A review by someonetookit
Wonderscape by Jennifer Bell

5.0

If I only had 4 words with which to write this review, I would simply say this novel is wonderful. It’s a perfect mix of fantasy and friendship, all rolled into a video game narrative set in the future. For starters, look at that cover. Its gorgeous on its own but the further you read, the more you realise that flawlessly fits in with the content from the book. A++ to whomever was in charge of graphic design, you positively nailed it.

With middle grade fantasy novels, I tend to find that they are simply fantastical with an underlying moral to the story, be it learning from your wrongs or realising that people are power, the whole fantastic exploration generally provides content that is fun but not particularly rooted in reality. Now I’m not saying Wonderscape is particularly realistic; if it were, it wouldn’t be a fantasy would it? What it is, however, is a fantastical novel that is also educational. Have you ever read a book that briefly teaches kids some amazing history like Newton discovering gravity and Tomoe Gozen being one of the only onna musha is recorded history? Me neither and I have to say that I loved it. While it is educational, an info dump it is not therefore I feel that kids are more likely to want to read the content – my daughter finished this and immediately asked me if I have any books about feudal Japan (this is an absolute win in my book).

The choice of characters allows the story to be ridiculously mutely-faceted. There is Ren, a young girl who has been in trouble with both her current and previous school (its rumoured that she rode a motorbike into the cafeteria and got all her knuckles tattooed *gasp*); Cecily is the poor little rich girl whose parents show they care with possessions rather than spend time; and there is Arthur, a boy who has been raised by his father since his mother passed away when he was 2. Together they make an odd bunch, but their personalities run the gamut, so it lends itself to some pretty great banter. They have all come together when the garden gnomes of a local neighbour explode, and a dog transports them through space and time, and all go on a journey of self-discovery by the end.

Now, Wonderscape has this spectacular point of view whereby it doesn’t matter about race, age, ancestry, or field of expertise, everyone has the ability to do something amazing with their life. Ranging from Isaac Newton to Thomas Edison, Mary Shelley to Wangari Maathai, every ‘level boss’ has presented themselves as a leader in their field at some stage throughout history. There's even the addition of a future ‘hero’ to even out the whole thing and make it just that much more enthralling. In a world of conflict and negativity, it was great to just read something that is guaranteed to build up even the most forlorn child and make them realise their potential.

So, this will be my last paragraph because honestly, I could gush about this cute masterpiece all day long and I have no doubt y’all want to get on with your day. This whole novel is an absolute masterpiece with its intriguing characters and interesting premise, but I want to make comment about the world building that has gone into this piece as a whole. No matter where the children go, the environment is majestic and full of wonderment. But its all themed around the specific person who is in charge of the world but with a twist. Going to a world with Tomoe Gozen? It’s all Japanese themed but instead of fast horses, its got fast cars. Needing to visit Edison? There is a puzzle to solve involving electricity currents, alternate power sources for trains and light bulbs. Its all thematically on point and honestly, I feel like it’s probably one of my favourite things about the novel.

If you’ve stuck around and read my waffling admiration of this, then great. if not, here's the TLDR. The characters are multifaceted and have such differing personalities that the conversations are engaging and humorous. The use of famous figures in history was done extremely well, each is given a little background, and all were given a novel spin on their achievements. I loved the underlying values relating to finding those friends whom you wouldn’t otherwise expect but also backing it up with a message that no matter who you are, you can do great things. And lastly, the worldbuilding is absolutely genius. Read it for yourself, give it to your kids, all that matters is it starts a conversation about the world we live in and to me that makes it perfect.