Wonderland

Wonderland by Zoje Stage is an atmospheric story combining survival and wilderness with psychological and supernatural horror. Orla, a recently retired dancer, moved from NYC to a small house upstate with her family. The change from the city to the North Country is challenging for both the expected, and some frighteningly unexpected reasons. The publisher describes this book as “if Shirley Jackson wrote The Shining,” which is a considerable stretch, but nevertheless like those masterworks before it Stage has composed a chilling story that traps characters and readers alike in haunted frozen isolation as questions of identity, self, and spirit are explored. The book has several unsettling scenes and a lot of interesting ideas, but somehow both the pacing and terror were lacking for me. Perhaps Stage also tried to tackle too many different ideas and themes in this book too? Although I enjoyed the book, I do think it could have been a bit shorter and faster paced in some sections. ⭐️⭐️⭐️