Reviews

I've become a pretty big fan of Jennifer Hillier's work so when I got an invitation to listen to an upcoming audiobook release of an older book that I hadn't read, I was a happy woman. Hillier has a great writing voice and creates seriously dark tales with flawed characters that are believable. Wonderland is another in that category.

There are quite a few characters in this book but our main POVs are Vanessa, the new deputy chief of police in Sea Side OR, Oz, her love interest with ties to all sorts of things happening, Ava, Vanessa's 14 year-old daughter who works at Wonderland, and Bianca aka The Dragon Lady, the CEO of Wonderland and seductress of 18 year-old "wonder workers" who all have a specific type.

Wonderland is twisted and creepy and filled with red herrings and potential bad guys. And I enjoyed it all. Mostly. There are issues with repetitive information sharing and some unbelievability but nothing that made me regret my time spent with the cast of characters.

Narrator Eunice Wong did a great job. Sometimes narrators get in the way of enjoying a book but Ms. Wong only enhanced my enjoyment.

Big thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the audiobook!

idle_reader's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This was the perfect book to get me out of a reading funk. I hadn’t picked up a book in a while that made it hard to stop reading. For that reason, this book was a 4. EDIT: came back and gave it a 3, closer to 3.5 after thinking on it a little more.

I hadn’t read anything by Jennifer Hillier so I was pleasantly surprised by her ability to build suspense. I also appreciated the insight into the characters’ lives. It wasn’t just a thriller with little to no character development.

My only complaint is that she made it seem like the killer could be too many people. First, we suspect Hovey, then we suspect Bianca and Oz, then Carlos. Then it ends up being someone we don’t find out had anything to do with Wonderland and it’s sordid past until the very end. The reveal of who the killer was at the end was also a little anticlimactic because Vanessa had already been told who Bianca’s jilted lover was. BUT, I still very very much enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone who was in the thriller mood.

terriblelynne's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

hucks63's review

Go to review page

fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

wandering_canuck's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Highly predictable. This book tries to be everything, but falls flat in most regards. The first couple of chapters were very promising, but the intensity fizzled fast.

Without trying to make this a spoiler: too many bodies, too many killers, too many creeps, too predictable. Not enough tension, character/plot development, surprises.

Wonderland had the potential to be a roller coaster of a ride, but it didn't even make it to the fear level of bumper cars.

hprestanski's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

More...