Something monstrous wants to exit Wonderland and enter the real world.
Rating: 4/5
Something monstrous wants to exit Wonderland and enter the real world.
Lewis Carroll, author of the classic book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, secretly recorded the true story of his actual travels to Wonderland in four journals which have been lost to the world . . . until now.
Celia and Tyrus discover the legendary Lost Diaries of Wonderland and fall into a portal that pulls them into the same fantasy world as the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter. However, Wonderland has vastly changed. Some of the characters that Tyrus remembers from the book have been transformed into angry monsters.
Helped by the Cheshire Cat and a new character, Sylvan, a young rabbit, Celia, and Tyrus desperately work to solve puzzles and riddles, looking for a way out of Wonderland. But the danger increases when the Queen of Hearts begins hunting them, believing the two young visitors hold the key to opening multiple portals to multiple worlds, and she will stop at nothing to capture them.
Will the crazed creatures of Wonderland escape into the real world? Can Celia and Tyrus stop them and save both worlds? Or will they be trapped in Wonderland forever?
I was given a copy of this book through Shadow Mountain Publishing asking that I read it and feature it on my page. I couldn't have been happier for this opportunity! Thank you!
This was much more entertaining than I expected. I didn’t know what to expect going in except for maybe a more modernized retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Which in its own way, it kind of was. This took a new take on the story of Alice in Wonderland and gave it a new spin. Also, it was much more factual than I anticipated.
Now when I say factual, I mean just that. I actually learned something from this book. The premise of The Lost Wonderland Diaries is exactly that. We follow a distant relative, Celia of the author of the classic book, Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Caroll, or by his real name, Charles Dogden. Celia and her friend, Tyrus discover the missing diaries of Lewis Caroll which are in fact truly missing diaries. These diaries, as told in this tale, hold Caroll’s tales of the real Wonderland. Opening one of the diaries, Celia and Tyrus fall into the world of Wonderland. But they find that it’s nothing compared to the books and stories they were told. It’s been under attack from the hauntrosity. Celia and Tyrus then solve puzzles and riddles in an attempt to save Wonderland and head home.
The whole concept was very creative and fun to follow. Plus, as I mentioned, very factual. I had never known about these diaries of Caroll’s that were missing. So to read a fun fantasy of the “truth” of what they held was quite entertaining. I will admit, some of the twists along the way are a bit predictable. Despite this, I still enjoyed it, and I honestly think my little sister who’s not nearly as big of a reader as I am, would enjoy this too.
This book flows really well. I cruised through this really fast. But that could just be due to the fact this is more of a younger young adult book, more for middle schoolers. The main characters were middle-school-aged.
Overall, this was definitely a fun read! I really enjoyed reading this. If you love Alice in Wonderland, you’ll love this one too!