Wonderland is a perfectly creepy story!

Can too much time on Tilt-a-Whirls and in front of funhouse mirrors make people crazy? After reading this book, I'm thinking yes.

Teenagers are disappearing, adults are keeping secrets, and there's a lot of shady stuff happening in and around this amusement park.

This story was like riding a roller coaster; all sorts of ups and downs and neck-cracking twists!

Eunice Wong, our audiobook narrator, does a fantastic job embracing the mood and the characters. I was thoroughly immersed from start to finish.

I really enjoyed all of the twists and turns in this book. The narration along with the setting really brought it all together for me and I could not stop listening!

It had an interesting premise but it ended up falling a little flat for me. There were some twists that were good and I did like some of the characters but overall some of it was far fetched and it wasn't my favorite.

The audio of this book was excellent. I loved the reader, she was interesting and was an easy voice to listen to. The story was also excellent and I didn’t even realize it ties in with another Jennifer Hillier book that I already read.
If you live in a rural small town with an amusement park nearby like I do, it is super fun to picture this happening right in your backyard. The mystery of many Wonderland theme park employees missing takes so many twits and turns that I really had no idea who did it until the very end. Loved this book and audio! Thank you NetGalley!

This was my first ever @netgalley option/read! Wonder Land just debuted on audio and I was so excited they had an option for a Jennifer Hillier I hadn’t read! I had previously listened to Little Secrets and really enjoyed it! Wonder Land was even BETTER. A thriller about an amusement park with a creepy history, missing youth and a powerful woman CEO who may be behind it all? Sign me up 🙋🏻‍♀️ This kept me on my toes and it had one of those endings where it could be a number of guilty people but you just don’t truly know who the ultimate villain/culprit is! Absolutely worth the read and/or listen! 👍🏼

Wonderland is engaging and filled with twists, I finished in one day while trying (and failing) to work from home. You won't see the ending coming! I was messaging a friend theoughout the day with my conspiracy theories and....I was so wrong every. single. time. Imaginative and disturbing, Hillier knows how to write a captivating thriller!

Thank you @macmillianaudio and @netgalley for the audio adaptation of this book.

Content Warnings: This book contains references to rape, pedophelia, grooming, kiddnapping, and murder

Wonderland is available for free with KU.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5!

I read this book physically last year and really enjoyed it, so I was extra excited seeing I was approved for an advanced copy of the audiobook. Happy to report my reread was just as good as the original and I thought the audiobook was well done! A creepy mystery set at an amusement park with some mild gore and relationships sprinkled in - what more could you want?

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio and Jennifer Hillier for my ALC!

Thanks to NetGalley & MacMillan Audio for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read Things We Do in the Dark a year or two ago, and really liked it, so I was interested to read this book. I didn't realize that it was a previous title that was being re-released, and you can sense that it's not as polished as Hillier's more recent work. But I still enjoyed the story quite a bit.

Straight out of the gate we have a flawed but strong heroine, and I really love this about Hillier's writing. Her heroines are a mess, but they get shit done. This time, it's new Deputy Police Chief Vanessa Castro, recently arrived in Seaside, WA, widowed and with her two kids. When we first meet her she is slinking away from a one night stand in her new town.

Vanessa's predecessor was a lazy do-nothing, and she finds herself having to answer to a lot of unhappy residents now that she's partly in charge. Her new Chief doesn't spend much time in the office and seems mostly to run PR interference for the amusement park that's the heart of the shore town, Wonderland. The other cops don't seem too keen to help her make a success of the job, so it's a good thing she has a younger detective who seems to be in her corner and willing to work with her on the mess that arises on her first day on the job: a missing teen boy, a dead man discovered in the amusement park grounds, and plenty of social media hashtags surrounding both.

Some of the reviews find fault with the level of creepiness; I think that the cover art promises more horror than suspense and the book doesn't really deliver horror (more like dread, but ultimately it's a police procedural so it's not like much will go fully unresolved at the end). This story definitely could have been more in that vein, and some bits wee predictable (I guessed the culprit well before the big reveal, which is unusual for me). However, I was completely entertained throughout the book, so I'm not inclined to pick it apart after the fact. It was a good time! I grew up with a "Wonderland" of my own in NJ, so it was amusing to juxtapose that one with the one depicted in the novel.

Even if this story has some weak points, it was still a great read and I intend to go back and read some more Jennifer Hillier. I also loved Eunice Wong's voice acting and hope to hear more of her in the future!

I listened to this one for GabbyReads BookTroop Book Club pick and let me tell you I was so excited to see a Jennifer Hillier book up on the roster. Sadly, as much as I LOVE this author’s writing style this was a complete miss for me. 2.5 rounded up to three stars. I wanted to at times to DNF this one but pushed through. It’s a total me thing … I wanted MORE creepy, eerie atmospheric amusement vibes and it just wasn’t giving me what I thought it was based on that cover.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ALC. the narration was great. I enjoyed that. Just wanted more creep factor!!

Wonderland is filled with clowns, games, carnival music, creepy dolls and the giant Wonder Wheel. The Wheel is the oldest Ferris wheel in the Pacific Northwest.
What is happening in the background gives you all the creep factor. A murder, a boy who wants attention and an owner is taking advantage of people.
A homeless mains remains are found on the grounds and an employee is missing. The new deputy police chief Vanessa Castro is on the cases. Rumors run rampant in the town and she must distinguish fact from rumor.
I don’t want to give away too much, but the ending was shocking!
If you’re a fan of amusement parks and creepy thrillers, you need to add this to your list.

In the small, picturesque town of Seaside, Washington is a popular amusement park called “Wonderland”. The amusement park is the center of the tourist town; the roller coasters, games, food, and other attractions bring most of the tourists and money to the small town. Because of this, the police seem to cater to any need the theme park may have. When a rotting body is found in the park, the police rush to downplay the involvement of Wonderland.

Vanessa Castro is starting her first day as deputy police chief of Seaside, Washington when the rotting body is found at Wonderland. As if that wasn’t strange enough for her first day, she also notices that a teenage boy employed at Wonderland is missing. She notices that the chief of police is trying to make the owners of Wonderland happy and is not as concerned as he should be about the body or missing boy. Vanessa quickly learns of dark rumors surrounding the amusement park and makes it her mission to uncover the crimes happening – even if it could hurt Wonderland.

This is a *five star* book for me!! Jennifer Hillier did such a fantastic job creating a creepy atmosphere for this thrilling story. I was engrossed throughout the entire book, and I believe that anyone who enjoys mystery thrillers or crime novels with some police procedural involved will love this book! Hillier is such a talented writer, one of my trusted authors in this genre. I was not at all let down by this!

I had the audio of this book, and I enjoyed it SO much. The audio was narrated by Eunice Wong, and she did an INCREDIBLE job. The narration added to the thrilling storyline in my opinion, and I would recommend the audio to anyone who enjoys audiobooks.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and the talented Jennifer Hillier for the audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed the audio of this Jennifer Hillier thriller. The setting at the Wonderland amusement park upped the creep factor for sure. I was really surprised to find our who we behind everything. Bianca was such a crazy unlikeable character, but worked well in this story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this ALC.

I found this book to be thrilling & kept me on my seat. The setting was well done & fascinating. The characters were well developed and the plot was fast paced enough to keep me entertained!

I’ve always loved enjoyed when amusement parks are used as a setting. They work great for horror stories or in the case of Jennifer Hillier’s Wonderland for thrillers. And thrilling is exactly what Wonderland is. The Wonderland amusement park has a dark past (darker than most know). Like many, Vanessa Castro one worked there as teenager, but this time when she returns to the park it’s as the deputy chief of police. A body has a found on the midway, right infront of the iconic Wonder Wheel attraction, an unidentified homeless person, their face chewed on by a rat. But that’s not the only crime. It appears an employee has also gone missing…and not for the first time. I really enjoyed Wonderland. I found the characters complex and more than a few of them disturbing disturbingly believable. The story is intricate with plenty of twists and red herrings that really kept me guessing until the end. Eunice Wong does an excellent job with the narration. I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review an advanced copy of the audio version Wonderland.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2Q1PUK9UR6T2Y/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This thriller was nice and atmospheric, if anything, it could've actually leaned a little more into it but, with the house of horror and the clown museum OUUFFF did I ever get chills! I really liked the detective in this one and how both her and her daughter were integrated into the story. I always love a book that is part whodunnit, thriller and police procedural! This one has some juicy secrets, some good twists and is a little wild! All in all, definitely a page turner and roller coaster of a read!

Content warnings: Adult/minor relationship, sexual content, murder, rape, child abuse, infidelity, confinement, kidnapping, emotional abuse, suicide, transphobia, stalking, sexual harassment.

A huge thanks to MacMillan audio and Netgalley for the audiobook for review. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars, rounded up
Intriguing audiobook release of Jennifer Hillier's 2015 book.

I was caught up right away in this police procedural mystery set in the small town of Seaside, Washington. The town exists and thrives because of its main attraction, the Wonderland amusement park. The park provides jobs and tourism, and therefore it's in everyone's best interest that the park continues to operate. Vanessa Castro has just moved to Seaside from Seattle with her two children after the death of her husband. She arrives on her first day of work to a call from Wonderland, a dead, decomposing body has been discovered in the midway. Everyone involved wants things wrapped up quickly and quietly, but Vanessa isn't willing to just let things go. Not when she discovers how many young men who have worked at the park have gone missing.

The audiobook narration is excellent and kept me invested in the story, even with multiple points of view. The mystery is, while not completely surprising, decently satisfying. I liked how everything fit together in the end and how there are a few sneaky twists. Is it wholly believable? Nope, but that was fine overall as it was entertaining.

If you've enjoyed other books by Hillier or you just enjoy small town mysteries or those set in an amusement park (creepy for sure), Wonderland is sure to satisfy.

Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier has been rereleased as an audiobook.

"Vanessa Castro moved to Seaside to get away from mistakes in her past. Her first day as Deputy Police Chief is not going well. There's an unidentifiable homeless man rotting on the Midway of Wonderland. And a kid who climbed the Wonder Wheel is missing after posting a photo from the top. As Vanessa investigates she discovers more potential victims and wonders just what has been happening in the park."

High creep factor in the this one - Clown Museum - Doll House - a dungeon that's an urban myth - there are lots of creepy moments. Vanessa Castro is almost an antihero with the contrast of her behavior at the beginning and her refusal to grant favors. There are several twists from Hillier including a couple of wild ones at the end.

Eunice Wong does a wonderful job with the audiobook performance especially with the wide range of characters.

A great early book from Hillier.

Thank you, #macmillanaudio and #netgalley for this #giftedaudiocopy .
3.5 Stars
This book had a great premise and a ton of potential, but I didn't get the anxiety that I crave in a thriller. I wanted to be afraid when the suspenseful parts happened, but the build- up just wasn't there. There were twists and turns, some predictable, a couple were not. It was all-in-all an entertaining read, I just feel like it could've been even better if I could FEEL the suspense.

Really enjoyed this thriller! Fun setting and liked the perspectives from several characters.The author did a great job of weaving everyone's personal drama into the bigger story. I did not see the reveal coming - multiple twists kept me on my toes.

Previously only released as an eBook I was delighted when my request for a copy of the audiobook was granted by the lovely folks at @macmillanaudio and NetGalley! I'm a huge fan of Hillier's other books and had high expectations for this one! I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint! It was dark and twisted and totally engaging! I couldn't put it down. The narrator was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this! Perfect for readers who love dark thrillers with captivating characters.