What if Wonderland was in peril and Alice was very, very late?
Alice is different than other eighteen-year-old ladies in Kexford, which is perfectly fine with her. She’d rather spend golden afternoons with her trusty camera or in her aunt Vivian’s lively salon, ignoring her sister’s wishes that she stop all that “nonsense” and become a “respectable” member of society. Alice is happy to meander … meander to Miss. Yao’s teashop or to visit the children playing in the Square. She’s also interested in learning more about the young lawyer she met there, but just because she’s curious, of course, not because he was sweet and charming.
But when Alice develops photographs she has recently taken about town, familiar faces of old suddenly appear in the place of her actual subjects-the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar. There’s something eerily off about them, even for Wonderland creatures. And as Alice develops a self-portrait, she finds the most disturbing image of all-a badly-injured dark-haired girl asking for Alice’s help.Mary Ann.
Returning to the place of nonsense from her childhood, Alice finds herself on a mission to stop the Queen of Hearts’ tyrannical rule and to find her place in both worlds. But will she able to do so . . . before the End of Time?
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I loved going back to Wonderland! Seeing what it would be like for Alice to go back older was so cool! I also enjoyed seeing what happened to Alice after Wonderland! She is such an awesome character. All the other characters from Wonderland were also fun to see again. If you love Alice, you should check this out.
Was a struggle to finish
Alice is second favorite fairytale. I love this book. It’s so well written. I honestly didn’t think this book would be that good, so glad i was so wrong. I can’t wait to read the rest of these Twisted Tales. I think it’s great the way Alice found Wonderland.
Unbirthday is a brilliant new addition to the Twisted Tales, bringing Alice back to a devastating Wonderland.
Compelling & Relevant Storytelling
While this is a fun novel that takes readers back to the colorful and wacky Wonderland, it delves into England during the time as well. Alice is still headstrong and outspoken and challenges the world around her, the sexism, and Wonderland’s ridiculousness. It is what makes her such a wonderful character.
Whisked back to Wonderland, Alice must save her friends who are about to be killed by the Queen of Hearts. In the Great Game, the Queen is stealing from everyone and killing anyone who stands in her way. She must have the most stuff. Ridiculous but utterly fitting for Wonderland standards.
Interestingly, the novel incorporates American McGee’s Alice, Disney’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the classic tale by Lewis Carroll. It moves at a breathtaking pace, keeping the reader engaged page after page. Braswell also gives the story depth as it provides a commentary on current issues such as racism, immigration, and xenophobia, while also addressing sexism and feminism.
Honestly, Unbirthday is a brilliant novel. That moves effortlessly between Wonderland and England. It keeps the reader engaged both in the political intricacies of England and the absurdity of Wonderland.
Alice has grown so much since her previous incarnation, and it shows in how she addresses Wonderland. However, Braswell also explores Wonderland more, going to the court of the Queen of Clubs. There is so much Wonderland in this novel, and it is fun to read, fun to explore, but there are some dark parts. They balance each other out and encourage Alice to grow and be herself.
Final Thoughts
There is so much about this novel that makes it good that this review probably will not capture. It is colorful but also addresses important issues that are more prevalent today than ever. Unbirthday is a thoughtful and fun novel that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end.
DNF at 28%
I just couldn’t get into this book, no matter how hard I tried. I found it to be overly fluffy and once Alice was in Wonderland there was so much detail given to almost inconsequential things. I also found the over use of parentheses to be annoying and none of it really was needed for the storyline.
I really wanted to love this book but I guess it just wasn’t for me.
Merry Unbirthday!
Unbirthday is a curious tale of what if. What if Alice was very, very late? We get to see Alice as an eighteen-year-old, novice photographer, grapple with Victorian era social expectations. As she searches her small college town for glimpses of Wonderland. What she finds is not the Wonderland she remembers, but a land painted in social politics. It takes a few chapters for Alice to resemble her 1951 movie counterpart. She has the same curiosity and seriousness, but has lost some of her stubbornness and logical thinking. Perhaps, because she has been focused on the arts, she does not consider Wonderland so irrational this time around. This is Liz Braswell’s own re-imagined sequel to Alice in Wonderland, and there are no references to Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass. It is peculiar that her goal in this book is to have Alice be the hero, and save Wonderland. Hero Alice is not in many versions of her story, except notably Disney’s 2010 live action movie. Despite these differences, there is a lot to like in this book. Alice is a strong character, and Wonderland is a fun mixture of nonsense. A Merry Unbirthday present for Alice fans.