Book Review – Wonderland by Zoje Stage

Wonderland <— I ONE CLICKED THIS ONE ON SUPER-SALE & I’m really getting a kick out of this author, you guys. This is my third one from her, and all of her story lines are right up my creepy alley, and each one, different than the next. More psych-thriller than horror (though some scaredy-cats might consider this horror 😉 ) and there’s always that dreaded moment that you’re waiting for that creeps the heck right out of you (and delights us creep-lovers to no end).

And I’ll admit, the blurb did not give me much of a jolt… I was thinking eh… I dunno. “Thing in the woods”? Was I in the mood for that? But I enjoyed “Baby Teeth” and “Mothered” (both had psychotic moments and wondering about how reliable the narrator was) so that always makes things more fun to me. Keeps me guessing, and it’s written well enough for my taste, so I could FEEL the main character. That’s what I love, especially in scary confusion.

So what’s it about?

A happily married loving couple (with two young children) decide to try something completely new. She’s a successful (but not Prima) ballerina and her husband is more or less a work-from-home dad/artist and they decide to swap “provider” rolls when he becomes inspired, almost telepathically, in his paintings. There is something calling to him, and he’s sure he’ll be able to create the kind of art that truly brings in income.

Her husband would never say it, but it existed in the silent space between them. My turn. We agreed. And even softer, beneath that, a voice she’d struggled to suppress. Your part is finished. The curtain had fallen and wouldn’t rise again. And she was afraid of the dark.

So when they uproot their happy little family from their bustling NY city life, to a remote area in Plattsburgh New York, and spend all of their money on a house/cabin in the woods away from family and friends,

North of the city hadn’t sounded so bad, with the word city dangling on, unwilling to let go, and New York still their resident state. But the city was gone. Her life was gone. And the landscape—unrecognizable.

…the inspiration becomes clear that it’s from their land.

Sometimes his enthusiasm manifested in him pacing or speaking too quickly or tapping his fingers or foot. Gradually her mellow husband was becoming more manic; Orla wasn’t sure she liked it.

And while her husband is on cloud nine, and taking everything in, our main character Orla has her reservations about the whole thing. She already misses being near people. All alone in the woods doesn’t feel nearly as safe as some would make it out to be. Plus… it’s in the middle of winter, in full blown snowstorm mode.

“It was just a bit of bad weather. Winter can be mischievous like that.” Orla didn’t fully believe her own words, but she cooed them into her daughter’s ear, hoping to ease her fear.

Eleanor Queen shook her head.

“No?” Orla asked. Eleanor Queen shook her head again.

“It wasn’t regular weather.”

“No, I’d say you’re right about that. It was very sudden and intense, but still—it’s just snow and wind. And it didn’t last. It scared you, but you’re okay. You weren’t going to get lost or—”

“It wanted to eat us.”

And so the story begins… as his inspiration has him creating his art fervently, strange things begin happening around them, and to them. Something doesn’t want them there. Or… does it?

He’d boasted of the tree being over five hundred years old, she remembered that. “Eastern white pine, I think? We’ll ask Papa again. It’s so big because it’s five hundred years old.”

Eleanor Queen continued to gaze at it with an intensity that Orla found disconcerting. She didn’t see admiration for the ancient tree on her daughter’s face, or curiosity. But something more troubling.

Trepidation.

If you’re in the mood for a slow burn thriller full of tension, and all sorts of scary things, laden in creep factor with a surprising ending (or maybe not so surprising – it ended how I was hoping 😉 ), than this is for you! Now that I re-read the synopsis, it’s perfect!!! It DOES give me a blurb jolt now that I know what it’s talking about. 😉

…it was more evident than ever: He was hiding; he wasn’t wholly comfortable out here. Maybe he really was the city boy she’d always known. Or maybe he’d been seeing—or hearing—unexplainable things too. She wasn’t sure which possibility was worse—that they didn’t trust each other with the truth anymore, or that they were both doubting their own sanity.

4.5 stars <— Not my most perfect (small things bugged me, like the name of her daughter “Eleanor Queen” – though that eventually comes to light, too), clever psych-thriller, but thrilling nonetheless, and kept me reading and guessing, and I loved that ending. That doesn’t mean that you will too. LOL 😂 But anyway, I’m satisfied with where it left off, but if the author had more to tell, I’d devour it too.

PSYCH-THRILLER SUPER-SALE!!

Wonderland: A Novel

I LOVED IT! 4.5 STARS & here’s my review. PSYCH-THRILLER! I’ve read two by this author and enjoy her very much!

“…After years of city life, Orla and Shaw Bennett are ready for the quiet of New York’s Adirondack mountains—or at least, they think they are. Settling into the perfect farmhouse with their two children, they are both charmed and unsettled by the expanse of their land, the privacy of their individual bedrooms, and the isolation of life a mile from any neighbor.

But none of the Bennetts could expect what lies waiting…”

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