Unbirthday

Unbirthday by Liz Braswell is the tenth in the “A Twisted Tale” series.  In Unbirthday, we follow 18-year-old Alice as she returns to wonderland.

“What if Wonderland was in peril, and Alice a very, very late?”

Alice awoke from Wonderland eleven years ago, right in the middle of saving everyone from the Queen. Life has moved on, and she has grown up, simply thinking this was but a dream. Her sister is trying to get her wrapped up in a relationship, and she is busy taking pictures of things that interest her. That is until her pictures begin to show the citizens of Wonderland in grave danger all of the sudden. It’s up to Alice to save Wonderland and win the game- but who is Mary-Anne, and what are the rules to the game?

“I’m fairly certain our gardens are rat-free.”

“I don’t know. Rats are pretty sneaky. Sometimes they even make it into elected positions. Sometimes if you let them get out of control they even become mayor.”

This retelling was interesting. I enjoyed the whimsical attitude of the book and found it as fun and nonsense as the original Lewis Carroll novel. I found the political view of England, while possibly historically accurate, and interesting way to show Alice growing up. It wasn’t dislikable, it was simply interesting- and at times, seemed not relevant to the current story. The two tales, Alice in Wonderland, and Alice as Herself, seemed as though they rarely had much to do with one another honestly. To that end, you could have taken Alice as Herself more or less out, and the book would have been just fine.

“Bravery is for kings and wingless pigs. I’m just a Mad Hatter. Well, I was, once upon a time.”

This book dragged at times, but all in all, was a fun read. I was really intrigued and had a hard time putting it down when I needed to get some sleep! The author did a very good job of pulling the atmosphere of the original Alice In Wonderland. They deserve a ton of credit for that. There were plenty of quote-worthy lines as well, much like the original.

This is a must-read if you are a true Alice in Wonderland fan.

“Remember that,” she marveled to herself. “Trust in yourself and Wonderland.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Disney for an opportunity to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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