The Wonderland Trials

The Curious Realities, Book 1

By: Sara Ella

Narrated by: Katherine Anderson

Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Solve the clues. Face your fears. Survive the Trials.

All Alice Liddell wants is to escape her Normal life in Oxford and find the parents who abandoned her ten years ago. But she gets more than she bargained for when her older sister Charlotte is arrested for having the infamous Wonder Gene—the key to unlocking the curious Wonderland Reality.

Soon, Alice receives a rather cryptic invitation to play for Team Heart in this year’s annual—and often deadly—Wonderland Trials. Now she has less than twenty-four hours to find her way into Wonderland where nothing is impossible . . . or what it seems.

The stakes are raised when she discovers players go missing during the Trials each year. Will she and her team solve the clues and find the missing players? Or will betrayal and distrust win, leaving Alice alone in a world of her own? Follow the White Rabbit into this topsy-turvy fantasy where players become prey, a sip of the wrong tea might as well be poison, and a queen’s ways do not always lead one where they ought to go.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Sara Ella (P)2022 Oasis Audio

Critic reviews

“A compelling tale full of whimsy, magic, love, and courage.” – C.J. Redwine, New York Times bestselling author of the Ravenspire series

“Certain to mesmerize with its quirky, yet familiar, cast of characters, whimsical world-building, and treacherous intrigue.” – Lorie Langdon, author of Olivia Twist, and the Disney Villains Happily Never After Series

“Packed with ingenious nods to Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, The Wonderland Trials is a triumph.” — Katherine Reay, best-selling author of Dear Mr. Knightley and The London House

This was an enjoyable reimagining

I love reimagined fairy tales and this one sos not disappoint. The narrator was enjoyable to listen to, the pace was good.

Classic Wonderland Meets Hunger Games

Alice lives in the world of "normals" but longs to be a "wonder." People with the wonder gene are considered dangerous and are banned from living normal lives in Britain. Alice wants to be one of them anyway. She listens to a podcast about The Wonderland Trials, an annual competition that's important to wonder society, at every opportunity. The main wrinkle in her love for Wonderland is her sister. Charlotte hates wonders and wants Alice to share her skepticism.

In a dizzying turn of events, Alice receives an invitation to participate in The Wonderland Trials. It's seems that nothing and no one in her life is what they seemed to be. Can the mantra "nothing is impossible" bring her through to victory and the answers she craves?

Thoughts:
My favorite element of this story was Alice's relationships. Her and her sister Charlotte. Her and Chess Shire. Her and Maddie.

I also enjoyed the themes around belief, the power of love, and the importance of working together.

All in all, I'd describe this as the original Alice in Wonderland meets The Hunger Games. If you love whimsy, world building, and fantasy, you'll likely enjoy this story. Bonus points if you don't mind a little bit of mind-bending.

Content
Language: None that I can recall
Romance: A brief kiss after development of trust/feelings
Violence: There's a bit of danger and violence. Nothing gratituous.

A book full of wonders!

"It’s one thing to restrict our use of technology and entirely another to keep us from our own history and literature."

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

The book really got that Wonderland Vibe and Sara Ella caught the character of Alice that I have watched and remembered in Disney Movies. I finished reading (or rather listening) the book with @oasis_audio 's audiobook of the novel. The voice actor was superb! How she changes from one character to another. It's a great help because I can do household chores while enjoying the book.

If you loved The Hunger Games (less the killing though 😅), while wanting to own Wonderland’s cool gadgets, and oh, let me add the different kinds of tea that Madi makes, then this book is for you!

The Wonderland Trials is a book that will really make you wonder. Wonder at the question, what if this kind of thing exist in our world? This is a fun, nonsensical book!

The only thing I didn’t like (and loved at the same time), it ended with a cliffhanger! And it also means, a second book is on its way! Yay!

So for those who loves to read an Alice retelling (and Dystopian Fantasy), this book is for you!

Great read!

Sara Ella’s Wonderland Trials are intriguing and puzzling. I enjoyed hearing all the twists and turns that both make all the sense in the world and none at all.
The characters are fun and lovable. The underlying messages in the story are deep and thought provoking.

So good and twisty

Narrator did a great job! I loved the twisty-ness! Clean read, no swearing, no spice

Great read!!

This is the first book I've read/listened to from Sara Ella. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the narrator! Incredibly imaginative, full of twists and turns. The narrator does a great job- the voices of the characters are so different you don't find yourself wondering who's talking. I anxiously await the second book!!

Reimagined Alice

This reimagining of Alice is urban fantasy perfection.
Alice, Chess, Charlotte, even Dinah the cat are familiar yet new. I love the clever way we see characters from Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland in the future England as well as Wonderland itself.
I’m a huge fan of competition quest YA fiction and The Wonderland Trials ranks among the best. Can I preorder book 2?

Such a Whimsical Yet Dark Story

I loved reading the Wonderland Trials last year so to get to revisit it in audio format is such fun! While it takes a bit to get into, the story is such a fun one with such a deep message! Highly recommend!