You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
Omg I loved it so much. I read it at my library and had to buy my own personal copy because I loved it so much. Love the trans and lesbian representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Alcohol
Ihan täydellinen lukukokemus minulle. Eliittinuoret, mysteeri ja vanhojen tarinoiden uudelleen kerronta toimii minulle. Taitavaa kuvausta mielen syövereistä ja tunteista. Yhtä omituinen, mutta hieno kuin esikuvansa.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"I've been known to visualise killing up to six people each morning before breakfast". We aren't in Kansas anymore, or are we?
Dawson's Wonderland is a mixture of the classic, including direct quotes with bacchanalian teenage high society. Wonderland is a place where anything consensual goes and anything non consensual is largely punished.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault, Substance Abuse, Incest, Bipolar, Suicide, Murder. Essentially one to avoid if you have any triggers.
Alice is a transgender teenager at boarding school when her friend and previous love interest Bunny goes missing she is confused by the lack of concern and begins looking for her. Alice uncovers a world of her school society she never expected and is thrust into some genuinely terrifying experiences. I felt the story line with Paisley was a really interesting one but that the ending felt rushed, there is an inherent sense of her being free to proceed as she wishes. I can only presume that this is all gearing up for a second book.
Dawson's Wonderland is a mixture of the classic, including direct quotes with bacchanalian teenage high society. Wonderland is a place where anything consensual goes and anything non consensual is largely punished.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual Assault, Substance Abuse, Incest, Bipolar, Suicide, Murder. Essentially one to avoid if you have any triggers.
Alice is a transgender teenager at boarding school when her friend and previous love interest Bunny goes missing she is confused by the lack of concern and begins looking for her. Alice uncovers a world of her school society she never expected and is thrust into some genuinely terrifying experiences. I felt the story line with Paisley was a really interesting one but that the ending felt rushed, there is an inherent sense of her being free to proceed as she wishes. I can only presume that this is all gearing up for a second book.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved Clean but really struggled with this. It's quite a short book but I felt the plot meandered in a repetitive way. It probably doesn't help that I'm not a huge Alice in Wonderland fan. I thought a lot of the references were forced in to the detriment of the plot. Trans rep was great, shame about the rest of it. Having said that, I'll still give Meat Market a go.
Alice updated for relevant issues, themes and groups. Clever stuff.
It would really help for a reader/listener to know Carroll's original, or the regular references will be wasted. The updating feels fresh, smart and is full of memorable characters, often playing on traits and lines from the children's book.
Alice now is a teenager, and the White Rabbit is her missing friend Bunny. Visiting Wonderland by invitation, she find it a sensualist days-long party where norms and expectations go out of the window, and other young people she knows are congregating for various purposes.
As is usual with Dawson, themes of sexuality, coming-of-age, teenage relationships and sex itself are not shied away from, with some graphic content here making this feel authentic.
Like Carroll's Wonderland, can Alice trust anyone? Even herself?
Without giving anything away, the plot, characters and even quotes from the book (as well as references to the author) fill the story. And yet it feels completely contemporary. I did find the denouement a little cliched, but everything that came before it was original and well thought-out.
I listened to this via Audible, and enjoyed hearing Dawson's own voice narrating her own creations, with a range of accents and tones. She brought Alice's mixture of young libidinous adult and vulnerability out very well.
With twists and other issues that fall outside the remit of the classic story, it's a combination of update and modern adolescent novel. Drugs, sex, sexual violence, gender identity, this is for older teenagers really, and does contain unapologetic (sexual) swearing and some scenes that might upset younger readers.
Cleverly done. Lots for book groups to talk about with this one. For ages 14 and above.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.
It would really help for a reader/listener to know Carroll's original, or the regular references will be wasted. The updating feels fresh, smart and is full of memorable characters, often playing on traits and lines from the children's book.
Alice now is a teenager, and the White Rabbit is her missing friend Bunny. Visiting Wonderland by invitation, she find it a sensualist days-long party where norms and expectations go out of the window, and other young people she knows are congregating for various purposes.
As is usual with Dawson, themes of sexuality, coming-of-age, teenage relationships and sex itself are not shied away from, with some graphic content here making this feel authentic.
Like Carroll's Wonderland, can Alice trust anyone? Even herself?
Without giving anything away, the plot, characters and even quotes from the book (as well as references to the author) fill the story. And yet it feels completely contemporary. I did find the denouement a little cliched, but everything that came before it was original and well thought-out.
I listened to this via Audible, and enjoyed hearing Dawson's own voice narrating her own creations, with a range of accents and tones. She brought Alice's mixture of young libidinous adult and vulnerability out very well.
With twists and other issues that fall outside the remit of the classic story, it's a combination of update and modern adolescent novel. Drugs, sex, sexual violence, gender identity, this is for older teenagers really, and does contain unapologetic (sexual) swearing and some scenes that might upset younger readers.
Cleverly done. Lots for book groups to talk about with this one. For ages 14 and above.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.
I had never heard of Juno Dawson before I saw a post about this book in the Book Box Club. And, if you've been following me for a while and read my reviews, you know that I love anything Wonderland related. I was therefore very curious to this book, but I got the impression it was part of a series and I needed to catch up with the other books first. Until I was told this very much worked as a standalone. So, I placed an order and started reading as soon as the book came in.
Dawson really did an amazing job translating all the Wonderland madness to the modern and contemporary world. This story is not a fantasy. It deals with amazingly heavy themes like the struggles of a transgender girl trying to find her place in the world, suicide, drug abuse, sexual harassment and rape and a few more themes I don't want to name because they would really spoil the book. And despite all the heavy themes, the book didn't FEEL too heavy. Because in between all the heaviness there was excitement too.
For a long time it seemed like this book, just like the original book, doesn't have much of a bigger plot. At first Alice is mainly trying to find Bunny and when that doesn't seem to work out that well and she's starting to feel more and more out of place it turns into Alice just wanting to go home. However, the finale is amazing. Everything WAS going somewhere and when all pieces of the puzzle click it's breathtaking and insanely interesting.
Especially because everything, even that exciting and action packed finale, is serving Alice's character growth. She starts the story unsure of who she is and wants to be. She's basically no one. During the story she's confronted with herself, with her doubts, with her fears, with her limits, with her weaknesses. However, everything, no matter how absurd and painful, eventually leads to an answer to maybe the most important question we can ever ask ourselves: "Who are you?"
I've just ordered Meat Market and I'm really curious to read that one. This story for sure was a great introduction to Dawson's work and now I want more.
Dawson really did an amazing job translating all the Wonderland madness to the modern and contemporary world. This story is not a fantasy. It deals with amazingly heavy themes like the struggles of a transgender girl trying to find her place in the world, suicide, drug abuse, sexual harassment and rape and a few more themes I don't want to name because they would really spoil the book. And despite all the heavy themes, the book didn't FEEL too heavy. Because in between all the heaviness there was excitement too.
For a long time it seemed like this book, just like the original book, doesn't have much of a bigger plot. At first Alice is mainly trying to find Bunny and when that doesn't seem to work out that well and she's starting to feel more and more out of place it turns into Alice just wanting to go home. However, the finale is amazing. Everything WAS going somewhere and when all pieces of the puzzle click it's breathtaking and insanely interesting.
Especially because everything, even that exciting and action packed finale, is serving Alice's character growth. She starts the story unsure of who she is and wants to be. She's basically no one. During the story she's confronted with herself, with her doubts, with her fears, with her limits, with her weaknesses. However, everything, no matter how absurd and painful, eventually leads to an answer to maybe the most important question we can ever ask ourselves: "Who are you?"
I've just ordered Meat Market and I'm really curious to read that one. This story for sure was a great introduction to Dawson's work and now I want more.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship