Book Review: Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles

Title: Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles
Author: J. M. Sullivan
Genre: YA, Teen, Dystopian, Zombie, Fairy Tale Retelling
Stars: 3.5 out of 5 stars (round up to 4) 

I probably enjoyed this book way more than I should have. It was fun, fast paced and the writing was pretty darn good for a debut YA author. But I think many will have mixed reviews... 

Wonderland and I: a quick background
I love Wizard of Oz, my husband loves Alice in Wonderland (so much so he is working on half sleeve tattoos that are both Alice themed, awesome right?!). When I read [book:Dorothy Must Die|18053060], a couple years ago, I hated it. Steampunk + Oz = me stoked; but I was sorely let down. BUT Oz is a childhood escape place and maybe it's a bit sacred to me. In contrast Wonderland is a place I know of that is fun but not really nostalgic for me personally. So to read a re-telling or inspired by Alice book with a bunch of things all weird and different was fun for me.
I'll confess my husband helped with many of the references to Wonderland places and characters (my personal favourite is Dr. Waite R. Abbott, both the name and the character were my favourite) and of course our lead gal is named Alice. There is a super cute easter egg throughout the text that I was amused by (be sure to highlight in your e-reader, have stickies for marking pages or keep track in notes on your smartphone; in order to easily 'get it'). There's lots of Lewis Carroll nods and I'm sure a scholared Alice fan would pick up more than I did. You'll have to read it if you want to discover them all. ;) 

The weak points
I have given this four stars, but it's more a 3.5 for me. I appreciate that it was a fun, quick and action packed read. But I can't completely overlook some major faults that will possible cause others to give up on this book. This list is typical of a debut author, nothing here can't be fixed and I do think J.M. Sullivan likely has a career ahead of her as a decent YA novelist. 
But here's the things that bugged me:

• The overall plot was fine, but a bit cliche. Alice goes out to find a cure for a plague/virus for her sister, runs into trouble on the way, is somehow important, blah, blah, blah
• Alice is able to randomly fight really well with a knife (though can't shoot a gun) and seems to miraculously get out of sticky situations with minimal harm (when you consider what she is fighting against)
• Convenience is certainly well used. While some of it is explained by a reveal or two near the end, overall it's just a lot to accept. If you're looking for realism this is not the place, it's Wanderland after all (haha)
• Our characters are somewhat one dimensional but have lots of room to grow which could be good if this becomes a longer series. 

The positive points
These are big positives to me as they hit on a lot of my pet peeves. Convenience is a weakness that is on my pet peeve list however so you can start to maybe understand why this is such a mixed review. The good: 

• The possible love interests, yes plural, are both intelligent, interesting, and there is ZERO INSTA LOVE. I can't tell you how big of a pro this is for me in YA books these days. Clearly there is opportunity for relationships to develop with Alice but it's set-up so that we don't go there in this book. 
• Wanderland is clearly a world building set-up book and introduction to this alternate Wonderland, and the world building is pretty darn good. It's clever with it's Alice references, and overall well thought-out considering it's a 'zombie' YA book. Kudos to Sullivan for thinking about the science of a virus and giving us a clear idea of origin and even some basic genetics. It's very high level but enough to convince me that there was some thought that went into it and that's enough for me at this level of story
• It just reads fast. I dunno what it is but it's a page turner. I am crediting this to good writing. I didn't want to stop reading it and even put my other book completely aside to finish this. Not something that happens all the time. It was a nice to read, fun and exciting book. Maybe it fit my mood right now, which desperately needed escapism reading but I'm going to give the credit to Sullivan and her writing.
• It's a dystopian novel and I am a bit of a suck for them (lol)

Overall
If you want a fun action book that is written well, has lots of Alice/Wonderland references and don't mind some plot holes/conveniences or a couple one dimensional characters then I think you'll enjoy this book. 
BUT if you love Wonderland and are a purist DO NOT read this book. I suspect you will hate it just like I hated the dystopian take on Oz. Some worlds for some people just cannot be revisited or used in a way that will pay homage or do justice to the world as we have built it up in our head. And that's okay. 
If you know nothing about Alice then Wanderland probably won't hold up for you as a stand-alone world. A lot of the charm is how clever Sullivan is in her use of Wonderland and drawing parallels. Without this I'm not sure it holds up as a basic zombie dystopian novel. 

I however enjoyed it and look forward to another book in this interesting Wanderland world. It hasn't been confirmed as a series but the Epilogue sets it up to be nicely and so I will watch for book 2. 

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Book Review: Mapping the Interior

 

Title: Mapping the Interior

Author: Stephen Graham Jones 

Genre: Native American, literature, themes of death & loss

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

You know when you read a book and you know that at least 50% of the symbolism, comparisons, philosophy and psychology went over your head? That's what Mapping the Interior felt like to me. I know there is obviously a lot of importance and density to this novella but ask me to explain it or pull out snippets and I struggle knowing I missed a lot of somethings I can't articulate. 

"There are rules, I know. Not knowing them doesn't mean they don't apply to you."

This is a story of a Native American boy whose mourning a lost father, coping with leaving the reserve, trying to protect his damaged little brother and be the man of the house for his mom. It's a sad story and one I have heard variations of from other Natives in Canada many times. Having attended a junior high school where we had reserve kids it was always obvious that us "city kids" (as they called us) had it pretty darn good. Even those who didn't have it so good we're still better off in comparison. So very sad and yet so true. 

"...like the same stupid person is trying life after life until he gets it right at last."

Mapping the Interior is about the cycle of shame, loss and how you are destined to be your fathers son whether you want to be or not. 

And while, again, I'm not sure I understood all the nuances of the book I'm glad I read it. If only for a reminder, in the year that Canada celebrates 150 years as a nation, that we built this nation on top of others existing culture and life. Be it right or wrong at the time it happened, and given we can't change that, we should at least remember and reach a hand out to help break the cycle and provide opportunities for those children and adults who are stuck in a life of poverty and helplessness. 

It's difficult to give literature like this a rating. It almost feels inappropriate to rate it. Like I can't put a value on something I can't entirely understand. So I will give four stars because it's an important story told in this novella, but the deep metaphorical overlay of the story leaves me feeling inadequate and therefore is not going to be good for everyone; nor does it make its point in an easily accessible way. 

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Book Review: The Suffering Tree

 Title: The Suffering Tree 

Author: Elle Cosimano

Genre: Teen, Magic

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I have lots to say about this book so I'm going to try and break it all down for everyone. Starting with the aversion many have with this book. 

Cutting

Yes it is true our lead gal is a cutter. She self harms herself in about 8 described incidents (though I would argue that ones done for a spell are different), 4 of which are possibly graphic. I didn't think so but then again I dabbled with cutting as a teen myself and my husband had larger issues with it as a teenager. I think it's a really important issue that most writers shy away from. I've never read a novel where the lead character is a cutter and, given how widespread of a teen issue it is, it's occurred to me that we should probably be more concerned than we are. 

So, why is this such a taboo subject? 

I personally feel like those who have DNF'd or given 1 star because of the cutting content are incorrect. You can still dislike the overall book of course; and choose to say the book is not for you, but that doesn't mean it's bad or inappropriate. Especially if you DNF and don't witness the progression of the cutting issue. Right from page 1 it is not glorified or made out to be right. In fact the shame and fear our gal has over the issue, I think, sends a very good message to teens. 

I'm not interested in arguing about this at length. This is merely my opinion. But as a previous cutter and having witnessed those who struggle with it even worse I think this is a really important, rarely discussed issue. 

Plot

There is a lot of great content here. Between moving to a new town, dealing with death, stigma and corruption it has a good base. Then add in the historical context discussion indentured folks, slaves and witch trials: you suddenly have a well thought out book. There was more magic than I expected and I really enjoyed the jump between dreams of the past, and the past and present perspectives. 

It's quite intricate and the overall family tree and past element felt a lot like Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for me. Add in our damaged cutting lead gal and you suddenly start to have a bunch of themes that crossover. 

That said it's a teen book. While it's definitely not appropriate for less than 14 or 15 due to content, it is still not an adult novel. 

Writing

The overall writing is quite good. There are some really annoying issues at times where someone has the answer to a crisis when they couldn't have had time to make a call and plan in the span of the two minutes between incident and telling others of a confirmed plan. So some holes. But for the most part they are not too hard to overlook.

Overall

I'd say on principle this book is 3.5 stars for me, but I bump it to 4 stars for being willing to tackle self harm and mutilation issues with teens. 

Could it trigger someone? Sure. 

Should it have mentioned self harm in the blurb... I dunno... maybe...

Ironically I felt the scenes in the past including whipping, switches and other torture methods was far more graphic and disturbing. I have noticed a tendency as a society to be okay with past violence as we believe it no longer happens today, so it's not as disturbing or something... there's a psychology paper in there somewhere. 

Recommend?

I would recommend this book for adults who love magic that happens or is set in present day, those who enjoy a complex family tree and conspiracy, or anyone interested in a well done take on why teens (or others for that matter) inflict injuries upon themselves by choice. 

I think any teen over 14 would be entranced by this novel. 

Oh and I shouldn't forget to mention that the love interest is very unique. I liked it a lot. I especially appreciated he lack of love triangle, gushing about cuteness or hotness and that there is zero slut shaming. All things I'm more than tired of. 

Overall I would recommend The Suffering Tree and I commend Elle Cosimano for tackling a hidden issue that needs to be brought to the surface even if it makes folks uncomfortable. In fact the more uncomfortable you are the more likely it is that the issue needs to be discussed! 

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.