the only connection to wonderland. It was both dry and uninteresting and completely lacks any sort of whimsy or quirkiness, signatures to Carroll’s writing. Two stars.
- “The Queen of Hearts and the Unwritten Written Rule”: the prose here was absolutely hilarious, so original and fun, I laughed a lot. The premise of wonderland being transformed into a tourist attraction with its own tripadvisor page was just hysterical and I adored it immensely. However, every other word being capitalised really did my head in. It was unnecessary and distracting, serving no purpose to the story or characterisation. Three stars - but it would have been four if it was just typed normally.
- “The sensible Hatter”: Hatter goes sensible, which in itself destroys his character rather than adding to it. It was lovely to see a larger cast of wonderland creatures, even if most of them were out-of-character, but that seemed to be a running theme here. I did however enjoy the little nods to contextual elements of the book, such as the doctor being named Liddell and the name Lutwidge being suggested for the new and improved sensible Hatter. Two stars.
- “The missing book”: laughably bad. Painful to read. It had absolutely no reminiscence of wonderland in the slightest and it was horrifically boring to read. One star.
- “Roll of honour”: please, what was this? Horrendous. One stars.
- “The Tweedle Twins and the Case of the Colossal Crow”: I had no clue what was happening at any point during this which makes it the most Alice - esque story so far. Very good. Three stars.
- “Ina out of wonderland”: one of my favourite authors?! And of course she exceeds my expectations, as she does every time. So inventive, unique and creative, drawing on the context and history of the creator of Wonderland. Would happily read a full novel of this. Five stars.
- “Plum cakes at dawn”: was I starting to lose hope in any of these stories (other than Robin’s) actually being good? Definitely. And this story only destroyed what little faith I had left. It’s like they’ve never actually read any of Carroll’s work - the point of the original novella is whimsy and fun and madness and this story lacks all, it’s stupid but not in an enjoyable way. The characters are boring, which is just insulting to what Carroll made them to be. One star.
- “The knave of hearts”: this had an interesting concept - whether the knave of hearts was found guilty in the trial at the end of the book, since Carroll never gives closure on the matter. But unsurprisingly, it was terrible. One star.
- “How the chesire cat got his smile”: so how did he get it? some questions are better left unanswered and this is one of them. One star.
- “The caterpillar and the moth rumour”: we finally got to the end and will we end on a sour note? Sour. Very sour. One star.
Overall rating: two stars.
I’m so sorry, Carroll. What a disgrace to your memory.
tara681's review
3.0
3.5. This books includes 10 short stories about Wonderland. Some I loved and some I disliked but overall the concept of this book was amazing. Something great for any Alice in wonderland fan.
teri_b's review against another edition
5.0
This was an utterly entertaining, hilarious and enjoyable read of the 11 short stories that have been written by eleven children's authors with the prompt of, What happened after Alice left Wonderland.
The stories that have come together in this short story collection by pan macmillan are entertaining, focus each on one or several different characters from the original stories by Lewis Carroll and give them each new twists and turns. They play around with words as well as with the whimsicalness and the nonsense of the original stories.
It is a long time since I laughed and chuckled as much whilst reading a book as when I read Return to Wonderland. And, should I ever need a story to brighten my day, I know now where to certainly find a story that does exactly that.
What I also loved is the short introduction each author gives with her/his personal relationship to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and how it came a certain character was chosen for the short story written.
I am already looking forward to meet the book in print once it is out end of June. In addition to its fabulous content, it also comes with a beautiful book cover.
I received an eArc from the publisher via Netgalley UK in return for an honest review.
The stories that have come together in this short story collection by pan macmillan are entertaining, focus each on one or several different characters from the original stories by Lewis Carroll and give them each new twists and turns. They play around with words as well as with the whimsicalness and the nonsense of the original stories.
It is a long time since I laughed and chuckled as much whilst reading a book as when I read Return to Wonderland. And, should I ever need a story to brighten my day, I know now where to certainly find a story that does exactly that.
What I also loved is the short introduction each author gives with her/his personal relationship to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and how it came a certain character was chosen for the short story written.
I am already looking forward to meet the book in print once it is out end of June. In addition to its fabulous content, it also comes with a beautiful book cover.
I received an eArc from the publisher via Netgalley UK in return for an honest review.
readwithlissanne's review
3.0
A book, you must understand, can be a terrible thing. The most terrible of terrible things. Books, you see, are full of stories. They sit on shelves, maybe on floors, perhaps even on desks and tables. They are sometimes large, sometimes slim, sometimes creased.
This book was somehow everything and nothing I expected. I liked the stories written about other characters from the beloved [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884], but nearly every one of them didn't speak to me.
The ones I really enjoyed were The Missing Book, The Sensible Hatter and The Knave of Hearts.
Fun afternoon read, but I don't think I'll be rereading this one.
This book was somehow everything and nothing I expected. I liked the stories written about other characters from the beloved [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391204048l/6324090._SX50_.jpg|55548884], but nearly every one of them didn't speak to me.
The ones I really enjoyed were The Missing Book, The Sensible Hatter and The Knave of Hearts.
Fun afternoon read, but I don't think I'll be rereading this one.
shaunamcg's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kateadale's review
3.0
I think I am giving this a 3.5 star rating. Although I really enjoyed some of the stories, especially the mock turtle story that had me laughing out loud. Yet a couple of the stories I really didn't like. I hated the format of the second story with the random words in capital letters. It just confused me. So those factors did drag down the over all rating for me.
goldenbooksgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this despite never having read the original!
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
This book was on my wishlist ever since I discovered it existed and last weekend we found a copy in the Waterstones in Amsterdam. Of course I took it home and of course I had to read it at one of the earliest opportunities.
And just like with every collection of stories there were stories that really touched me and did something with me and there were stories that resonated a little less. Let me start with saying that there was not one story that I truly disliked and wanted to be over. I liked it that every story starred other characters and that each plot and angle was so unique and original and different. I'm sure there's a story for everyone in here and they're all amazingly well written.
But, I of course want to highlight a few of my personal favourites. My absolute favourite, I think, was the library story, where the arrogant Mock Turtle has to solve the mystery of the missing book, that has appeared on the missing books shelf. It felt true to the Wonderland madness where right is wrong and wrong is right, it was funny and very very clever.
Of course that wasn't the only highlight. I also really enjoyed the story in which Alice's older sister Ina tries to save her younger sister Alice from the horrible Wonderland Lewis Caroll has created. Not only did this story work perfectly with the original story of Caroll we know so well, it also gave the spotlight to a character that barely got any attention to begin with.
And, last but not least, there was the story where Wonderland has become a giant Alice in Wonderland theme park, with coffee machines, smoothies (all tasting like banana, no matter what fruit is in there) and shirts, which was really really amusing, and the story of how the cheshire cat got his characteristic grin, which was dark and disturbing and yet also a little bit funny, just like the original Wonderland tale.
I'm not sure if I'd read the entire book again, but I'm sure I'll re-read some of my favourite stories quite often in the future.
And just like with every collection of stories there were stories that really touched me and did something with me and there were stories that resonated a little less. Let me start with saying that there was not one story that I truly disliked and wanted to be over. I liked it that every story starred other characters and that each plot and angle was so unique and original and different. I'm sure there's a story for everyone in here and they're all amazingly well written.
But, I of course want to highlight a few of my personal favourites. My absolute favourite, I think, was the library story, where the arrogant Mock Turtle has to solve the mystery of the missing book, that has appeared on the missing books shelf. It felt true to the Wonderland madness where right is wrong and wrong is right, it was funny and very very clever.
Of course that wasn't the only highlight. I also really enjoyed the story in which Alice's older sister Ina tries to save her younger sister Alice from the horrible Wonderland Lewis Caroll has created. Not only did this story work perfectly with the original story of Caroll we know so well, it also gave the spotlight to a character that barely got any attention to begin with.
And, last but not least, there was the story where Wonderland has become a giant Alice in Wonderland theme park, with coffee machines, smoothies (all tasting like banana, no matter what fruit is in there) and shirts, which was really really amusing, and the story of how the cheshire cat got his characteristic grin, which was dark and disturbing and yet also a little bit funny, just like the original Wonderland tale.
I'm not sure if I'd read the entire book again, but I'm sure I'll re-read some of my favourite stories quite often in the future.