It's 11 years later, Wonderland is in trouble and they need Alice to help! When two worlds collide everyone seems mad. What a wonderful adaptation of Alice in Wonderland! I've heard it called a retelling but to me it was more of a sequel. It had just the right amount of nonsense to make Alice, Wonderland and my favorite characters come to back life. The story had everything one could want. It was dark and suspenseful but also light and romantic in a nonsense sort of way.
I couldn't put this book down. It captured my attention right away with its descriptions and magical storyline.

If I'm being honest, I was never the biggest fan of Alice in Wonderland. I enjoyed the original Disney movie and the original story, but I could not call myself a fan. NOW... I am a fan! Readers are able to read about Alice as an adult, and we get her new adventures in Kexford and Wonderland. We are able to come face-to-face with some of the original characters (as well as a couple of news ones). I was engaged in the story from the beginning to end. I own all of the books in this series (various authors), but this is the first one that I have actually read. (I bought them for my classroom.) I will be reading the rest because this was a phenomenal read!

I really did love the concept of this book. Unfortunately I DNF because the main character Alice just didn't fit well with me. I don't know if it's just me, but it also annoyed me how much Alice would talk to herself. IT WAS ALL THE TIME!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Unbirthday

Author: Liz Braswell

Book Series: Twisted Tales Book 10

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: retelling fans, Alice in Wonderland

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Genre: YA Retelling

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 512

Synopsis: 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?

Review: DNFed at 20%. The beginning of this book is really discombobulated and confusing. The pacing is really slow as well and immediately you're greeted with a ton of characters. The book is also obviously not just using the Disney Alice in Wonderland movie (and live action ones) for context but I'm not sure what the other sources they're using (although I'm getting Alice the Madness Returns vibes). I'll definitely circle back to this book when I get the finished copy but for now I gotta mull on this one. There are also some Lewis Carroll references in this book and references to rape/child molestation (honestly, those are one in the same with Carroll).

Verdict: It’s good, but not for me right now.

4.5/5 Stars

** I was provided an E-ARC from NetGalley and the Publisher Disney-Hyperion in exchange for my honest review**

This was such a good book. It gave me all the Alice in Wonderland feels. It felt very realistic and true to me. I'll admit it's been a while since I read the original. That being said I had an awesome time reading this book, it just pulled me in. I didn't want to put it down. The beginning was a little slow for me, but it picked up the pace and I finished the rest of the book in one sitting. This was also the first book by Lis Braswell, and I now am happy to say I'm a fan and will be picking up her backlog list of books. I highly recommend everyone give this sensible nonsense book a read. It was everything and so much more that I thought it would be. I couldn't recommend it more.

I love anything related to Alice in wonderland And I struggled with this book. I Could barely get myself to finish it. I would not recommend this retelling to anyone.

This was definitely a twist on the original Alice in Wonderland. Intense, a little dark, but ultimately a very satisfying retelling.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (September 1st, 2020)

Content/Trigger Warnings: Poisoning, death, murder, torture, war themes, trauma, loss of a loved one, grief, racism, xenophobia, and sexism

“Something is happening in Wonderland, something bad. That is why they are seeking me out now. And it’s to do with the Queen of Hearts.”

Be still my fluttering soul! I loved this so, so much! I’ve always been a lover of retellings, but this one is something special (I might be a bit biased for Alice in Wonderland). Alice in Wonderland has always been a huge part of my life and even now it plays such a key role into my bookish content theme. So this arc, it’s something that means so, so much and I’m so excited to share my thoughts with all of you!

We follow an older Alice who’s finding her own path in life. Instead of being like other young ladies in Kexford, Alice spends her afternoons with her beloved camera, taking photos, spending time with her Aunt Vivian, or off on one of her many adventures. But one day changes everything, when Alice develops some of her recent photographs, the faces of all her friends in Wonderland begin to surface. With the eerie feeling creeping up her spine and the ominous feelings of the photographs, Alice must find a way back to Wonderland to save her friends from a terrible fate.

I loved having an older Alice. She’s in no way perfect, has feelings of doubt because she’s constantly referred to as Mary Ann, and truly wants to do right by everyone in both worlds. She’s also very opinionated, very honest about her feelings, and has that ‘at odds younger sister, older sister relationship’ happening throughout this book.

“If being naughty saves the Hatter, I will be the naughtiest, most rascally woman you ever laid your unfortunate eyes on.”

We also get introduced to some amazing side characters like Aunt Vivian and Mr. Katz. Both of these characters play such important roles throughout this this story even though they’re just side characters. Aunt Vivian is just like Alice; very opinionated and honest and wants Alice to have the freedom she deserves. Mr. Katz, on the other hand, is Alice’s intellectual match. He speaks his mind and loves riddles. The way Alice and himself push each other is fantastic and Katz’s role in this book had me so excited!

The world building was fantastic, for both worlds. We have Kexford in the real world where it shows the divide between the rich and the poor, the ones who were born/raised in Kexford and those who are immigrants. There’s also a political divide taking place, but it’s not overwhelming to the point of it drowning out the main focus of the book. There’s a lot of xenophobia and racism, but it’s always challenged. The there’s Wonderland; bloody and war stricken. The devastation is heavy and as you read this book, you can practically feel the threat of the Queen of Hearts looming over your shoulder.

The only thing I think many readers might struggle with is the the consistent switching between the two worlds. For example, you might read a chapter that ends on a cliff hanger and then the next chapter it might say something like “then she work up”. I could see some readers being frustrated with that element. I personally didn’t have an issue with that element. For my own reading experience, it felt more encouraging to read through the next chapters to find out what would happen next.

“I mean, we don’t need a special house for that. We’re all mad here.”

Overall, I really enjoyed this. I was constantly on edge wondering what would happen next. There were many moments where I wondered if Alice would be able to make it back to Wonderland. There were some twists that I definitely wasn’t expecting and I just really loved this book. It was really hard to put this book down and go to sleep at night. This was my first Liz Braswell book, so color me impressed. I have a few other Twisted Tale books by Liz Braswell, so you might be seeing more of these in the future. I just can’t believe I waited so long to read any of the Twisted Tale books. I highly recommend picking this book up if you’re a fan of retellings especially if you have a deep love and appreciation for Alice in Wonderland.


The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

*Digital arc provided for review by Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for an honest review."

Starting from the cover this was a book I had to read. I've always been a fan of Alice in Wonderland and the eerie nature of the cover jumped out at me. If I was in a bookstore and saw this on the shelf it would be an instant cover buy.

Despite being the 10th book in the Twisted Tales series it is a stand alone and does not require you to read the other 9 books. I wanted to love this book but unfortunately just couldn't get into it. It started slow in Kexford with Alice trying to remember Wonderland while also trying to avoid her sister setting her up with a man who's politics rival the Queen of Hearts. Also in the mix is the mysterious Mr. Katz whom Alice just can't seem to get out of her head. The pacing of the story felt very slow and dragged out. The constant jump between Wonderland and Kexford any time the plot was starting to move was frustrating as it felt like you were back at square one with Alice trying to get back to Wonderland. Without giving spoilers I will say the last few chapters kind of creeped me out a bit. Overall this book just wasn't for me. Perhaps I'll give it another go on audio when that is released to see if I change my mind.

Review will be posted to my blog on September 1, 2020

I love retellings and I love Alice and Wonderland, but this one just didn't work for me.
Alice is all grown up, but can still remember her strange dream from Wonderland all those years ago. However, when she takes a picture of some of her friends, they appear to be characters from that strange dream long ago. All of the people in her life have direct parallels to those she met in Wonderland. She must return to Wonderland to save her own Wonderland doppelganger, Mary Ann, from imprisonment.
The premise of the book is interesting, but the execution didn't work. I love the idea of a grown up Alice returning to Wonderland and I like the elements of her life in the real world. However, the book was way too long. The first 200 pages were great, but everything after that seemed to slog along. The author captures the nonsense of Wonderland quite well, but a little nonsense goes along way and 400 pages of it is almost unbearable.

A great addition to a fun, phenomenal series! This was just the way the twisted series should’ve went, with Alice in wonderland exploration! I really enjoy the twisted series, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint! I do think you should read in order, as I feel it makes it much better! This one was well written, character development out of the world, and overall fun! It was just what I needed in between my thrillers! Highly, highly recommend to fantasy lovers, Disney lovers, but do read the others first!
Will make sure to buzz it around and use lower Amazon reviewer number on release date!

I am a lover of Alice in Wonderland retellings.
I’m a sucker for them actually. But this.... I couldn’t stand this story. I felt so irritated with Alice and wanted to punch her.

I cannot say enough great words about The Twisted Tales series and Unbirthday just may be my favorite one yet. There are many reasons why I love these books but as we cannot travel to Disney World this year this book filled my bucket full of the warm fuzzies that Disney can usually bring. With enough danger, character building and unique worlds that even this mom can appreciate I would recommend this book for anyone and all ages.

This story takes place after Alice has grown up into an adult. She receives a distress call from Wonderland, and desperately tries to find ways to get back so she can help her friends. The Red Queen has taken evil to a whole new level, killing indiscriminately and jailing anyone that does not agree with her. Alice enlists the help of other Wonderlandians to help try to defeat the Queen whole also trying to determine whether this work is only in her imagination.

Let me just say that reading this book was like jumping right back into Lewis Carroll’s original tale. Liz captures the riddles and plays on words that make Alice in Wonderland so wonderfully weird, perfectly. This is the perfect after story to such an amazing classic story. I fell in love with Alice in Wonderland as a child, and Unbirthday stole a place right next to it. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

A wondrous return to Wonderland for adults and teens who never wanted to leave in the first place! Familiar characters and all-too-real politics crop up in a refreshing yet familiar story.

Merry Unbirthday!
Unbirthday is a curious tale of what if. What if Alice was very, very late? We get to see Alice as an eighteen-year-old, novice photographer, grapple with Victorian era social expectations. As she searches her small college town for glimpses of Wonderland. What she finds is not the Wonderland she remembers, but a land painted in social politics. It takes a few chapters for Alice to resemble her 1951 movie counterpart. She has the same curiosity and seriousness, but has lost some of her stubbornness and logical thinking. Perhaps, because she has been focused on the arts, she does not consider Wonderland so irrational this time around. This is Liz Braswell’s own re-imagined sequel to Alice in Wonderland, and there are no references to Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass. It is peculiar that her goal in this book is to have Alice be the hero, and save Wonderland. Hero Alice is not in many versions of her story, except notably Disney’s 2010 live action movie. Despite these differences, there is a lot to like in this book. Alice is a strong character, and Wonderland is a fun mixture of nonsense. A Merry Unbirthday present for Alice fans.

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.

This book was relatively enjoyable and fun to read but it wasn’t my favorite. Would still recommend.

So, this was not for me. I have tried the “darker” Disney stories and generally have not been a fan. However, this sound like something I would be more interested in, so I thought I’d give it a try! Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it; certain parts were very dark, but overall I didn’t think it was dark enough. It’s tween dark. That said, I did think that the premise was solid and I did enjoy (and found quite timely) the countering of racism. And the update ending!

Description
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?
Alice in Wonderland is originally a twisted tale. Burton's Alice in Wonderland was even more twisted.

Tn
his book takes a look at an 18 year old Alice who has taken up photography and goes around photographing people in Angleland. Things take a peculiar turn though, when Alice starts producing her photographs and she ends up with photographs of people from Wonderland, but they’re terribly distorted. Getting the sense that something terrible is happening, Alice returns to Wonderland to find it in chaos and the Queen of Hearts wreaking havoc. Determined to save the land she so loves, Alice goes on an adventure through the ruined lands to save it before the Queen of Hearts ends it all.

a lot of Wonderland's characters have real-world counterparts that Alice discovers when she develops her film. I really enjoyed that portion of the book. such an amazing book to pick up and read.