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alli_the_bookaholic13 's review for:
The Lost Wonderland Diaries
by J. Scott Savage
Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/5
I liked the premise of this novel and the way that the author took Wonderland and the characters and then twisted them around. It was a fun adventure, but there were definitely some confusing parts. I did read an advanced copy so there could still be changes made, but I did find that there were a few times where something felt like it was missing.
I liked the characters. Celia is dyslexic and she’s just moved to a new place where she doesn’t know anyone. She doesn’t think very highly of herself because of her dyslexia. However, Celia is brilliant at math, and she has a very logical worldview.
Tyrus was the character I related to a little bit more because he’s a self-proclaimed bookaholic. The books he reads and the worlds he escapes into are his way of combatting loneliness.
Together these two characters journey into Wonderland and discover that logic and imagination work better when they’re working together. I liked that the messages in the book were showing people that it’s okay to be different. I liked the different kinds of puzzles they were faced with solving (although there was too much math for my taste). Some of the puzzles felt like they were too simple and obvious, and these were the ones that were more important to the overall plot line.
I noticed as well that the POV changed a few times. At the beginning in Wonderland we were in third person POV, but out of Wonderland we were in Celia’s head in first person POV. However, once Celia and Tyrus were in Wonderland, we were in third person again. And once they made it home from Wonderland, we were back into Celia’s head in first person. This was a bit strange to me.
Overall, I’d recommend this book for older middle-grade readers who enjoy fantasy worlds and classic tales that have been turned upside-down.
3.5/5
I liked the premise of this novel and the way that the author took Wonderland and the characters and then twisted them around. It was a fun adventure, but there were definitely some confusing parts. I did read an advanced copy so there could still be changes made, but I did find that there were a few times where something felt like it was missing.
I liked the characters. Celia is dyslexic and she’s just moved to a new place where she doesn’t know anyone. She doesn’t think very highly of herself because of her dyslexia. However, Celia is brilliant at math, and she has a very logical worldview.
Tyrus was the character I related to a little bit more because he’s a self-proclaimed bookaholic. The books he reads and the worlds he escapes into are his way of combatting loneliness.
Together these two characters journey into Wonderland and discover that logic and imagination work better when they’re working together. I liked that the messages in the book were showing people that it’s okay to be different. I liked the different kinds of puzzles they were faced with solving (although there was too much math for my taste). Some of the puzzles felt like they were too simple and obvious, and these were the ones that were more important to the overall plot line.
I noticed as well that the POV changed a few times. At the beginning in Wonderland we were in third person POV, but out of Wonderland we were in Celia’s head in first person POV. However, once Celia and Tyrus were in Wonderland, we were in third person again. And once they made it home from Wonderland, we were back into Celia’s head in first person. This was a bit strange to me.
Overall, I’d recommend this book for older middle-grade readers who enjoy fantasy worlds and classic tales that have been turned upside-down.