Oooo this was SO good. Twisted, compelling, surprising, and incredibly creepy! The story just kept giving at every turn. Scary run down theme park, serial killer, small town cop drama- what more could you ask for?! Jennifer Hillier has become an auto buy author for me after this one.

The audiobook was fantastic, I would highly recommend. Macmillan Audio always delivers high quality audio and narrators!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advanced listening copy!

You’ll note that I used another cover image of Wonderland, rather than the one on Goodreads as that one creeps me out!

Wonderland is an old fashioned theme park in Seaside, Washington, a small town between Portland and Seattle. It has old school carnival rides, like its infamous Ferris wheel—the oldest in the Pacific Northwest, and plenty of vintage midway with games, but it’s the creepy clown museum that has the most notoriety. Rumors abound with employees and locals about this part of the park. Popular at Halloween time, with its wax museum and doll house, this house of horrors lives up to its reputation.

Deputy Chief Vanessa Castro hopes for an easy transition from Seattle PD to Seaside’s significantly smaller department, but ends up with a dead body on day one and a missing person. An unidentified homeless man is found inside Wonderland by the Wonder Wheel rotting. The same morning a young employee free climbs the same wheel, with his video going viral, and then promptly disappears.

This dark and gritty novel is full of plot twists, and consistently keeps the reader guessing. There are plenty of triggers: abusive relationships, sexual harassment, death, violence, suicide references, and more. Though the characters are very well written, Vanessa being a favorite, the book overall was a bit too gruesome for my taste. But as they say, there’s a reader for every book. This one is well written, but I could do without all the macabre scenes.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and of course Jennifer Hillier for the advanced copy of the new audiobook. Wonderland is out in audiobook format on April 11th . All opinions are my own.

WONDERLAND
Jennifer Hillier

At this point, I know exactly what I’m going to get when I pick up a Jennifer Hillier novel. It’s going to have a swift pace, and an engaging plot with very human-like characters. And according to history-I’m going to love it.

Vanessa Castro is new on the job as deputy police chief in the small town of Seaside. She comes to Seaside trying to outrun her past, start over and make a better life for her family, what’s left of it.

On her first day, the town and its connection to Wonderland present itself with a murder and a missing person. Vanessa learns the hard way how deep those connections go, and we learn all the ways in which WONDERLAND and Vanessa’s personal life are similar.

The book opens with two mysteries, which unravel into several more. It is an expertly written crime mystery disguised as a thriller. It even had some qualities of a horror movie where the town revolves around a haunted amusement park.

Vanessa has trouble with boundaries, telling the truth, and being vulnerable. She is an excellent character. She has just enough mystery to keep you interested. Most of the time her storyline was more intriguing than the main storyline of the book. I would read another book that starred Vanessa for sure.

I listened to the 2023 version of the audiobook that will be released next Tuesday. I enjoyed the narration and thought the performance led to my enjoyment of the book.

You should add listening to this thriller to your Spring Break plans.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies!

WONDERLAND…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a rerelease as it was originally published in 2015. I thought it was a fun read and a solid four star. A boy goes missing at an amusement park after taking a selfie on top of the Wonder Wheel at the wee hours of the morning. That same morning, a decaying body was found at the base of the Wonder Wheel. Who is this body? Where did that boy go? That same day, Vanessa Castro begins her job as deputy sheriff in the same town. This becomes her first assignment as she tries to gain the trust of everyone in the small town. Clues slowly begin to unravel as Vanessa makes connections with crimes of the past. The writing was great. The characters, though some felt one-sided, were eclectic and perfect for the story. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep me interested through the story. I totally did not guess the murderer. Good job! The narrator did a great job with the audiobook, and really kept me engaged. I would recommend this book for a creepy, enjoyable read.

Thank you to @Mcmillian Audio for the ARC. Wow, did not see the ending coming. This book had so much thrill, suspense, and forgiveness. The narrator did an awesome job and I enjoyed this book. I have not read a book by this author before and now I want to read more by her.

3.5 stars rounded up. I listened to this one on audio and I'm so glad I got that version. The narrator was awesome, using many different voices and dialects, male and female. This added to the overall creep factor and enjoyment of the story. I mean...who wouldn't enjoy a creepy mystery that takes place in an amusement park? I will be anxiously awaiting more from Jennifer Hillier and I encourage everyone to listen to the audio version of Wonderland. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing the audiobook for review. All opinions are my own.

Hillier is an auto buy author for me and this was one of the few I hadn’t read by her. I just love her writing. Once again, she surprised me with the ending as I really thought I knew who was responsible. Hillier has some familiar faces in this one - if you’ve read Creep and/or Freak you’ll recognize Jerry Isaac. Our MC, Vanessa, pops up later in Little Secrets which is my favorite by her. This is the perfect thriller to get you in the mood for summertime nostalgia.

4.5⭐️
WOW!! This book is action packed, fast paced and instantly unputdownable. I literally listened to it in almost all in one day!

A backlist title of Hillier’s, Wonderland was initially released in 2015 (EBOOK IS ON KU!!) and is now being rereleased on audio! And thank goodness for that or I might not have dug into her backlist!!

•The quaint small town PNW setting and kitschy theme park are the perfect juxtaposition to this creepy story.
•I adored the flawed MC - detective and single Mom, Vanessa. She was smart and imperfectly perfect for the job.
•There is A LOT going on here. And despite thinking that while reading, it didn’t slow me down!!
•I must read her entire backlist now!!

The audio pacing and narration were perfection!

I really liked this book. I thought I knew who the killer was and then it twisted and then I picked a different Killer. I didn't figure it out until the end of the book and that is really rare for me as I can usually find them out right away or at least 1/2 way through. Great book

𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘺, 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦!

Another fantastic book from Jennifer Hillier, I wanted to read this and when I saw the audio I couldn’t resist. It was so worth it, I loved everything about this story. Fantastic!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for this complimentary audiobook!

𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 Audiobook by Jennifer Hillier releases April 11, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Welcome to Wonderland - a magical small town amusement park. It’s been a major attraction to Seaside dating back decades. Police Officer Vanessa Castro worked at Wonderland as a teen and returns to town as the new police chief. On her first day at the job, a badly decaying body shows up at Wonderland and a young boy who works there goes missing. But there as things about Wonderland only a few people know - things they would kill to keep secret. As Vanessa works her missing person cases, she learns how corrupt and dangerous this small town is.

This was the second Jennifer Hillier book I’ve read and all I can say is, I can’t wait to read her backlist! Her stories are creepy, twisty and keep you guessing til the very end. I loved the vibe of Wonderland - how it is this magical place but you could sense something was off. And a clown museum sounds like my own personal nightmare! The characters were all well-developed - I especially adored Vanessa and Jerry - and the storyline was solid. There were multiple twists I didn’t see coming and I loved every one of them. Thank you to Netgalley, Jennifer Hillier and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

“Wonderland” originally released in 2015 but it will release in audio on April 11th!

Thank you to everyone for this gifted copy of Jennifer Hillier’s Wonderland on audio.

As always, Jennifer has blown me away with her ability to write a great thriller. I was hooked through most of the book, and definitely felt surprised by the end. It made me want to pick up another one of her books, especially knowing that some of the other characters have other stories already written.

Liked the narrator, and will recommend this to others. There are trigger warnings in this book that I think people should look into before reading.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley for sending me the Audiobook version of Wonderland!

I'm going to be honest, this felt like I was listening to an episode of Criminal Minds. Anything theme park related, I am instantly interested! But this seemed more of a police procedural, and I just wasn't expecting that. There was a lot of character buildup for characters that didn't really play an important role in the book. Characters that ended up being important in the end were just kind of thrown in. I did enjoy the mystery this book provided, but overall I didn't love it.

I've listened to two books written by this author prior to reading this one, which was actually an earlier release that had updated narration. I really liked it -- it was spooky and twisty without being too predictable. Definitely a little gory but I enjoyed it a lot and the narrator was absolutely fantastic!!!

Wonderland comes out next week on April 11, 2023, and you can purchase HERE! I really liked this one!

Morning had broken and the sun was now over the horizon. Everything looked warm and gold, and with the early rays of sunshine on his face, he felt like Superman. The world was always beautiful if you could just climb high enough.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for gifting me an audio ARC of the audio rerelease of this thriller by Jennifer Hillier and wonderfully narrated by Eunice Wong - 4.5 stars!

Wonderland is a retro amusement park located in Seaside, Washington. It's an important tourist draw to the town and a rite of passage for employment of Seaside teens. But then a strange combination of events happens - a young teen worker climbs the Ferris wheel as a social media prank and then disappears. Meanwhile, a decaying body is found at the base of the wheel. Vanessa Castro just arrived back in Seaside for her first day as Deputy Chief of the Seaside PD. It's her job to investigate all the strange happenings - hopefully before her family gets hurt.

What could be creepier than a Clown Museum and The Doll House in an old amusement park? Just what is happening in the park? I thought this was a fast-paced thriller that had me guessing and then shocked! This book was initially released in 2015 and just now being made available as an audiobook - and the narration is fabulous! I didn't read this one when it first came out even though I'm a Hillier fan, so was happy to be able to listen to it.

Are you looking for a Horror book about amusement parks? If you haven’t read it yet, I want to talk about the re-release of:
Amusement Park - In the pacific northwest there is an amusement park that everyone loves to visit as well as work at
Missing Guys - but let’s totally disregard that fact that every once in awhile, guys go missing
Dead Body - until a dead winds up under the Ferris wheel
Secrets - this is the start of so many secrets, all threatening to come to light

I have read quite a few of Jennifer Hillier’s books and she is the queen of twists. This one is no different where so many twists get thrown at the end, I felt blindsided. I also liked that a character that shows up in her book Little Secrets is also in this book. So here is the bad news - this book comes with it’s fair share of trigger warnings. If you don’t like to read about grooming, spicy scenes, or assault in general, this is not the book for you. At times I felt so uncomfortable, especially listening to this book. However, I still felt like it was well told and completely shocking.

Wow. This book was absolutely amazing. Nothing in the end turned out to be what I was expecting. I was pulled into this story from being to end. I couldn’t stop listening. I loved everything about it!

I generally like this author's work. But this one was just mediocre to me. I finished the whole book. It was interesting enough to finish but not interesting enough for me to want to buy it or recommend it

Jennifer Hillier is an auto buy author for me. That is all. This was phenomenal! I am so happy that I was able to listen to this, thanks to @Netgalley as I had been taking my time getting around to the physical book for years. The twists are always so good. The eerie amusement park setting really did it for me too, as I am a lover of all things horror and a junkie for a good amusement park. I loved how descriptive this entire setting was. This felt like such an immersive experience and I can’t recommend this book, as well as her others as well! This was a 4/5 for me!

I loved this creepy, twisty murder mystery! When I first requested it, I assumed it was something new by Jennifer Hillier, but was pleasantly surprised to find out it's her 2015 release that is getting new life as an audiobook! There are tons of characters to keep track of (my only complaint), but the narrator did a great job adjusting to their voices and I binged this story while doing yard work.

Synopsis: This thriller takes place at an amusement park named Wonderland in Seaside, Washington. Vanessa Castro's first day on the job as Seaside's new deputy police chief starts out with a dead decaying body found in the center of it. When a Wonderland employee goes missing the same day, Vanessa starts digging through past crimes of missing persons and discovers that some of the cases have clues in common. She left Seattle with her family hoping to leave her own scandalous past behind her, but did she unknowingly bring them to a town that will put them in even more danger?

Listening to Wonderland made me excited to continue reading and listening to Jennifer Hillier's backlist! Thanks NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to review it!