Name: Wonder
ISBN: 9781795226530

Christina C. Jones

It all came down to me.The one who followed the rules, never went looking for trouble - I kept to myself. I just wanted to take care of my family. To not constantly look over my shoulder, worried about the things that went bump in the night.I just wanted to survive.But that wasn't meant to be.As luck - or fate, or something - would have it, the trouble found me.I followed a rabbit through the wreckage of a half-ruined world to get back what was mine, and wound up at the end of it.In Wonderland.But there's nothing magical about it.(While Wonder does feature a central love story, it is not a contemporary romance novel)

Wonder

Jo H

Yet another example of a KU gem.

So, my first Christina C. Jones - who is a minor romance booktube darling - was a winner. It also is one of the few romances (I consider it to be a romantic sci-fi suspense mashup) where I can get on board with a sexually inexperienced woman in her mid-20s, because it very much fit into her personality and where she fit into the world at the start of the book. 

There was so much to like here;
> the futuristic post-apocalyptic world
> a fearsome sisterbond, 
> an awakening from a matrix-like scenario (this is not cyperpunk though), 
> a 'by the rules' young woman coming into her own and taking names to save her sister, 
> a STEM genius girl/woman (albeit a 'tell not show' kind) who meets her match, 
> an Alpha Male who is not the top dog but who still knows and does shit without being a total dickhead about it, 
> a nerdy tech boy/man who can also hold his own, 
> a 3d female villan and 
> a fierce but fair female ruler of the 'underworld'... 
but I enjoyed the story and the characters so much that now I really need more. 

I would have totally loved this if there was more detail and backstory given and perhaps another 50 or so pages. Alternatively a prequel or sequel or even a full-blown series set in this world following what happens with the two couples at the end of Wonder would be amazing, considering it ends with what I consider as a HFN and a promise of what is to be. I actually have so many questions that I want answered about how this world came to be and what the way forward is after the things that happen at the end of this book. And the forced sterlisation (and eradication of STD's which negates the need for condoms) of the masses in this world is defintatly something that is crying out for further, although not necessarily deep, discussion, especially considering the history of this and certain other (also forced) medical procedures on various groups within the US. And I can't help but wonder about Harriet, her sick child and the blackmarket antibiotics... there are so many different things touched upon that I am craving more about that the author whetted my appetite for in this book!

From the premise (and various other reviews) it seems that this is a re-imagining of Alice In Wonderland, but I've not read that book, or even seen anthing more than a few clips of various adaptations over the years so whilst I can see that in the Queen (the character of Ruby) is reminiscent of what little I do know about the story, I can't really allude to how well it's told. The thing that stood out for me was the partioning of 'The Americas' into various districts with varying levels of perceived wealth which immediately brought to mind The Hunger Games (movies as I've not read the books) and I very much appreciated the different take on that vision (which I understand was also a take on a Japanese novel Battle Royale although never having read that, again, I can't say how well that transition went either).

And as an aside, this is only the second book I ever read (I think anyway) that has a lead (Alyson, the FMC in this case) who is a hairstylist. And the first one I also read this year. 

As another aside, I really like the name Maddox for the MMC!

Wonder

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