This book took me a moment to get into - I think because I thought it was going to be more of a modern retelling. It was an enjoyable read and I would recommend!

Unbirthday is the latest in the Twisted Tales series and instead of seeming like a retelling, it was more a sequel to Alice in Wonderland. I think the author does a good job of getting the essence and spirit of Wonderland and its case of characters, I did find myself skimming over more than I would like. I also found myself more drawn to the real world Alice lived in and the adventures in her real life. It was interesting, but not my favorite of the series.

This was a great addition to the Twisted Tales series! I very much enjoyed the fact that they tied more of Alice's 'real world', even if some of those characters didn't get to fully develop.
This book is set 11 years after Alice's initial fall down the rabbit hole and so we find her in a different place in life, avoiding the young suitor her sister would like to set her up with. Alice has trouble connecting with Wonderland now, in more ways than one!
A fun, quick read! I was able to devour it in a day!

This book was great edition to this magical series. I absolutely love retellinga of Alice in Wonderland and this one did not disappoint!

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.

From the beginning, I was really impressed with the way this book made me feel as though I was actually reading something by Lewis Carroll himself. Alice was perfectly Alice, Wonderland was perfectly nonsensical (albeit a good deal darker, as the title implies), and almost all of the beloved characters were back. As a massive Alice in Wonderland fan, this book was quite a treat to get into. However, about a third of the way into the book, I found that I unfortunately just wasn’t excited about reading it anymore. It felt more like a chore than anything else, even though I liked the story and all of the characters. I guess it was just a bit long maybe? I found myself skimming the last half of the book and honestly don’t feel as though I really missed anything important. I would still definitely recommend this book to any classic Wonderland fans.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC!

I enjoyed this story but it was just a three star read for me. I liked that it was set after the events of the original story and was more like another story set in the same world and not just a retelling of what we already know. It was nice to see an older version of Alice. This is only the second Disney Twisted Tale I have read so I think I will have to read a few more to determine if this series is for me..

If you love a twist on a classic tale, this is for you! This takes the story of the Queen of Hearts and turns it on its head. It's a fun read and one that will take you to Wonderland once again. Disney fans will surely love the addition to the twisted tales series!

<i>"Because, of course, the real world needs some Nonsense, sometimes...Not 'all the time' and not 'never.' Just enough to remind us when real things get too ridiculous to be borne. And sometimes we have to create that Nonsense ourselves."</i>

I had just finished <i>Raybearer</i> and had a terrible book hangover. I was sure that whatever I picked up next just wouldn't measure up and would be terribly disappointing. So I turned to my Netgalley list and, since there's a lull in the publication dates, I went back to the ones I had missed reading before the publication date. When I saw <i>Unbirthday</i>, I was disappointed, but also thought, "Perfect."
Because, full disclosure: I did NOT like the previous two Twisted Tales which I had read. I absolutely eviscerated the <i>Aladdin</i> retelling, and I couldn't even finish the <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> one. (And you know it has to be really bad or really boring for me to DNF.) But, at the very least, I figured I should read a book which I knew was going to probably disappoint me anyway.

WRONG.

I actually really, really enjoyed this book. And I'm fiercely protective of <i>Alice in Wonderland</i> (much like I am of <i>Frankenstein</i>) because I often find that people only get the surface level reading of the story (as evidenced by people mistakenly calling the Creature Frankenstein and not Victor-the-scientist) and don't "get" the story when they attempt to do something new with it. I know that doesn't quite extend to Alice, because Braswell has to "twist" the Disney version, not the original one by Lewis Carroll. And the Disney film doesn't quite capture the nuance and linguistic wordplay of Carroll's text, but I still enjoy it. After all, Carroll was a genius (an oddball, yes, but also a genius) and no one is ever going to recreate that -- nor should they.

But there was something about Braswell's take that seemed to honor both the original novel <b>and</b the Disney film. Case in point: Carroll wrote two Alice books -- only the first of which was used for the Disney film. The second one -- <i>Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There</i> doesn't play into the Disney animated film, although there is a sequel to the live-action film which I haven't seen. So that book doesn't play into Braswell's take, except at the end...which I thought was a nice "twist."

And here's the thing: I think one of the reasons why I liked this take so much is (1) Braswell really captured 18 y/o Alice in Victorian England (not perfectly, but so much better than some other 19th-century takes I've read) and her voice -- especially her internal questioning; and (2) whereas the other Disney Twisted Tales seem to start with the events of the film -- which we all know -- this is more of a sequel. Braswell fast-forwards 11 years so that Alice *is* older when we meet her, and the story deals with Alice's attempts to return to Wonderland.
I think what I don't love about the Twisted Tales is that they rely too much on the source material -- even going so far as to echo the script and dialogue from the film, that it feels a bit....like bad fan-fiction rather than an original story. (I'm getting that a little bit with the <i>Frozen</i> retelling I've just started. We're following the events of the film for the first 1/5 of the book or so, and as someone who as seen these films many, many times, I find it an odd editorial decision. (And given that it's a recurring thing, among different authors, I have to wonder if Disney is providing authors with a template to follow....)

But Braswell doesn't follow the template here, and the book is that much stronger because of it:

✘ -- Only one major quibble, and it's that it runs a little long. At 512 pages, it's much longer than I thought it would be and there are definitely some places that could be condensed. And given that the ending still wasn't entirely resolved at 98% of the way through...I just felt the pacing could have been distributed a little more evenly. But again, a relatively minor thing in the overall scheme.

✔︎ -- One of the things I really appreciated on Braswell's end was the riddles and the wordplay. That's not an easy thing to do, let alone do naturally in the flow of a Wonderland setting, but I thought Braswell did it really well. I particularly appreciated the War pun -- war as a military concept, and war as a card game where the object is simply to acquire the most cards.
Also--major bonus points for the Monty Python reference to the unladen swallow joke.

✔︎ -- Braswell's take was also surprisingly political -- and relevant for today's world. NOT what I was expecting but again -- deviating from the formula really strengthened the story. Both "our" world (19th century Victorian England) and Wonderland are plagued by xenophobic tyrants. In Wonderland, for instance, <i>"There were also signs posted absolutely everywhere along the road.
heartland
the queen of hearts land
keep out unless fealty sworn
all toys confiscated at border
traitors will be executed
undocumented travelers will be executed
everyone will be executed just to be safe
the winningest queen ever
this way to great heartland
that way for losers
hearts will win</i>

For me, the allusions to our current political reality weren't exactly subtle...Then, in England, the awful mayoral candidate announces, <i>"A Pride for England parade. All citizens from *good* families are welcome. And by 'good' I don't mean wealthy. Solid men of the earth, as you people like to say, are invited -- anyone is, as long as they have hearts shaped by centuries of generational love in the nurturing warmth of English soil."
Alice sighed. Really understanding Ramsbottom was like deciphering a riddle. And what she saw at the end of it was more broken windows, hate and fury in the guise of patriotism. How much did those signing his petitions and takin his balloons understand and willfully join in on? How much did they not quite understand, but went along with anyway?</i>

Ooof. The allusions to Trumpian politics are, again, not subtle, particularly the self-aggrandizing speeches and the emphasis on "Country" First -- with immigrants being cast as the threat. And, again, I loved it -- it's exactly the sort of thing Disney should be doing with these retellings. Well done, Braswell.

I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately I just didn’t. I found myself confused quite frequently (which may be because of the basic source material). I also found my mind constantly wandering while I read because it just wasn’t holding my attention.

There were parts of the story that took place in the “real world” and some in Wonderland. I did like the uniqueness of that along with how it was woven into the story.

Unfortunately, overall I was looking forward to it ending so I could read something else.

I Love twisted tails and I love the story of Alice in wonderland! Although this is not my favorite twisted tale, I am looking forward to reading more works from this author!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent book full of nonsense and adventure! I really enjoyed Alice's journey to help both the creatures of Wonderland (from a crazy queen) and the people of England (from prejudice and a poor choice for mayor). I really like reading books about Wonderland and this was a fun one. It had a good message too. And the ending was great nonsense and silliness.

With the abundance of Alice spin-offs, re-tellings, misappropriations and more I went into Unbirthday with relatively low expectations. The nice thing about that is that it doesn’t take too much to impress in the end when this happens.

Plot
Unbirthday is a clever continuation of the classic Lewis Carroll Alice series. All of what you know from the original two Carroll books has happened. In fact having read the original Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (or at least having seen the animated Disney movie) will greatly increase your understanding of the story. Liz Braswell returns Alice to Wonderland as a teen whom is close to losing her ability to be 'mad'. Right alongside her the Mad Hatter and others are losing their whimsy that makes them so critical to Wonderland. The entire story is about saving Wonderland from too much logic (and a Queen you might know...).

Overall
I was quite impressed with this given how bad most of the Alice retellings or spin-offs I've read have been over the years. This is a story that has been 'done' to death. But as my husband is the biggest Alice fan ever (two arm sleeves of tattoos with Alice; one the good characters and the other the bad characters, Cheshire is on both arms) I decided to read this to let him know if it was worth a read. While it's clearly YA it's still well written and I liked the treatment of Hatter enough to recommend this to him if he wants a take on Wonderland and Alice post Carroll's story.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

This is the first of the Twisted Tales I've read but I loved it! Liz Braswell really nailed the whimsical Wonderland language and I loved that Alice is older. The timing couldn't have been more appropriate given the current election situation and race issues the US is experiencing. I've been in the mood for darker, twistier YA and this was perfect but it still has a happy epilogue. I'm definitely going to check out the others.

There are lots of Alice in Wonderland spin-offs, but I thought Unbirthday was a lot of fun. Grown-up Alice remembers her dreams of Wonderland, but she doesn’t expect to see familiar faces appearing — and pleading for help — in the photographs she’s developing from her new camera. After all, there’s enough happening in Oxford to keep her busy: hate crimes against immigrant shop owners, children living in poverty, and the need to dodge the suitors her conservative sister keeps inviting to tea. But the future of Wonderland and the future of Oxford may not be so separate as it seems, and Alice makes up her mind to find a way back to the fantastic world of her childhood, where the Queen of Hearts is once again making big trouble.

I think this book took some big chances with making social issues a key piece of its plot, but for me, that risk paid off big time. One of the problems I run into with classic literature is that these kinds of issues are ignored, left out of the stories entirely, and so I do think if you’re going to go back to Wonderland (or the prairie or Manderley), you’ve got to do it with an awareness of these absences. Unbirthday does that in a meaningful way, and I appreciated it, even if I can see how it makes the book a little less whimsical. I really liked, too, that Braswell’s strong feminist Alice was (mostly) still believably Victorian — she feels like part of the New Woman of her time and not like a 21st century time traveler with limited knowledge of the social constructions of her world. (That always annoys me — people can transcend their culture but no way are they completely oblivious to it!) I think what I seem to be saying is that I quite liked this one. I’d love to build an Alice in Wonderland comparative lit unit that includes this, and I’d also pass it off to YA readers who appreciate Wonderland, historical fiction, or dark fairy tales. Recommended.

Author #Liz Braswell (Elizabeth J. Braswell) is an English born American writer of young adult fiction. She is best known for #'The Nine Lives of Chole King'. Which I can't wait to start now that I've finished her wonderful new ya novel '#Unbirthday' a ##Disney publishing book!! It's always great when you have a author that has a lot of wonderful books to keep you busy. And for those of you with middle school to teens she's perfect!!
For more on this great teen ya novel head over to my Instagram blog this week at Maddie_approves_book_reviews please.💜🐾🐾

A well done and enthralling spinoff of a classic! I will admit I am partial to this type of novel, but I think that makes me well qualified to categorize this one as exceptional. The language utilized in Braswell's writing is impressive, but the story would still be accessible to individuals who don't possess a high vocabulary. Definitely worth a read to those who enjoy fantasy and retellings.

To be brutally honest, I would not have picked this book out for myself to just read. Alice in Wonderland is not my favorite fairytale character at all. I was pleasantly surprised! I have not read any previous 'twisted tale' novels by Liz Braswell and will definitely recommend this title.

Alice is all grown up (18) she is not at all like the other girls. Girls like her sister, who are worried about what the latest fashions are, what the most eligible young men are up to/available. She is more into taking photographs with her camera and hanging out with her eccentric aunt than worrying about all of that.

She does have a curiosity about a young lawyer that she met in the square (not that she thinks he's cute or anything like that).

She also has vague memories of a place that she visited a long time ago. When she develops the photos she had recently taken. She sees a blast from the past. Instead of the actual people she photographed she sees The Mad Hatter, The Queen of Hearts, and the Caterpillar. She also, instead of a self portrait, sees an image of a badly beaten and despaired girl, named Mary Anne. In order to help save her friends she must return...but everything is just a bit...off. Alice returns but will she be in time? Will The Queen of Hearts prevail? Great read that drew me right into the story from the get go.

Thanks to #netgalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. #unbirthday

What a read! Braswell has this amazing ability to adapt her writing to mimick the writing of the original author of the story she twists with her own, all while intertwining it with her own writing style. Her new ideas bring life into tales that, while timeless, tend to bore after reading the same thing over and over. She did a fantastic job. As an educator, it would be wonderful to use this tale in future lessons. As a future librarian, I can say that this book will be in my library, without a doubt.

As a huge Alice in Wonderland fan and a huge retelling fan, I was really looking forward to this book. It wasn't fantastic, but I really enjoyed it.
Instead of Alice being a small child, she has now grown up and is 18. The book kind of tied real life problems (politics, relationships, etc) with Wonderland life problems (the Red Queen is currently murdering and torturing Wonderland natives to take their toys and win the game). Alice does not stay in Wonderland the whole book which I thought was a great twist. She goes in between England and Wonderland and thinks she has to save both places.
This book definitely reminded me more of the Tim Burton movies than the Disney movie. Alice first sees the Wonderland natives through her pictures. They are not happy, they seem to be in a world full of blood and being tortured. Mary Ann comes into this book a lot too, but just like in the Disney movie, we never meet her. Because the queen has killed her. Wonderland is so gruesome.
One part I absolutely loved about this book was how much nonsense was in it. The author did a great job of capturing the nonsense aspect of Wonderland and just came up with the most funny and random things for the characters to say. Some things made absolutely no sense, but that was the fun of being in the Wonderland setting.
At the end, things turned out crazy in Wonderland and you would think that Alice would come back to England and save the day in a very English way. But it definitely does not turn out how you would think, and that was another really fun twist!