4 stars
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, this book is gorgeous. Great cover art, cool illustrations, and I loved all of the creative variations in typography. It really added to the feel of the story.
I am a huge fan of books that use codes and riddles and found this a great setting for them. It was cool to read a Wonderland retelling that recognized Lewis Carroll as more than just someone who wrote some children’s books. Great way to incorporate math and codes. I loved the combination of logic and magic throughout the story.
There was a lot going on in this book. It deals with so many things, from bullies and being yourself to the importance of a balance of logic and imagination. I also felt that Celia’s dyslexia was fairly well-portrayed. It’s nice to see more books with characters with dyslexia and showing the various ways they see the world and deal with difficulties. It also helped correct some misconceptions and overgeneralizations about people with dyslexia.
However, at times the book felt very slow. The action keeps going but sometimes the narration got caught up in itself, overly describing things and slowing down the pace in a way that didn’t motivate me to want to keep reading. For anyone even vaguely familiar with Wonderland, it was pretty easy to follow the settings and sights. The book really didn’t need as much description as it included. This is a pretty hefty book and I think it may have flowed better with more concise narration.
The two main twists were very obvious based on all the buildup. This in itself isn’t bad, but it was a little frustrating that the reader could easily pick up on something that took so long for the characters to figure out. It really slowed down the pace for me while reading.
I was also slightly confused by the narration change. The first chapter is told in third-person. Then chapters 2-7 are told from Celia’s point of view. The rest of the book switches back to third-person until the final epilogue chapters, which are once again told by Celia. It was a bit odd that these changes weren’t labeled or pointed out in some way and it really pulled me out of the story, especially with the final shift after reading the third-person narration for so long.
Overall, a fun new take on the Wonderland series. I loved the inspiration of the missing diaries and the incorporation of logic puzzles with various twists. Some cool twerks on the original story and an interesting setup for a possible second book.
For the most part, I enjoyed this book, though it did take me nearly a month to finish because of the slow pace. The new spin was creative an interesting, with some cool sci-fi elements thrown in to the mix.