Wonderland Reader

The Unsinkable Greta James   by Jennifer E. Smith  Published: 1st March 2022 by Quercus Books Other works:  The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight ,  This Is What Happy Looks Like ,  The Geography of You and Me Rating: 3.5 stars I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. Synopsis: An indie musician reeling from tragedy reconnects with her estranged father on a week-long cruise in this tale of grief, fame, and love from bestselling author Jennifer E. Smith. Greta James's meteoric rise to indie stardom was hard-won. Before she graced magazine covers and sold out venues, she spent her girlhood strumming her guitar in the family garage. Her first fan was her mother, Helen, whose face shone bright in the dusty downtown bars where she got her start. But not everyone encouraged Greta to follow her dreams. While many daydream about a crowd chanting their name, her father, Conrad, sees only a precarious life ahead for his

The Visa   by Lizzie O'Hagan Published: 3rd March 2022 by Headline Other works:  What Are Friends For? Rating: 3.5 stars I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. Synopsis: The agreement was to get married . . . not to fall in love. In this sweeping romantic comedy, affairs are to be expected, and falling in love is betrayal... This topsy-turvy romcom is perfect for fans of Josie Silver, Beth O'Leary and Mhairi McFarlane. For a commitment-phobe who's never taken a girl on a third date, Jack finds getting married to his old friend Maya pretty easy. He's a New Zealander in need of a visa to stay in the country, and she doesn't believe in marriage anyway. Simple. Maya and Jack live in wedded, sex-less bliss, until one day Jack starts to get serious with someone else... Suddenly Maya finds herself falling into a role she never thought she'd be: a wife - and a scorned one at that - who is falling uncontrollab

 This one's a bit of a Christmas bumper special! The Matzah Ball   by Jean Meltzer Published: 28th September 2021 by Piatkus I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. As soon as I saw this I knew I wanted to give it a go - there aren't nearly enough non-Christmas holiday romances written or published by big houses, so I wanted to show my support. I really liked Meltzer's writing and found that the alternating of chapters between Rachel and Jacob's POV allowed for good character development of them both. I also think the way in which she incorporated Jewish practices and culture into the story was very accessible but still informative and actually taught me a lot. While I am a big fan of the romance in the story, I thought the fact that such a big part of the story is about Rachel becoming more confident in herself was great. I also really appreciated that Meltzer used her own experience with a chronic illness in

The Lost Apothecary   by Sarah Penner Published: 2nd March 2021 by Legend Press I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I was really intrigued but he sound of this book - the idea of a women's-only apothecary used for nefarious purposes sounded great! Unfortunately the book didn't pan out exactly how I thought or hoped it would, and I ended up finding myself just trying to get through the book by the end of it. I enjoyed the fact that 2 of the protagonists were older women, in their 30s and 40s rather than the newly-adult women I typically read about. However, I do think my main drawback of the novel was the fact that no connection of any sort was made between modern-day Caroline and Nella from the past until over halfway through the book. It made it read more like 2 books than one cohesive story, sadly. I also didn't think one of the main plot points of the story, the murder, warranted the time it took up in the

  The Divines   by Ellie Eaton Published: 18th February 2021 by Hodder & Stoughton I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. I have to say, I was not expecting to relate to this book or Josephine, the protagonist, as much as I did! I really liked the whole dynamic of the book, being thrown straight into school life and the intense friendships of boarding-school teenage 'Joe', and then the contrast with 'Sephine' and her adulthood relationship with her husband. This coming-of-age novel was told exceptionally well by Eaton, especially seeing Josephine's struggle between her identity as a "Divine" and her blossoming friendship with a "townie". Josephine made for a really relatable main character, and despite initial reservations, her teenage experiences are ones I think most could understand. The ending was very fitting, I found, in showing the difference between how you perceive yoursel

  Mother for Dinner   by Shalom Auslander Published: 4th February 2021 by Picador I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review. The premise of this book was too intriguing for me not to request it and give it a go! At first, it was a bit difficult to wrap my head around as you are thrown straight into the story and Seventh's relationship with his mother, Mudd, but the family dynamic does reveal itself after a while. A lot of aspects of Mother for Dinner reminded me of The Umbrella Academy , such as the numbering of the children instead of names, and the estranged family coming together after a long period of time due to the death of the head of the family. I did enjoy the concept, with its interesting family dynamic and Mudd's specific desire to have 12 boys, as well as the interspersing of old childhood memories and the Cannibals' 'origin story' into America. I do think that the pacing of the story towards the