Short Review: 'Wonderland' by Amily Shen

Ever since I heard of adult colouring books I've been intrigued and then I received a copy of Lost Ocean myself for Christmas and became utterly addicted to it. Nothing like relaxing while creating art and there is something strangely meditative about the drawing as well, even if I still have to learn how to colour in the lines occasionally. So when I saw Wonderland on Netgalley I knew I wanted a look at it. Thanks to Ten Speed Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pub. Date: 05/04/2016
Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Artist Amily Shen takes coloring book fans on a magical journey inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

Boasting benefits from mindfulness to stress relief, the adult (and tween) coloring book trend shows no signs of abating. This beautiful adult coloring book, inspired by the imaginative world of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, features delicate and detailed illustrations of a girl going down the rabbit hole and venturing into a beautiful, strange new world. Featuring the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts, tea parties and croquet, this evocative tale will draw both fans of coloring books and Lewis Carroll's literary classic into the world of coloring, where they can pick up a colored pencil and leave all their worries at the top of the rabbit hole.

The lovely thing about Wonderland is that it follows the story of Alice's adventures quite closely. As such, the more determined, or dare I say OCD, are given a chance to actually create a story of colours as well. By this I mean that one can create connections between the different drawings and hence trace Alice and her companions over the pages. In keeping with adhering to the story, every few pages a new "chapter" begins with the chapter headings from Carroll's book and a small summary of the plot. I really enjoyed this because it is a sign of how Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has not just been used as a jumping off point by Shen but rather that Shen worked together with Carroll, of sorts, to craft something both new and yet loyal.

Amily Shen's illustrations are delightful. There is a good balance between broader shapes and fine details which keeps all of the drawings interesting and challenging. My fingers are itching to start because Shen brings all of Carroll's wonderful, fantastical imaginings to wonderful life. What I found interesting, and as you can see from the cover, Shen has digressed from the stereotypical image we have of Alice with the long hair and the long socks. This Alice looks a bit younger and allows fans to create their own image of Alice through their own art. Overall, this colouring book is a fun way of rcecreating an English classic and showing that literature never goes out of style but, rather, can keep up with all the trends.

I give this colouring book...

3 Universes!

I personally can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this. Shen's designs are fun and the way in which Wonderland follows the original is very engaging. I'd recommend it to fans of the classic Carroll novel and fellow-adult colouring books fanatics!