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kasvispupu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Violence
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Transphobia, and Vomit
Minor: Deadnaming, Death of parent, Incest, Animal death, and Alcoholism
Also drugging and mentions of an overdose death occur in the book.fiekesfiction's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It is very hard for me to describe “wonderland” by Juno Dawson because it was not what I expected it to be.
“If my hair isn’t blue, how will anyone know I’m transgender?”
“Natural colours only,” she says for the millionth time.
I smile slightly “Ms Grafton, I think I left natural behind years ago, don’t you?”
The story follows Alice. After she had a one night stand with Bunny, the girl has disappeared and no one seems to care. When she tries to find out what happened to her, Alice ends up in a strange party for the elite.
Even though this is written in a funny way, the story has a lot of darker things going on. Especially in the beginning with Alice making sarcastic comments, the story felt a bit light and I thought it would just be a quick fun read. But soon I realised that was absolutely not the case.
She winks again and walks off with my phone. It feels a lot like she’s removed a vital organ. I’d rather she’d taken a kidney to be franks, I have two of those and can’t watch memes on either.
Juno Dawson is very good at adding topical themes to her story in a clever way.
The Alice in wonderland retelling is very well done. This story has the same surreal feeling of things not being quite right, as the original story does. The wonderland in this case is obviously the different lives extremely rich and privileged people live. The world is a bit different for them.
It’s really obvious which characters are based on the original Alice in wonderland characters, but it was actually fun to compare them. I did think this story doesn’t really have a ‘plot’, mainly Alice is just stumbling around not really knowing what she’s doing, but it makes sense with the way this story ends and I think it also adds to the feeling of “wonderland” since the original tale is also really not a lot more than Alice trying to understand a strange world. The themes were great, the writing was funny and the main character was flawed but well developed.
“Is our collective self-esteem so waferthin that we rely on compliments from strangers for sustenance?”
I would recommend this to anyone who wants a very different and diverse story with themes of feminism and class.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Rape
that_bookworm_guy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.5
A clever modern day retelling of Alice in Wonderland featuring a trans main character, yes please!!
Throughout the book, there are quotes from Alice in Wonderland woven throughout and characters that share similarities to the original characters.
The story is interesting and strange, and honestly wild. But very enjoyable.
It's dark, and it's messy and focuses a lot on mental health. But as a trans person, I could see a lot of similarities in mine and Alice's experiences. I love being able to see parts of myself in fictional characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Vomit, Violence, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Self harm, and Mental illness
Minor: Incest
beesbumblebooks's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I read three of Juno Dawsons Novels, and they are all written in a very fast pace, especially Clean and, now, Wonderland. Even though I say fuck the upper class, I love it in Dawsons novels, because the upperclass is fucked there. Which it probably is in real life? I don't know.
Wonderland had a kind of adventurous-mystery-story vibe. I kept wondering how much of that kind really happens in the upper class or if it's exaggerated or dramatic. I really liked that it was dramatic, though. The end was a bit to classic: First a showdown, waking up in a hospital, then being all I-found-myself-and-have-it-sorted-out. Yeah, but it's fine. <spoolerover>
Baby spoilers on personalities and vibe of story, also on the vibe of Dawson books:
What I really like about Dawsons novel is that she made up a world for all of them - the places are the same throughout the novels and bop up like easter eggs, which is very exciting when you've read the other novels. After a while one sees even a continuity and how Juno Dawson begins to intertwine the stories, or at least elements, into other ones. It's great and makes me feel like I know shit.
Other than that I immediatly loved the main character, Alice, because she's reflected, she's undramatic and just a good person without SHOWING HER MORALS WAH WAH WAH. All the characters are amazingly written. Most people have a small part in Alice's story, like in Alice in Wonderland she seems to meet them in one chapter, than moving on. Still each interaction sticks and seems important, the characters being on point and fully developed without saying much. I guess that's what good writers do - putting personalities into persons. Dawson doesn't seem to judge, she just describes different persons like: Yep, that's people, and it's brilliant.
I also want to add that all the sexual encounters are described with so much feeling, not needing to be explicit to transport what's happening and how incredible it feels, what the expierience does with one's mind. I'm always excited when book can capture something so intimate and unique so well. And also the description of being transgender and also struggling with mental illnes are so...yeah, undramatic, I'd say. They take part in everything, a thught here, and observation there, but interwoven in the story, showing it as it is, normal life, the experience of many people who just deal with it between all the other stuff that's happening. It sucks and then there are other things to be thought of. Or it's wonderful and then there comes real life shit.
I also want to add that all the sexual encounters are described with so much feeling, not needing to be explicit to transport what's happening and how incredible it feels, what the expierience does with one's mind. I'm always excited when book can capture something so intimate and unique so well. And also the description of being transgender and also struggling with mental illnes are so...yeah, undramatic, I'd say. They take part in everything, a thught here, and observation there, but interwoven in the story, showing it as it is, normal life, the experience of many people who just deal with it between all the other stuff that's happening. It sucks and then there are other things to be thought of. Or it's wonderful and then there comes real life shit.
Yeah, good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Death, Self harm, and Sexual assault
mxjx's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Transphobia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Deadnaming
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