Reviews

Unbirthday // by Liz Braswell

It is 11 years after Alice's last adventure in Wonderland. She is now 18 years old and her days are preoccupied with photography and avoiding the men her sister tries to set her up with. Wonderland seems more like a dream from long ago than reality until its inhabitants appear mysteriously where she would least expect them. It is clear they are in danger and Alice is desperate to find her way back there to help her old... friends? She is unsure what they are to her but one thing is clear: They need her to rescue them from the evil Queen of Hearts that is a worse terror than she could have ever imagined.

This is my first experience with The Twisted Tale series and a book I was very excited about receiving. While overall, I'm happy I read it, there are several things I had issues with. Despite this though, I do still want to read the entire rest of the series because I can see the fun potential in this.

I've often wished heroines would be a little older than 15 or 16 because in a lot of stories, the young heroines seem so much more mature than real people of that age. I was excited that at least Alice was 18 and would bring us a little closer to that but instead, she seemed more childish at times than a 14-year-old. Though she did bring some sense to the extreme nonsense of Wonderland, and by extreme I mean EXTREME. I understand that things are supposed to be different in Wonderland but there was so much nonsense mixed together that it made it very difficult sometimes to follow along. I wish some of the scenes were longer and more detailed (it's difficult to give examples without spoilers) because it just seemed to jump from one thing to the next without letting us know how the characters actually accomplished certain things that were important to the story.

I know it sounds like there is too much bad but there are some parts that I really enjoyed. Mr. Katz is one of them. His personality was like a fresh breath of air and I found myself looking forward to each encounter. Another part I found very intriguing is the connection between the two worlds. I'm a fan of multiple timelines and narrators, and while this one did not have that specifically, the two different worlds very much gave me that same feeling. While I did previously mention that I would've liked more explanations of things, I did enjoy the dark elements that were present in this story. I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to horror and thriller books but this had just the right amount of creepy to make it interesting. I initially expected this to be a literal retelling of the original Alice in Wonderland but I actually liked the fact that this was 11 years later and how the passing of time has changed the characters and Wonderland itself. It also gives some parallels between Alice's real world and ours with the current discussions surrounding immigration.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. While I saw both ups and downs in this story myself, I am still excited to finally have started reading this series!

emma_l_f44's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

pena12488's review against another edition

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3.0

I feel like this book was dragged on too much. I feel like the book could’ve finished sooner. I did enjoy the authors writing though, the way she worded things in the book.

Parts that stuck out to me:

Mr.Cats is the cat in the other world! So cool! I am glad Alice finally ended up with someone and that he understood her world! Wonderful ending!

Alice’s sister: The Dodo being her sister is hilarious! It fits so well!

The amount of work it takes to get to the other world is very interesting.

Alice’s aunt is a badass!