This book is a... wild ride. The audiobook was done very well, and I was hooked the entire time. The characters in this book are so. messed. up. Just when you think things couldn't get worse.. they do. I especially enjoyed the creepy amusement park setting. I was only able to guess one part towards the end, but there were other twists I wasn't expecting. This is my second Jennifer Hillier book and this one takes first place so far.

A very creepy, twisty read - highly recommend the audio!

This old amusement park definitely fit the creepy, atmospheric setting criteria.

Overall, I liked this one. Lots of characters to suspect and many to actively dislike overall. I didn't guess every twist and turn, which I always consider a win with a thriller. I was definitely invested in finding out what happened at the end.

Please check TW on this one.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This audio version of Wonderland is actually just a re-release of a novel which had previously been released in print. However, I absolutely LOVED this book. It's centered around an amusement park where things just seem to be going wrong. Missing people, some shady business deals, hook-ups, you name it. It's got the police woman's daughter getting a job there, while her mom is busy working on some case in the same area. Talk about stress! I've only recently discovered Jennifer Hillier but I've really enjoyed her work and would love to continue exploring her backlist.

3.5 stars.
My least fave of Jennifer's unfortunately; all of her other books have been 4.5 or 5 stars for me, mostly 5! I was hoping this one would be way creepier and more atmospheric to the setting because I was super interested in the amusement park setting; I found the vibes to be minimal. I also guessed the twists, which makes it less fun for me. Overall, it was just average.

So good! Thrilling and wild. I didn’t know what was coming next which is exactly what I’m looking for in a thriller!

I was so excited to receive the audio book. I had purchased the actual physical book awhile ago and just hadn't gotten around to it. I can officially say had this not been an audio book I probably would have DNF the book.
I love a good what happened who done it style book and add in creepy clowns and an amusement park BONUS. or so I thought.
This book starts off with a omg what moment and that's about the only one. I appreciate what I think Jennifer was going for with adding some spice but honestly it would have been a better book without it or with more of it. Pick a lane spice or no spice but dashing some horrible spice is cringey.

The premise of this book is based around a park, a scorned lover, a can't think for myself guy, and a woman just figuring stuff out. Vanessa Castro has returned to Seaside as Deputy Chief just in time for a body to appear and a boy to go missing. Vanessa learns quickly that what happens in the town is controlled by Wonderland park. Vanessa isn't going to go along with that thinking and proceeds to investigate.

It is an ok story with ok characters. It could have been great but fell short.

I did enjoy the narrator and it was the only reason I finished it

I really loved it! This is a thriller that will definitely stick with me. I’m a sucker for a crime book and one set at a 1980sesque cult like amusement park- sign me right up! I liked the pace, the characters, and the twists. I’ve really got nothing bad to say here. I would definitely recommend.

I also have plans to read Little Secrets, Creep, and Freak by Jennifer Hillier since they feature some of the same characters.

Edge of your seat thriller in a super creepy setting. Make sure to check trigger warnings prior to readings. I struggled with some aspects of this book which is why I gave it a 4/5 (the dynamic of an older woman sleeping with barely legal teen boys was an ick factor). Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook for an honest review.

From my blog: Always With a Book

I have been a fan of Jennifer Hillier’s books for quite some time and so I was thrilled to see that they had finally released this earlier book of hers on audio. It was originally only released as an e-book and I had never gotten around to reading it. Now this is one of her backlist books I can cross off my list!

Like most of her books, this one was just as creepy and twisted as I would expect. This is the second or third thriller I have read set in an amusement park and I have to say, I wasn’t really a fan of them to begin with and now I definitely will not be heading to one anytime soon!

This book grabbed me from the get-go and I was unable to put it down, finishing it in one day. I loved the characters, especially Dectective Vanessa Castro. She’s new in town and wants to do right, but definitely has a few secrets of her own. And that’s not it as far as the secrets go…it seems that everyone has their own fair share of secrets. And most interesting of all is the relationship between Wonderland and the police. Will this impede the current investigation?

This book has so many twists and turns and the creep factor is off the charts. It kept me on edge all the way through and I had no idea where it was heading. I love Jennifer Hillier’s writing and this one was no exception!


Audio thoughts: This was such a great book to listen to…the creep factor alone had me on edge and I thought the narrator, Eunice Wong, did a great job bringing the story to life. Her pacing and intonation were spot on and she infused just the right amount of suspense into her voice as needed.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was a pretty great mystery/thriller to read right before summer, would be a great beach read for sure!

Jennifer Hillier is an amazing author that can do no wrong when it comes to thrillers however this story was very slow compared to her more recent work. I was excited to get into the story because I’ve never read a thriller about an amusement park however, I am afraid to say that I did DNF this story about 30 percent in. I was not a fan of an older woman sleeping with barely legal teen boys. It made me cringe and just wasn’t something I was interested in continuing.

Welcome to Wonderland. By day, it’s a magical amusement park boasting a certain retro charm. But before in the dark, an eerie feeling descends between the Creepy Clown Museum and the rumors of the underground tunnel. Vanessa Castro’s first day as deputy police chief of Seaside, Washington, is off to a bang when the unidentifiable dead man appears in Wonderland and a teenage employee goes missing on the same day. As the clues in cases gather, she suspects the rumors surrounding the amusement park’s dark history might just be true. She moved to Seaside to escape her own scandalous past, but has she brought her family to the center of an insidious killer’s twisted game.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book since I was let down from Jennifer Hillierother book I read, but I was sucked into this one from the start! I loved Vanessa and her two children (mainly her daughter, as she plays a bigger role in the story) and the dynamic workers at Wonderland, all of which have their own secrets. There were multiple twists in this book, none of which I saw coming until a page or two before they happened, or at the time the twist was explicitly put in front of me. I had some suspensions about what characters may or may not have done based on their personalities, but I did not see the last two surprises at the end of the book coming at all!

This was an audio book, and the narrator did a great job of telling this story and was clear while reading, which is great because I like to listen to my audio books at 1.5x the speed. The clearer the speaker, the easier it is to set a fast pace for the book!

I rated this book with 5 🌟!

I'd like to say a huge thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

QUICK BITS
•Amusement park
•Strong women
•Trigger happy

REVIEW
Wonderland was originally released as an ebook in 2015, now in 2023 for the first time ever the audio version has been released!

This book has everything going for it.

The characters are wacky, wild, and well written (you will have no clue who to trust).

The concept of murders in an amusement park never gets old and the creepy vibes are off the charts to boot.

I will warn sensitive readers to seek out the trigger warnings because I am pretty sure this one contains pretty much every trigger you could imagine (even clowns and rats eating faces).

So if you dare...read this and then come tell me what you think.

RATINGS
9 Characters
8 Atmosphere
9 Writing Style
9 Plot
7 Pace
9 Intrigue
8 Enjoyment
3 SOS Bonus
TOTAL= 59+3= 62/14= 4.42

3.00/5.00 SOS Rating
--Yall there is so much to unpack here. Twists and turns galore...and apparently one of these characters shows up in Little Secrets...I guess I know which JH book I'll be reading next.

4.5/5.00 Rounded Rating

I read Wonderland for the first time last year and was excited to revisit Seaside with the recently released audio version! (I selfishly hope this release is setting us up for a new trip around the Wonder Wheel in the future 🤞🏻) @jenniferhillierbooks is one of my auto buy authors and I couldn’t be more happy for her and the re-release of one of my personal faves! @eunicewongnarration did an awesome job narrating! Her unique voices for each character truly added to the creep factor!

I am a huge Jennifer Hiller fan and this one was no exception. The setting was one of my favorites, I mean you cannot go wrong with an amusement park riddled with secrets, lies, and missing teenage boys. It was a bit more predictable than others, but I guess this one was also written in 2015, just only available as E-book. Anyways, I love a good who-dun-it mystery and this one delivered. In the first half I was completely sucked in, then drug on a bit in the middle, but went out with a bang.

As far as the audio the narration was great, and easily sped up to 1.5-1.75 which is my preferred speed. Would definitely recommend it for fans of Jennifer Hiller and mystery novels!

I found this very entertaining so I give it 4 stars!This is an auto-buy author of mine so I will keep reading whatever she writes. You have a desperate town, the suspicious owner, a creepy theme park and all the missing young men are all ingredients to make a great thriller. A definite must read!

After reading and loving Things We Do In The Dark by Jennifer Hillier last year I immediately jumped at the chance to listen to an older but new to audio title of hers: Wonderland.
It was just the right kind of creepy intense thriller with a setting in a little northwestern town that basically exists around an amusement park that has had it’s scandals but since it basically employing people, supporting sports teams and bringing revenue into town nobody is looking too closely. But new in town deputy chief Vanessa Castro is not bound by such loyalties and when her first day starts with a body found in the park and a former park worker missing after posting a selfie from the top of the Ferris wheel, she is not just going to let things go and assume the occurrences have nothing to do with the park. But she needs to tread carefully … especially since her teen daughter just started a summer job selling Hot Dogs at the park !
This was a solid thriller, was it slightly implausible - sure but it definitely had a high entertainment value as what my friend @bookaddictpnw considers a popcorn thriller ! If being along for the summery right to an amusement park with sinister clowns is your things than this one is for you. Additionally this book provides a backstory for some of Hillier’s characters in other books and it was fun to discover connections !
The audio was so well done and so fun to listen to, I was captivated and had to keep inventing chores to keep listening till the end !

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me access.

All I can say is this should be a movie.

Ok, that's a lie, I can say more...but I should still be a movie. I wish there was a hardcover edition with the audiobook cover on it.

From the moment I started listening, I was hooked! I can't put my finger on it, but Hillier just drew me in. I found myself not wanting to pause it, afraid I might lose something in that break. There isn't much more I can say without spilling all the beans on what happens. I just know, I will forever be wary of small town amusement parks.

If you love amusement parks, missing people, and a whole lot of twists...you have found your book.

An Atmospheric Thriller

SUMMARY
It is Vanessa Castro's first day as Deputy Chief of Police in Seaside Washington The day has only just begun when she is dispatched to oversee a potential murder investigation at the Wonderland amusement park. Wonderland and it’s visitors are the lifeblood of the small town of Seaside Not only has a homeless man been found dead next to the Wonderwheel, but a selfie of a teenage employee who had free climbed the Wonderwheel had gone viral that morning. Now the teenage employee seems to be missing.

As Vanessa investigates the dead body and searches for the missing teenager. She soon realizes that several other blond-hair teenage boys are also gone and the police have done nothing to find them. As rumors grow about Wonderland, Vanessa and her family who just recently moved to the area, are caught up in a nightmare.

REVIEW
An amusement park, complete with a clown museum and House of Horrors, is an intriguing setting for this atmospheric thriller. Author Jennifer Hillier’s writing and misdirection is both clever and captivating.

Wonderland characters are numerous and colorful. Vanessa left Seattle after her husband’s recent death and she, like all the other characters in the book, has a secret or two up her sleeve. We also have a sex-crazed female CEO, a creepy night janitor, a missing security guard, and a good looking VP of Operations that is protective of his CEO, but wants to get to know Vanessa better.

Hillier has written seven novels and she just keeps getting better. Other books she has written include Things We Do in the Dark, (2022) Little Secrets (2020), and Jar of Hearts (2018). All great books!

Wonderland was actually published as an ebook eight years ago. Now it’s being released as a audiobook and is delightfully narrated by Eunice Wong. Her voice and style is perfect for tension and multitude of characters in this story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillian Audio for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Macmillian Audio
Published April 11, 2023
Narrated Eunice Wong
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier was a previously released book that was just rereleased in audio version. Eunice Wong did a great job narrating, and Wonderland was a fun and spooky thrill ride! It wasn't Hillier's best, but that's not saying much at all, since some of her other novels are outstanding. The beginning was a little confusing and hard to get into, but after that it flew by!