Unbirthday - BookWyrm

Hardcover, 504 pages

English language

Published Sept. 1, 2020 by Disney-Hyperion.

ISBN:: 978-1-4847-8131-9
Goodreads:: 50358479

(2 reviews)

The 10th installment in the New York Times best-selling A TWISTED TALE series asks: 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 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 …

The 10th installment in the New York Times best-selling A TWISTED TALE series asks: 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 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?

For more twisted adventures, try the other books in the A TWISTED TALE series: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell As Old as Time by Liz Braswell Reflection by Elizabeth Lim Part of Your World by Liz Braswell Mirror, Mirror by Jen Calonita Concel, Don't Feel by Jen Calonita Straight On Till Morning by Liz Braswell So This is Love by Elizabeth Lim Go the Distance by Jen Calonita What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell

2 editions

Books That Burn reviewed Unbirthday by Liz Braswell (Disney Twisted Tales, #10)

Review of 'Unbirthday' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Unbirthday is crisp and strange; an excellent, gripping retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Drenched in red paint that slowly turns to blood as time runs out. A good balance of wit and whimsy with a lot of growing up.

Alice in Wonderland stories are at their best when the Alice is taking her lessons from Wonderland home to deal with the real world, and this carries that on very well. The real-world characters felt grounded, the Wonderlandians were whimsical, and Alice strives to work with the best of what the two worlds have to offer her. It brought up real-world issues that feel particularly resonant right now because they're the kind of problems that are (sadly) evergreen.

One of the little things I look for in any Wonderland retelling is how they'll handle the mirror moment, and this one was particularly good, I think it's my favorite scene in the …

Unbirthday is crisp and strange; an excellent, gripping retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Drenched in red paint that slowly turns to blood as time runs out. A good balance of wit and whimsy with a lot of growing up.

Alice in Wonderland stories are at their best when the Alice is taking her lessons from Wonderland home to deal with the real world, and this carries that on very well. The real-world characters felt grounded, the Wonderlandians were whimsical, and Alice strives to work with the best of what the two worlds have to offer her. It brought up real-world issues that feel particularly resonant right now because they're the kind of problems that are (sadly) evergreen.

One of the little things I look for in any Wonderland retelling is how they'll handle the mirror moment, and this one was particularly good, I think it's my favorite scene in the whole book.

I loved this book. The original characters were great, the referential characters had flair consistent with the originals while carrying their essence into a whole new thing. Alice is closer to grown up and the whole thing has room to be a bit darker than before. Alice spends some time in her own world as well as Wonderland, and there’s a lovely premise connecting the two that was well-executed to bring in some of the macabre.

Retellings always have to choose what balance they’ll strike with the inspiration for their tale, and this unabashedly feels like part two of a story where part one was perhaps the original duology but more likely it was the version from Disney (which is quite appropriate for this particular series). I think it would be understandable to anyone unfamiliar with the source material, but your experience will definitely be improved if you have at least a passing familiarity with the story.

deggert

rated it

Oct. 4, 2021