eBook Review - Return To Wonderland

• Title And Author: Return to Wonderland by Various
• Publisher: Pan MacMillan 
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange from an honest review/reaction
• Length: 240 Pages

Though I have my issues with the original Alice in Wonderland, I am a sucker for it. I love the weirdness and the strangeness of it. I love the characters and how, no matter how many times you’ve read the book, seen the films, or anything related to it, it’s still just as odd as before. 

So, when Return to Wonderland was first announced, I did something I don’t normally do: I emailed the publisher, asking if I could have a copy for review. We chatted and exchanged info but nothing came from it, which is ok as I planned to buy this or get it from my library when it came out. Then I saw it on NetGalley and, though I have far too many books to read, I requested and, when I was approved, I decided to forgo my “Pick My Next Read” poll and read this as soon as I could (as well as Red Sister by Mark Lawerence, which I should be Buddy Reading with Luna’s Little Library and I am, currently, failing at!) 

In this collection of stories (written by - hang on, deep breath time! - Peter Bunzl, Pamela Butchart, Maz Evans, Swapna Haddow, Patrice Lawrence, Chris Smith, Robin Stevens, Lauren St John, Lisa Thompson, Piers Torday and Amy Wilson), we return to Wonderland and we ask, what happens in Wonderland without Alice? And the stories answer questions such as why does the Cheshire Cat grin so, has anyone barring Alice ever visited Wonderland, will the Mad Hatter ever host a sensible tea party and other questions…

This isn’t going to be long blog post/review/reaction. Sorry everyone, but I had such a blast reading this. I read this within four days and, if I had more time on my hands (and not had to do real life things, such as sleep, go to work, drive places, etc), I would have read this so much faster. All of the stories within these were delightful and a joy. 

There was one or two I feel that could easily be turned into much longer stories/novellas (Ina Out of Wonderland by Robin Stevens and The Knave of Hearts by Lisa Thompson), and others that were perfectly compacted (Patrice Lawerence’s Roll of Honour). 

I did like the stories, but there are a few I didn’t warm to as quickly as the others. But, with any collection of short stories, this will happen so I wasn’t too worried. Plus, it was nice to read stories from authors I have never heard of before and have made mental notes to check out. 

But I think young fans of Alice in Wonderland will enjoy reading this collection of middle-grade tales. I do hope we have another collection similar to this in the near future, either from Wonderland or maybe Oz…