The Wonderland Trials by Sara Ella
YA Fantasy. 368 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
Solve the clues. Face your fears. Survive the Trials.
All Alice Liddell wants is to escape her Normal life in Oxford and find the parents who abandoned her ten years ago. But she gets more than she bargained for when her older sister Charlotte is arrested for having the infamous Wonder Gene—the key to unlocking the curious Wonderland Reality.
Soon, Alice receives a rather cryptic invitation to play for Team Heart in this year’s annual—and often deadly—Wonderland Trials. Now she has less than twenty-four hours to find her way into Wonderland where nothing is impossible . . . or what it seems.
The stakes are raised when she discovers players go missing during the Trials each year. Will she and her team solve the clues and find the missing players? Or will betrayal and distrust win, leaving Alice alone in a world of her own? Follow the White Rabbit into this topsy-turvy fantasy where players become prey, a sip of the wrong tea might as well be poison, and a queen’s ways do not always lead one where they ought to go.
My Review:
I feel I must preface this by saying that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has never been my favorite tale. In fact, it’s always been one of my least favorites (alongside Snow White), but as I’ve said many times I’ve learned that sometimes retellings change my mind about a story’s premise.
This little dystopian/Wonderland mash up was rather cool and intriguing. The setting actually kind of confused me for the first several chapters. It was hard to wrap my mind around exactly what the world was and how Wonderland related to it, etc. I actually struggled with the opening as a whole. It was a bit of a slower start and the noise of Wonderlandish things has always made my head hurt a little. But that said, once I got my footing, I really enjoyed the world. The YA dystopian England was cool (it kind of gave of 1984 vibes), but Wonderland was actually really intriguing (once I got the hang of it) and I’m curious to learn more in the next book.
As for the story, again, it kind of took a slow start. Even then, I was invested enough to push through and figure out where exactly Ella was going with this. I’ll tell you though, once we hit the midpoint, that’s when things got all topsy turvy and turned around. By the last third to half of the book, I was hooked in and really didn’t want to put it down. She pulled out a few twists and turns that I wasn’t prepared for. The Trials were my favorite part and the teamwork. I wished more of the book had delved into them, but I’m very curious to see what Book 2 brings. There were threads of a mystery (and I’m a sucker for a good mystery) woven into all the chaos of the typical Wonderland-scape. It’s not just a story about a girl lost in a nightmarish world. And the queen element is something I definitely want to learn more about. It’s an odd science-fiction mash up with mystery and heart and colors galore.
I loved that Alice had a sister, Charlotte. I don’t recall any renditions where Alice has a sister so that dynamic was really fun for me. And I totally connected with Charlotte–big sister all the way XD But I really liked how Alice was good, really good, at cards. I’ve always loved cards, so it was fun to hear about different kinds of games. I love riddles and clues and games, so that was definitely one of my favorite elements of the story. I was a little guarded about Chess cause I’ve always hated the Chesshire cat (he creeps me out!), but he won me over. He was sweet in his nonsensical kind of way, and showed something deeper that I hope we really get to explore more of in the next book. And I absolutely hope we see more of Madi in the next book! She was fun and didn’t get near enough stage time to satisfy me.
Oh, and the way she utilized tea was really cool. There are so many nods to the classic tale so many people love, and that’s half the fun of a reimagined story. Also, guys, the cover is droolworthy!! I can’t wait to see the second one!
Content: there’s no foul language, not really any violence that I recall, and a clean, slow burn romance. The story dives into themes of family, friends, trust, teamwork, and purpose <3 Also, way less creep factor than the original, but still a few creepy moments XD I’d say it’s fine for an early teen.
More:
Book 2 in the Curious Realities duology is The Looking-Glass Illusion (4 Stars)
This duology must be read in order. For more info, check out the links on GR above or check out my thoughts on the conclusion:
On GraceBought
The Looking-Glass Illusion