Book Review: Wonder by Christina C. Jones

Warm Hues Creative
Published Jan 22nd 2019
238 Pages

It all came down to me. 

The one who followed the rules, never went looking for trouble – I kept to myself. I just wanted to take care of my family. To not constantly look over my shoulder, worried about the things that went bump in the night. 

I just wanted to survive. 

But that wasn’t meant to be. 

As luck – or fate, or something – would have it, the trouble found me. 

I followed a rabbit through the wreckage of a half-ruined world to get back what was mine, and wound up at the end of it. 

In Wonderland. 

But there’s nothing magical about it. – Goodreads

Now the summary you see above gives you vibes of a cliche story about Alice in Wonderland in a post apocalyptic world. This book is far from a cliche and one of the best Alice in Wonderland retellings I have read in a very long time.

Let’s start with the obvious. How did the author incorporate the classic story into her own? She did it without sucking the life out of her own story. There are a lot of subtle things from the original story that if you aren’t fully familiar with, you will not get it.

For instance, Alice is a woman named Aly (Alyson), the Mad Hatter is a man named Mad (Maddox), Chester is a woman named Ches (Franchesca) and the Queen is a woman named Ruby.

Are there other references to Alice in Wonderland, yes there are but the names didn’t click for me, minus Aly, until after I finished the book and began to rethink the book. And when they did click, I couldn’t stop smiling. I love when authors do little things like this because they turn out to big things.

The incorporation of Alice in Wonderland to the author’s own story was tastefully done. The author stayed true to the story she wanted to tell by adding elements from Alice in Wonderland that enhance what she wanted to portray as opposed to drowning you in  scenes you are familiar with. Alice in Wonderland was what caught my attention to read the book but it wasn’t why I kept reading.

What really blew me away were the characters. Let me first off start by saying, I loved Aly and Mad together. Their attraction for each other grew into something and I was all for it. They were real with each and understanding and the passion they had for each other was on a omg level that we can only strive for in our life lol

I also loved the fact that they remained two individual people coming together as opposed to being Aly and Mad all the time; that whole smothering thing can be super annoying to read.

But what stole the show was Ches & Ruby. They were two of the best women I have read in a very very long time. For the first time ever, I was rooting for the Queen. Ruby is badass and I was so ready to hate her. I was waiting for her to mess up, to ruin everything but at the end of the day I wanted to be her friend.

In regards to Ches, I liked her but like Chester the Cat, she was a complicated soul. I was hoping that the author would give more details about Ches because the author was going around her back story. It wasn’t until the end that I was like OH! Things were implied and even at the end they weren’t bluntly stated and you know what? I am alright with that. Again, this was tastefully done.

The story is told in Aly’s point of view as well as Mad’s. I wouldn’t have enjoyed it any other way. I literally can go on and on about this book, so if you read it and want to chat about it let me know because I am in love.

5 Pickles.