Ever After High: A Wonderlandiful World

Book arrived in good condition. Happy to have it.

Nice book

Ok

I was waiting a long time for a new novel-length release and now that it was finally there. I would sit down and just read, read, read - and soon, way too soon, it was over and now I am longing for the next.

A really ingenious novel, like the previous two, but I liked this one less than #1 and #2 because: -I'm really not a fan of Alice's Wonderland, and it is a central theme here; -I'm not that much a fan of Lizzie Hearts, either; -Maybe it's me, but I found less puns and fairy-talesque inside jokes this time (but really cool that one about Katy Perry!); -Many characters had a quite relevant part in the story, but not my two favorites: Goldie Lockes and Nate Nutcracker (kind of none). So, my rating is of 3.65 stars.

This is without a doubt the best writing done for this series and it makes me pretty sad it never got woven into the animated series. It's also without a doubt some of the best writing when adapting wonderland into a series that is not a straight adaptation of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland. Shannon Hale puts so much thought and effort into this world and it's characters. The dialogue and turns of phrase are less cutesy like in the show and more closely aligned with the language in the alice in wonderland books. The Jabberwocky is a beast in a strange land and that land is not strange enough. What happened in the previous book actually has consequences. It's great. The characters get to breath and act in a way they never get to in EAH. Speaking of breathing... I want to write specifically about one character - Cedar Wood. In Ever After High, Cedar Wood is more of a running gag than a character - we almost never get to see inside her head, and while she is fun enough her predicament is never looked at too closely. She is a wooden girl who will one day be made into a "real" girl, she is cursed to always tell the truth and is supposed to reach her destiny by telling a lie (a thing she cannot do right now). In the series it's played entirely for laughs that she can't tell a lie. In this book we see how it's absolutely miserable; no one, even friends, will ever confide in her. They stop talking about private topics not because they don't trust or like her but because they know she has no choice but to expose private business if asked. This isolates Cedar and on top of that she has internalized the idea that she is not a real person. She is an unreal person made of wood with emotions that are not real. She can't feel pain or pleasant sensations. She can't run out of breath, drown, or feel her heart beat - because it doesn't. This paints a very lonely picture of a character who is mostly comedic in the show, but it also gives her depth and accomplishes what the show rarely does; it makes us root for Cedar Wood and it does it by letting us get to know her. Now, mild spoilers head: when Cedar gets the magic that is dormant inside her triggered by the Jabberwocky, it makes her into flesh and blood. She can breath, feel pain, feel her heart beat. It's honestly amazing how much thought Shannon put into just writing this one character, and Lizzie and Maddie are also written excellently too. I'm sure you've guessed it already but I absolutely recommend this book not only to EAH fans but to fans of Alice in Wonderland and even just anyone interested in how a wooden puppet girl might feel.

I got this for nostalgic reasons as I loved this book series when I was younger and I wanted to have the full collection. The book is amazing quality and each page is full of detail and it's a very pretty book to look at. This book from the series was my favourite, but it always upset me that the series was never finished as the author intended to write four books but bailed on the last one. So the story is a bit unfished but good for what it is, an easy to comprehend story and good messages, perfect for young women as it has some good role models without being preachy or too on the nose (which is something that always bothered me when I was a child). I highly recommended this book series :)