Book Review: Unbirthday by Liz Braswell

Unbirthday

Liz Braswell

Twisted Tales, #10

Publisher: Random House

Published Date: September 1, 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Retellings, Young Adult, Fiction

512 Pages / 12 Hours 48 Minutes

Date Read: January 5-February 2, 2025

Format: 🎧

Source: Audible

This is part of an ongoing standalone series based on Disney tales. As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.

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About the Book

Alice would rather spend time with her camera or in her aunt Vivian's salon rather than trying to be a "respectable" member of society. She would rather meander to the local teashop, watch children play in the square, or learn more about the young lawyer she met in the square... purely for curiosity of course. One day, Alice begins seeing strange faces in the photos that she's taken of people across town-the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter. Even though she knows these are creatures of Wonderland there is something eerily odd about them. When Alice develops a self-portrait and discovers an injured girl, Mary Ann, who is asking for Alice's help, she knows she must return to the place of nonsense from her childhood.

Quick Review (Spoiler Free)

Alice in Wonderland has to be my favorite story of all time. I love reading others’ re-imaginings of the tale. This book focuses on Alice with the premise that she is very late returning to Wonderland where the Queen of Hearts is out of control. Alice’s core character traits were kept throughout this story with small modernized twists. Seeing the relation to the England character and their Wonderland counterparts was nice. The story felt seamless as it swapped between England and Wonderland.

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Now, let's get into the details!!

I really like the concept of these 'Twisted Tales'. I love that these stories focus on the events around the main story or some sort of problem that didn't exist in the original. For this one specifically, Alice is arriving in Wonderland later than she should have to save everyone.

I really liked that Alice was kept true to her character in the sense that she didn't care what was expected of her. She was her own person even through this modernized scenario. Her sister and mother had high expectations while all she wanted to do was take photos and be happy. I loved the edition of her aunt being the person she could relate to and had a good relationship with. It felt like it gave Alice hope of what she could be.

I also like that she got to build a genuine relationship with Katz and that it wasn't forced by society's expectation of her. The cute moments between them were the best!

The Wonderland aspect of this book felt more like the game aspects from Alice: Madness Returns. I like the darker twists to Wonderland's story telling as it makes it have more depth, more potential for consequence, and an urgency to the storyline. Alice has to make some choices in order to try to save her friends and it felt like it gave her more motivation to do so.

Ratings