Solve the clues. Face your fears. Win the trials.
It’s simple, really. Until reality itself shifts and mad hatters get involved.
But I can assure you one thing, if you’re a fan of the classic Alice in Wonderland, or a fan of dystopian, or a fan of contemporary. . . you’re going to love this book.
Now, for a little bit of context, this has been on my most-anticipated-new-release book list for quite some time—ever since I fell in love with Sara Ella’s writing. Sara Ella is in fact my favorite author ever, and kinda my contemporary literary hero. The pure brilliance of her writing and characters and just the way she pulls her stories together never fails to fascinate me, and when I learned after reading all of her books that she wasn’t publishing a new one for another year I. Was. Devastated.
And then settled down to wait.
Let’s just say The Wonderland Trials did not disappoint in the slightest. And now I have to wait even longer for the sequel to be released! Which is almost as great a travesty as Blanche de Lapin herself being late, once again, for the train.
The Review
As I said, Sara Ella did not disappoint me with another fairytale retelling, and though I don’t believe any book will ever surpass Coral (Sara’s Little Mermaid retelling) in my standards, The Wonderland Trials will definitely be very close.
The first thing I have to address is that I have never read a book like this. Ever. From the worldbuilding to the characters to the way Chess talks—it was just beautiful—a real, true Sara Ella masterpiece.
It definitely gave me Hunger Games vibes, and a little bit of the classic dystopian feel, but it was so unique and masterfully done that it really can’t be even categorized as dystopian. It felt like an old classic at times, and at other times, like a boardgame instructions manual—in the coolest way possible too. And through all of that, it’s somehow Alice in Wonderland.
And it’s magnificent.
I love how Sara even tied in the Jabberwocky, and old Wonderland poems so that true lovers of Alice in Wonderland would get all the little jokes and small nuggets of Wonderland lore.
When you first pick up the book though—and don’t even get me started on the cover agh!—you wouldn’t expect it to be Alice in Wonderland. It starts out very typical YA contemporary dystopian, etc etc, and you don’t notice the subtle references to Wonderland unless you’re really looking for them.
Also, let me just say, I have a weird fascination with protagonists who play cards. I feel like that’s just me, but if anyone else has this same strange interest, please comment and let me know. It’s just like so cool when characters are so good at cards, and games and stuff—and the fact that Alice is also a pickpocket and good at slight of hands, but she won’t cheat in a card game is just *chef kiss* beautiful.
Another thing Sara did fabulously well is the plot twists. Half the time I only knew half of what was going on—and that half that I thought I knew was actually wrong most of the time—but it wasn’t confusing at all. The twists and turns and not knowing if Alice was in a dream… or not… really kept me on my toes.
And just like in Crayons of Red, my short story that you can have access to if you subscribe, I loved how you never really knew what was real, what was a dream, and what was a dream but it was still real. I don’t want to give anything away, but nothing is as it seems.
Suffice it to say, the world-building, and the plot, were gorgeously done. And the fact that it’s set in London agh! Just. Beautiful. You have to read it to really appreciate the pure Wonderland genius that is in this book.
The Characters Though
For once, I actually liked the main character. Maybe just because she was good at cards and wouldn’t cheat but was also an epic pickpocket, but still, I liked her.
I also adored Jack, or JackBNimble, because he was just a fun character. The kind of character that you feel like you would totally be friends with if you met them in real life, you know? But he wasn’t just some popular guy that everyone liked. He was charming, yes, but he was also sweet and kind and caring, and geniusly smart.
My favorite character though would have to have been Chess. He was literally hilarious and so much like the Cheshire cat that I laughed out loud. At first, though, I thought he was going to be just as shallow as the Cheshire cat, charming smile, flirty winks and all. But he wasn’t.
He started out like that, but slowly, Sara showed a side of him that was much deeper. A side that was real and raw and vulnerable, and could be hurt.
And that is why I loved him so much. Not because of his smile and his confidence, but because of his tender love for his brother, and the way he really truly cared about Alice.
Side note here: I want to thank Sara Ella for writing a book with enough lack of romance that I can actually let my younger brother listen to it. Yes, there was some romance, but not really that much, and I for once really appreciated that.
What I Didn't Like
Now, no book is perfect—other than the Bible of course—and there were a few minor details I maybe would have changed.
First, I think we should have seen more of Scarlet and learned more about her as a character. Maybe that will come in the second book, but it just felt a little lacking in this one for her to just be… up there sitting on her throne. If Sara could have put in more of her story and who she really was, I think it would set up the second book a lot better.
Second, and I’ll try not to spoil anything, I really didn’t like Charlotte. She was just… kinda boring to me, I guess? And I didn’t really care about her. Hopefully we see more of her in the second book and can get to know her more.
Third, I wish there had been more time spent on Madi, and more development of her character. Yes, I really liked her and thought she was superb as a character, but I wanted to see more of her, especially more of her and Alice’s friendship growing.
And fourth, I would have loved if Sara had just spent more time on the teams interacting. Obviously, there isn’t time for everything in books—it’s not an epic of course—but just some more time spent on how the different teams acted around each other, and getting to know those other characters, would have been fun.
To Summarize
I absolutely loved this book. It was fun and whimsical, while also being profound and quite thought-provoking, and also ridiculously ingenious. It gave Alice in Wonderland a fresh twist in a cool setting that I haven’t ever read before, and it’s always fun to read something new like that, and it also felt like meeting an old friend with all the references to the classic and the card games and old England scenery.
There are some books that you read once and love, but you don’t necessarily want to go back and re-read them, you know? This is not one of those books. The card games and the way the Wonders talked alone make me want to go back and re-read it!
So Sara Ella, you have once again done it. You did not disappoint, and this will forever hold a special place on my Kindle bookshelf.
And I hope that you might pick it up at your library, or listen to it on Hoopla, or even get it on your Kindle and join the awesome club.
It is a masterpiece that is just waiting to be read.
“Dreams are amusing things indeed. Images, projections of the mind conjured from our own versions of reality. Enlighten me, Ace—how is the world inside your mind any less real than the one outside it?”
-Chess Shire, The Wonderland Trials
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