I sadly didn't enjoy this title. I found the writing a little basic and clunky, and the premise not exactly meaningful or original. It was very strongly based on Alice in Wonderland, but didn't do anything unique with the original story. It was really a story showcasing wealth and privilege but was also not very self-aware and the main character's voice was annoying at times. Really wish I enjoyed this more! 2 stars.

Marketed as an Alice in Wonderland retelling, the narrative follows a trans girl at a party with a lot of drugs, but the plot lacks substance and character development. While the book commendably embraces diversity and includes a trans character, the issues the characters face aren't sufficiently explored, leaving the story lacking depth. The attempt to draw parallels with Alice in Wonderland felt forced, and the narrative would have benefited from a more focused exploration of party dynamics and interpersonal issues with added context. Overall, the lack of a compelling plot and underdeveloped characters left me disengaged, and the book failed to capture my interest.

Another fantastic book from Juno Dawson, I love her books so much and this one was no different. I found this gripping. Loved it!

I didn't realise this was part of series until I had started reading it so that did impair my enjoyment of the book. I was interested because of the Alice in Wonderland aspects but I found it to be poorly executed and I feel like it was used more as a marketing device than an actually well rounded plot point. I'm sure if you ahd read the previous book this would have all made more sense, but it fell flat for me unfortunately.

Once again Juno Dawson has written another brilliant book. This one follows 17 year old Alice trying to find her friend Bunny when she goes missing. There ensues sex, lies, drugs and murder. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

Really unusual, gripping novel.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

5 Word Review: Family, friendship, retelling, belonging, power.
5 More Words: Strength, life, change, debauchery, wealth.

I have put off reviewing Wonderland for the longest time, because I didn't want the London Trilogy to end. Clean and Meat Market are utterly magnificent, messy, masterful, and Wonderland joins them being marvellous. I loved how Lexi got a couple of mentions from characters too, it was like it all circled somewhat back around to the first book.

Wonderland takes the excess and the messiness of the previous books and takes it to new extremes. It truly displays the power of wealth, what you can get away with when you have the privilege of old money.

Alice is rich, but she's not rich. She can spend a grand with barely a bat of an eyelid and minimal guilt due to her mum's success, but she's still an odd one at school where most of the wealth is generational and unimaginable. The privilege is... It's something else. The excess is beyond what I can comprehend. Think Gossip Girl but very British and far messier.

Alice goes through a lot in Wonderland - she confronts her own feelings and behaviour, she is in physical danger, she has to get through transphobia and the fetishising of who she is. It's a difficult read at times.

I loved how the story and the mystery was slowly revealed, and how the personalities of everyone involved came to the surface. With the Wonderland event everything was heightened, and it was forced proximity with added drugs and entitlement.

Wonderland is a ride. It's wild and scary and powerful. A fast paced, messy mystery. I almost couldn't keep up. I loved the way it played with the themes and aesthetics of Alice and Wonderland. Mystery, attempted murder, drugs, secrets... It's the best kind of mess.

http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/2018/03/clean-by-juno-dawson.html
http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/2018/04/a-playlist-for-clean-by-juno-dawson.html
http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/2019/03/meat-market-by-juno-dawson.html

Thank you for providing access to this book. I'll be reviewing/featuring this book separate from NetGalley as I have purchased a copy.

This was disappointing, I absolutely loved Clean by Juno Dawson, so maybe my expectations were a bit high but honestly this book was boring. I was so excited for a UKYA novel by a trans author with a trans main character and of course the diversity and representation was fantastic but the plot felt so flat. I think the concept of an Alice retelling put too many limitations on the story and forced it in directions that weren’t creative or thrilling enough. Sadly I didn’t enjoy it.

Juno Dawson has her own incredibly unique style of writing which I have previously really enjoyed. I found this book interesting and some elements of the retelling were put together really well. However, I found this being marketed as YA quite concering. Despite being a very open and realistic parent to my teenager and pre-teen, some of the drug use and attitudes towards casual sex in this book feel like a step too far for YA fiction. I wouldn't want to see this being read by anyone under the age of a mature 15/16.

I've read a number of books by the lovely Juno Dawson. They're often wild rides, but I really struggled to get on with this one. I did feel that some of the references to Alice in Wonderland seemed almost shoehorned in and I struggled to connect with some of the characters in the way I was hoping. Compared to Clean and Meat Market, I just didn't love it quite as much.

However, as always, Dawson paints a wonderfully visceral picture of London full of wit and sharpness.

Alice is a sharp, intelligent, deeply flawed and deeply relatable protagonist. Her honesty, sometimes scathing self reflection and hopeless crushes make for a read at turns humorous and painful both. Two parts mystery and one part longingly romantic, Wonderland was a pacy book I swept through and enjoyed thoroughly.

I've not come across Juno Dawson's work before, but you can certainly bet on the fact that I'll be reading more of their works. Wonderland is a complex, spiraling and absolutely wonderful exploration of life, love, sexuality and mental health wrapped up in an absolutely crazy drug-induced ribbon. It's not the type of book I usually pick up, but I am really glad I did as I flew through it and adored every second.

When Bunny goes missing, nobody really seems to care. She's known for this sort of thing after all, and everyone knows she'll turn up in a month or so. No harm, no foul. But Alice isn't so sure and when she finds an invitation to Wonderland stuffed at the back of Bunny's locker, she is determined that it has something to do with Bunny's disappearance. But nothing is as it seems at Wonderland, and Alice may have bitten off far more than she can handle.

Wonderland is an undeniably crazy book, full of the chaotic shenanigans of those with far more money than sense. But with all of the crazy, it is also a serious and careful exploration of mental health, sexuality and transgender identity. Alice is a wonderful character, and Dawson writes her insecurities and struggles exceptionally well, so I really empathised with her. The mystery of what has happened to Bunny is drawn out well throughout the narrative as well, and is made all the more interesting because the boundary of what is real and imagined can become so blurred throughout the novel.

There are some strong trigger warnings here though and I certainly wouldn't recommend this for younger readers; there is sex, swearing, sexual violence and references to suicide. It's a dark yet refreshingly entertaining read, Dawson doesn't shy away from reality and yet she writes with a wit and verve that prevents the book from being dragged down by it's own darker elements. So, this is crazy, thought-provoking and funny and I have to say that I loved every second of it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.

TW: suicide, sexual assault, drug use, alcohol abuse, and more.

I think this is such a clever twist on the classic Alice in Wonderland, combining many things that I'm always looking for in books including mental health rep and queer rep.

Very trippy and a wild ride, but a brilliant read.

Wonderland is set in modern day London, following a transgender Alice with bright blue hair. She lives in a world of the upper rich class filled with privilege and lavishness but she struggles with her mental health and is over come with a lot of issues. When her friend, Bunny, goes missing, Alice makes it her mission to find her. She literally makes it her obsession that we shall note is not healthy for her at all. After spending time with Bunny, Bunny is missing without a trace. Alice finds clues and tries to search for her. These clues lead her to a exclusive party for those in at the top of society, known as wonderland.
Whilst on the hunt for bunny, Alice will come upon many struggles including her mental health and one of the many socialite enemies that she has, Queen Paisley Hart who is determined to ruin Alice with all of the secrets that she has hidden up her sleeve.

This trippy take on Alice in Wonderland is what I loved. I loved that Juno Dawson was not afraid to go there with subjects such as mental health, rape, gender and privilege. She uses her voice as a trans woman to project a mind-altering tale of friendship and betrayal with these issues mixed in which gives a refreshing look at these issues. This engaging book had me gripped to its pages and I’m so glad to have read it.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this as an e-arc. Overall this book is a 3 out of 5 stars.

LOVED this book. The genius way Juno re-wrote the Wonderland story into present day with some rather accurate depictions of the classic characters as people you might find in society today, I'm looking at you Tweedle Twins.

What a wonderful, bizarre journey Juno takes us on. A trans protagonist where being trans isn’t the point, up but just part of a character. A twisted look at privileged teens in London society and the excesses and eccentricities they have. Brilliant.

Juno Dawson seems to have a talent for writing characters -- especially in the "trilogy" (Clean, Meat Market, and Wonderland) -- that I (and I'm sure a lot of people) cannot relate to in the slightest, in terms of living with a huge amount of wealth. But I've never once feel alienated by her books. They're always so fascinating to get a glimpse into the life of people on the "other side" - the ones who live lives that I can only just imagine.

Wonderland, just like Clean and Meat Market, sucked me in and didn't let go. It's so full of mystery, intrigue, and a kind of dirty glamour that I know I would absolutely never want to experience for myself. It's full of twists that I never saw coming, darkness, and even murder. I loved every page.

This book, I'd say more so than Juno's others, deals with a whole bunch of heavy themes that affirm that it is definitely not for younger readers. It's classed as YA, but I'd almost say it verges the line between older YA and adult. (This is where the "New Adult" age range needs to be a thing.) It has a huge list of trigger warnings -- including, but not limited to drug and alcohol abuse, serious mental illness, suicide, rape, and I'm sure others that I'm not able to pinpoint but others might. It is a DARK story, so readers just need to be aware of that.

As always, I can't wait to see what Juno comes up with next!

very interesting book that was a pleasant light read to have on a cold afternoon inside. Though the book had very similar themes to other books I have read, the revelations revealed by the characters throughout the book made it something special. It perfectly combined both heavy themes and making it readable for any audience and for that I commend it.