Review: Wonder by Christina C. Jones
Wonder by Christina C. Jones Published by Warm Hues Media on January 23, 2019
Genres: African American, Romance
Pages: 283
Format: eBook
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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)
Before we get into this review, let me just say this: I’ve long been a Christina C. Jones fan but honey! After Wonder?! I need to increase my dues to the CCJ fan club. Someone send me the new invoice!
Wonder by CCJ is my catnip. It’s a dream. I’m a huge fan of post-apocalyptic stories, TNT’s Last Ship was one of my favorite shows and I’m STILL upset that we won’t get a new season this year. As soon as I heard this novel would have a dystopian Alice In Wonder-esque theme, I knew I would love it.
And love it I did.
The main character Aly lives is a post-apocalypse world where the lines are distinct; power and control are paramount and the rich get richer while the poor try to get by.
Aly is pretty alone in the world; her only remaining family is her grandmother and her sister, Nadia. Aly follows the rules, is mindful to stay out of everyone’s way and tries to take care of her family the best way she knows how. She doesn’t get in trouble but trouble finds her when his sister goes missing, presumably in the worst part of town and she must find a way to get her back.
Enter Maddox, a loyal enforcer of sorts to his leader, Ches, who is questionable, to say the least, but someone he holds near. Maddox doesn’t plan to save a stranger’s life but when Aly finds herself in a bit of trouble he can’t rightfully leave her to fend for herself. Aly’s decision to go after her sister and Maddox’s decision to save Aly changes everything they were once certain they knew.
Without giving too much away because you all know how I go LOL, from here we are swept up in a tale that is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland but told in a way that that is still distinctly CCJ. I loved the play on the names and the introduction of intriguing characters. There’s not one character here that I didn’t want to know more about and honestly, that’s pretty rare for me. My hope is that we get to visit this world again because I simply couldn’t get enough.
CCJ weaves a sweeping tale of power struggles and disillusions but most of all courage and love. Did I forget to mention how much I loved the connection between Aly and Maddox?! Tuh! Forgive me.
I feel like Wonder was written for me; the girl who loves fairytales, is inquisitive about all of the what if’s, and believes that in any world, a deep, authentic connection should always be cherished.
Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.
You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.
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