Reviews

Unbirthday by Liz Braswell

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samfang's review against another edition

Alice in Wonderland is my favorite piece of literature, so I realize I’m harder on stories set in Carroll’s world than others may be, but as excited as I was to read this, I could bare it no longer. Braswell is either hit or miss with her writing, with some descriptions and dialogues feeling as though Carroll himself wrote them, while others are so terribly off the mark.

The final straw for me was when Alice and her group of Wonderland friends were referred to as “our traveling heroes”, of which shortly after a character was unnecessarily described as having an “anthropomorphic” expression and a few paragraphs later Alice continues her incessant and wanton disrespect for Wonderland’s inhabitants, telling the Hatter to “shut up.” I get that this is a different, darker Wonderland — but Braswell’s inability to capture the magic that made the original story so enthralling dooms Unbirthday too early on to bother continuing.

jasmyn9's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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? N/A

4.75

shukrnai's review against another edition

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4.0

It talks about an older (and wiser) Alice and how she falls down in the rabbit hole once again to find that Wonderland is immensely different, physically and mentally. I think it was a whimsical read although someparts were described too long and made the book's pace slower, resulting in a few skim reads. Overall, its a definite read for disney and Alice in wonderland anthusiasts.

whitney210's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ameserole's review against another edition

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4.0

Ever since I saw Unbirthday was coming out... I was beyond excited to get my hands on it. Any kind of retellings gets me excited so it was fair to assume that I would devour Alice's story. Which I did. I loved it.

So Alice is back in the real world and loves photography. Yet, there's a little inkling that she might be going back to Wonderland. At this point, she is around 18 years old and it has been a while since she has been there. So if you're like me, you'd be thinking that things have changed back in that world. Just like Alice has changed in her own world.

Have no fear, she goes back and finds this all out with her own eyes. I did enjoy all the little reunions though and how they still remember her. Even if she didn't always have them on her mind. From entering Wonderland, Alice realized that things aren't quite right anymore. The Queen of Hearts is way out of control now and wants to own all the toys in the land. Oh and executions all the time? Plus, people actually have to be in attendance or else.

Other than that, I kind of thought it was cool that she could slide in and out of wonderland to the real world quite easily. It just made this book go on a whole new level. Plus how she viewed people back in her world has her friends in Wonderland. Very creative and addicting to read about.

In the end, the epilogue was so freaking cute. Not sure if there's going to be another retelling but I would be down for it.