When I first picked up Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder, I thought I was stepping into just another quirky retelling of Alice in Wonderland. But it’s not that at all. The book blends the dreamlike strangeness of Lewis Carroll with the raw reality of a teenage girl navigating life with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD). It shifts between surreal, wild adventures underground and painfully real moments in Allie’s home, school, and therapy sessions. At its heart, it’s a story about what it feels like to live in a world where words don’t always connect the way they’re supposed to, and how exhausting and isolating that can be.

In the opening nightmare sequence, Allie tumbles through chaos, waves, monsters, riddles she can’t answer, and it all echoes the frustration of not being able to “get it right” in real life. I couldn’t help but feel that panic when she’s spinning in circles with the rabbit yelling orders she can’t possibly remember. That scene struck me deeply, as it reflects how APD later manifests in Allie’s school life, particularly when she misses instructions and experiences humiliation in her English class. The dream world and the real world bleed together in a way that feels both clever and painful.

The writing is sharp, sometimes biting, and it doesn’t sugarcoat Allie’s experience. The way Adams writes Allie’s inner voice, confused, looping, sometimes self-deprecating, feels so authentic. I liked how her thoughts zigzag all over the place, because it makes sense for someone whose brain struggles to process in a straight line. At times, it was almost hard to read, but in the best way, because it felt like stepping into her head.

Another thing I appreciated was how Adams wove in little moments of humor and softness. Allie’s relationship with her rabbit doll, Leiya, absolutely melted me. She talks to it like it’s alive, apologizing when she thinks she was rude. That cracked me up but also made me ache a little, because it’s such a tender survival mechanism, clinging to something safe when the real world feels harsh and unpredictable. Even when Allie is frustrated with her therapist or shut down by her mom’s distractedness, those small moments show that she’s still fighting to stay hopeful.

By the time I reached the middle chapters, I realized the book isn’t just about APD or even Wonderland. It’s about identity, how it feels to be constantly misunderstood, how you start to doubt yourself, and how badly you want to belong. It left me both frustrated and inspired. Frustrated because Allie gets such a raw deal at times, but inspired because she keeps trying, even when she thinks she’s failing. I especially loved the contrast between her disastrous Shakespeare reading and her quiet pride in her art contest drawing. It made me want to root for her even harder.

Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder feels like a strange mix of fairy tale, diary, and survival story. I’d recommend it to readers who like reimagined classics but want something deeper, especially teens (or adults) who’ve ever felt out of step with the world. It’s not always an easy read, emotionally, but it’s the kind of book that sticks with you, because it makes you sit with discomfort and then find beauty in it.

Pages: 204 | ISBN : 1643435264