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anettainkeri's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Gun violence, Incest, and Vomit
fiekesfiction's review
- 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.
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
- 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
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.
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
padfootsbookshelf's review
- 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? No
4.0
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Minor: Deadnaming, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
So so brilliant. Loved every minute of it. Dark, mysterious and quite a lot of sarcastic humour. However there are a few scenes that could be hard to read for some but very important with some very important topics.tqlikesbooks's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
"I've been known to visualise killing up to six people each morning before breakfast."
A fun, edgy Alice in Wonderland retelling with a pansexual trans girl protagonist, who makes questionable decisions but you can't help but root for her.
Y'know YA Contemporary is so not my genre (it wasn't even when I could be considered a 'Young Adult'), but somehow I can always trust Juno to deliver an thoroughly enjoyable story. I like the decadence and excess of her 'London Trilogy' (actually just very loosely related characters/stories in the same setting). I like the humour. It's just a jolly good time.
Did it veer into cheesy British SOAP levels of dramatic ridiculousness for the finale? Absolutely! Did that ruin my enjoyment? Not really!
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault
Minor: Transphobia
lilymurph's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
mxjx's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism, Vomit, Transphobia, and Sexual assault
Minor: Deadnaming
beccaand's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Transphobia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Deadnaming, and Cursing
Minor: Sexual content
rebeccafarren's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Deadnaming
sophieduncan's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Death
Minor: Deadnaming, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship