Thank you for the publisher for the opportunity to read and review The Lost Wonderland Diaries. Ultimately I had to put this one down. The characters are great and complex and certainly get along wonderfully but I had such a hard time getting into this story. I know its a middle grade novel but it felt very immature and made it hard to focus on the story.

I wish I could say I loved The Lost Wonderland Diaries. I wish I could even say I like it. Truthfully, I struggled to get into it, and after 74 pages, I walked away.

I’m normally a fan of J. Scott Savage. I loved his Mysteries of the Cove series, and I thought the same would happen here. It never did. I think this comes, in part, because of my apathy toward Alice in Wonderland in general. It’s never been one of my favorites, and here, Savage is immersing readers back into this wacky world.

Savage’s two main characters are a nice balance and seem well-suited for this sort of adventure. Most of the reviews I’ve seen for The Lost Wonderland Diaries touch on that friendship as well as strong elements of inclusiveness and self-confidence that should appeal to many readers.

Though I didn’t finish this book, I did enjoy the puzzles Celia and Tyrus had to solve and felt the author did a good job of making Celia’s dyslexia accessible and relatable to readers. This book is probably a no-brainer for Alice fans, but I’d recommend checking it out from the library prior to purchasing for others.

“What if Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland wasn’t something Lewis Carroll made up, but a history of what he saw when he came here?”—The Lost Wonderland Diaries

Celia is the daughter of a librarian and the great-great-great-grandniece of Charles Dodson, the real name of the author of Alice in Wonderland. So it is no surprise when the citizens of Wonderland ask for her help to rid their land of a horrible monster. However, it is a surprise when Celia and her friend Tyrus drink from a tiny green bottle and end up trapped in Wonderland.

The Lost Wonderland Diaries has matched the atmosphere, mood, and humor of the original book exactly. The addition of real math word problems, bullying, and dyslexia makes the book seem more modern without interrupting the flow of the plot. Overall, it’s an enjoyable and clever read (and not just for children). 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I've never really understood the obsession with Alice in Wonderland, so my expectations for this book were pretty low. I like the darker reimagining of the world, the idea that after Carroll's visit things took a really dark turn. It's more than just a reimagining, though. It's also a puzzle story. Celia has to solve puzzles and riddles to be able to return Wonderland to the balance between logic and creativity. Fun for a one off read.

I had a great time reading this book. Returning to this magical place was a lot of fun, and seeing new faces explore it was a real treat. Things have changed much here, and not in a good way. While Tyrus can’t contain his excitement, Celia just wants to leave this ridiculous place. Yet the longer she is there, the more she wants to somehow save this place. As this tale comes to a close, it looks like Wonderland will never be the same. Fans young and old will have a lot of fun reading this book.

I received an e-arc from Shadow Mountain Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Celia is dyslexic and has trouble reading. Tyrus loves reading and immersing himself in stories. Celia and Tyrus are opposites in every way and they have to come together to save Wonderland. Are they able to do it?

I really enjoyed reading J. Scott Savage's novel based upon Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Lost Wonderland Diaries were intriguing and fast-paced. Celia and Tyrus were excellently written to show each's strengths and weaknesses perfectly. I could relate to both Celia and Tyrus throughout the story, except for Celia's dyslexia because I'm not dyslexic, but it was written in a way that I could empathize with Celia. I loved how some of the original story was included in The Lost Wonderland Diaries. It shows just how much J. Scott Savage researched Lewis Carroll's stories. If there is a second book, I definitely want to read it to see where Celia and Tyrus's stories go.

Highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and stories where the characters find themselves.

I really enjoy this version of Wonderland and the fact we are following other characters than Alice. I read 30% of the book to be honest because I want to buy it next week and have it in my hands. I will be able to finish it and I always love it so I know I’m doing a good move ❤️ I recommend this if you love wonderland. Period go get it

What an interesting concept for a story. I liked the ideas and most of the characters. The execution was a little off for me. I’m not sure if it was the writing style or how in some places the author droned on a bit. World building was nice. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this lovely and fun book! The Lost Wonderland Diaries is an incredibly fun story about two misfit kids finding themselves, and it is also an ode to Lewis Carroll's iconic works. J. Scott Savage clearly captures the whimsy of Carroll's Wonderland, and the way that Savage builds on Carroll's work is simply masterful. The two main characters, Celia and Tyrus, are well-crafted, and I loved watching them develop and overcome their personal obstacles and truly find themselves by the end of the book. I also loved that one of the main messages of the book is that logic and imagination have to work together, and too much of one or the other can create serious problems. I love the balance that is portrayed in this book, and I also just love how much fun it is! Whether you've read Alice in Wonderland or not, you can definitely enjoy this book! Highly recommend!

Celia and Tyrus move to a new town and meet at the library by chance. Celia's mother works as a librarian and Tyrus is a bookaholic. Celia is dyslexic but good at Math and is also related to Lewis Carroll. Celia and Tyrus discover Lewis Caroll's four diaries which are locked in a box. They open a portal to Wonderland and they go to Wonderland. They discover that not only Wonderland is as crazy as what is in the books but also it is threatened by a dark force and only The Alice can save Wonderland. The animals mistake Celia as The Alice but Celia is only interested in finding a portal to go home. Will Celia and Tyrus save Wonderland? How will they return home?

This book is a great read for people who like Alice in Wonderland. Most of the characters in Wonderland are similar to the original book, with a few changes. The author did a good job of explaining where the situations are different from the actual book. I liked reading about the eccentric Wonderland characters. Even though I did not read the original book, the author gave a good explanation regarding the characters so that you do not miss anything.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/5
I liked the premise of this novel and the way that the author took Wonderland and the characters and then twisted them around. It was a fun adventure, but there were definitely some confusing parts. I did read an advanced copy so there could still be changes made, but I did find that there were a few times where something felt like it was missing.
I liked the characters. Celia is dyslexic and she’s just moved to a new place where she doesn’t know anyone. She doesn’t think very highly of herself because of her dyslexia. However, Celia is brilliant at math, and she has a very logical worldview.
Tyrus was the character I related to a little bit more because he’s a self-proclaimed bookaholic. The books he reads and the worlds he escapes into are his way of combatting loneliness.
Together these two characters journey into Wonderland and discover that logic and imagination work better when they’re working together. I liked that the messages in the book were showing people that it’s okay to be different. I liked the different kinds of puzzles they were faced with solving (although there was too much math for my taste). Some of the puzzles felt like they were too simple and obvious, and these were the ones that were more important to the overall plot line.
I noticed as well that the POV changed a few times. At the beginning in Wonderland we were in third person POV, but out of Wonderland we were in Celia’s head in first person POV. However, once Celia and Tyrus were in Wonderland, we were in third person again. And once they made it home from Wonderland, we were back into Celia’s head in first person. This was a bit strange to me.
Overall, I’d recommend this book for older middle-grade readers who enjoy fantasy worlds and classic tales that have been turned upside-down.

Look out for my review on my bookstagram page (alli_the_bookaholic13) in the second week of September!

I really enjoyed this take on the world of Wonderland and the characters. Savage does an incredible job adding to that world and creating a voice that feels reminiscent of Carroll's but also so unique. This version of Wonderland was quite different and the additions to the story felt just as zany and nonsensical as Carroll's own creation.

Celia and Tyrus were great protagonists in this story. I enjoyed watching them grow throughout the book. It was also interesting to see the major focus on Celia's dyslexia throughout the entire story. This focus fits along perfectly with the story and I believe will be a great thing for middle-grade children to read about.

I loved the wordplay, puzzles, and riddles throughout the entire story.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing company for my ARC copy of the book* I will be sure to pick up my own copy.

Mr. Savage had a good idea, basing the story on the lost diaries of Charles Dodgson, who wrote using the pen name Lewis Carroll. Finding the diaries enabled Celia and Tyrus to travel to Wonderland, where there is trouble brewing and the inhabitants are looking for The Alice to save their world.

I am assuming that the author was attempting to capture the essence of the original Lewis Carroll books, to write another children’s book that could be an addendum to Carroll’s story. At times the efforts achieved their goals, mostly with the descriptions of scenes. There were some clever puns and word depictions of everyday phrases. I found these more entertaining than some of the conversations. The forced humor caused the book to fall flat and never live up to its potential.

There were many scenes when it felt like the scene was taken from the original book. Yes, the characters had changed (Celia and Tyrus substituted for Alice) and the dialogue was different, but using many of the elements from Lewis Carroll’s original did nothing to enhance this new tale. The original “Alice In Wonderland” was a whimsical story, a crazy dream that morphed into a nightmare. This new story fails to capture the original mood, and the inclusion of similar events that had first happened to Alice only made it worse.

“Alice In Wonderland” is one of those old stories that I remember from my childhood. I am usually forgiving of tales that borrow from a classic as long as the newer work has enough originality to impress me. Unfortunately, “The Lost Wonderland Diaries” seemed unable to capture that freshnessf. It is mildly entertaining but not enough to where I could picture it linking up with Lewis Carroll’s book. Three stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for a complimentary electronic copy of this title.

I loved The Lost Wonderland Diaries right from the get go. The main character, Celia and Tyrus, are lovable right from the start. They become quick friends and end up on a crazy adventure. This story of friendship is perfect for middle grade readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the children I read it to loved it as well, it absorbed me from the start and I stayed there til the very end.
It feels like the next step up from all of the fairy tales I read as a child I loved this book.

I received a free digital copy from Net Galley in exchange for a honest review.

This story draws from the original Alice in Wonderland stories by Lewis Carroll. One of the human characters is supposed to be related to Lewis Carroll. The girl loves math but hates to read. The boy loves to read.

They encounter interesting characters from Wonderland.

Warning: there are some scary scenes. I think this book is for older children.

I really enjoyed reading The Lost Wonderland Diaries. The Lewis Carroll books are some of my favorites from childhood so I really love reading other works that use them as inspiration to continue the adventures. I liked the book so much I read it to my daughter and she enjoyed it as well. Looking forward to more books by this author.

Note: I voluntarily read a free copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are mine alone.

The Lost Wonderland Diaries by J. Scott Savage is a love letter to Alice in Wonderland.
Celia, a newcomer to town fears going to school and having people she find out she’s different, being dyslexic she has a hard time with words but numbers she handles alright. At the library her mom just took a job at she meets book loving Tyrus. Also new to town and suffered bullying in his previous school. The two don’t quite hit it off from the start, but as they hang out in the librarian’s office they come across a box containing the four missing journals of Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carroll. The two get sucked into a vortex and find themselves inside Wonderland.
Dodgson stories of Wonderland are based on a real world he traveled to but the Wonderland he’d gone to and the Wonderland Celia and Tyrus experience are very different. Something has changed Wonderland into an almost nightmarish landscape and Celia and Tyrus have to rely on each other and Sylvan, their bunny guide who brought them looking for The Alice to save Wonderland.
Throughout Celia and Tyrus come across puzzles and riddles and very familiar characters in unfamiliar ways and they need to discover and answer one of the most important questions, “Who are you?”, to make it through
***
This was a fun story. A bit darker than the Alice of Carroll’s but a wonderful ode to it. I loved the clues that tied to the original story and the take on the different characters. I also just enjoyed Celia and Tyrus. They were just two kids working with what they had, trying to do their best. It was a fun quick read.
***
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Cheshire Cat got your tongue?”
—J. Scott Savage, The Lost Wonderland Diaries

Now, I am a MASSIVE fan of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. So, whenever I see a retelling, it is automatically placed onto my TBR pile. I have an addiction…

This story follows Celia and Tyrus as they are thrust into Wonderland— only it is not Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. There is something wrong, almost sinister. The white rabbit has become a scary beast. Time is at a standstill. Symmetry is the Red Queen’s main desire. And a horrifying figure is causing the destruction of Wonderland. But can Celia and Tyrus help? Can they save Wonderland?

However, the two main characters in this book, Celia and Tyrus, annoyed me slightly. While they were mainly a delight read, there were some inconsistent moments. For instance, they would both firmly believe something, and then suddenly believe the exact opposite and I just saw little progression into why this happened.

On a different note, I was enthralled by the wonderland characters. Whenever I see my Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, I am instantly delighted. Lewis Carroll seriously created such wonderful characters, and they seem to be wonderful in all the retellings too!

Thank you so much NetGallery and Shadow Mountain Publishing for this advanced readers copy! A spellbinding read for middle grade readers.

Read. Be happy. Stay safe.

#TheLostWonderlandDiaries #NetGalley

Celia is smart at math, but doesn't like to read, her mom is a librarian and wants her to be a reader. Being new in town, Celia worries about starting school and being made fun of. Celia doesn't like to read because she can't see the letters the same way everyone else does. While at the library, where her mom works as a librarian, Celia meets Tyrus, who is also a new boy in town. When Celia and Tyrus discover a box of lost diaries, they find themselves spinning into Wonderland. Wonderland is a place of talking animals and a world full of math. Celia and Tyrus need to help Wonderland repair itself, but they also have many adventures along the way. A story that captures the reader's attention, but is also teaching that friendship, believing in yourself, and not listening to the voices that hurt, that are important.