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Ever Wondered... Who You Really Are?

Alice Wonder gets an offer from a Wonderland Monster. A little help to locate the Six Impossible Keys in exchange of knowing who she really is and why she killed her classmates in the school bus. Alice agrees, knowing the consequences might put the whole world in danger.

One step into the truth, she realizes she needs the Pillar for help. But the Pillar is gone. He's not coming until fourteen years of her life passes. Unless she finds a way to bring him back. Maybe the number 14 written on her asylum cell's wall is a clue.

Meanwhile, the Cheshire is stirring havoc in Jack's body, only to end up shocked by the things roaming in Jack's head. And suddenly, the Cheshire is looking for Alice too, because knowing what happened in the past will only kill her before she could even locate the keys.
Will Alice survive? Will she know what happened on the bus? Will she find about Jack's secret and why he came back from the dead?

327 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 2015

106 people are currently reading
1314 people want to read

About the author

Cameron Jace

93 books2,047 followers
Bestselling author of the Grimm Diaries and Insanity series. A traveller and collector of out-of-print books from all over the world, obsessed with the origins of folk tales and the mysterious storytellers who spread them. Many of his books made Amazon's Top 100 Customer Favorites in Kindle 2015 & Amazon's Top 100 kindle list. Cameron lives in Yerba Buena San Francisco California. When he isn't writing or collecting books, he is playing music or enjoys the silence.

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5 stars
729 (55%)
4 stars
411 (31%)
3 stars
152 (11%)
2 stars
14 (1%)
1 star
9 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
Profile Image for Cameron Jace.
Author 93 books2,047 followers
December 8, 2015
Since I'm the author, here are my two cents: I never understood why reviews were marked with stars. I mean if I read the book, then this my REVIEW of the book. It's not necessarily a good review or a bad one. It's just how I feel as a reader. When have we diminished the gift of feeling into just 'I feel good' or 'I feel bad.' Where is 'I feel fantabulous' (not a word, I know, but it should be) and 'I feel confused' (that's neither good or bad) and there is 'I feel scared after reading this book' which really isn't bad at all.

So anyways, how do I feel about writing my own book?

Here are a few feelings:

Scared people won't like it.

Fascinated I came up with this.

Scared I didn't do my best (which is always a strange feeling, and often wrong)

Amazed by a certain scene and how I was about to cry (that's a character on the page, Cam, not real. You made them up. Grow up!)

Exhausted I sometime wrote until my fingers hurt.

Wondering (that's a big one WONDER) if that paragraph I deleted was actually good.

Like i said, these are my two cents. I gave myself five stars (which is cheating really) but hey, I loved every minute writing this book. That's Five Stars to me!

The End
PS reread it and left the spelling 'as is'. Don't know why. But it makes me Wonder.
Profile Image for TL *Humaning the Best She Can*.
2,354 reviews170 followers
February 6, 2016
Well done once again Mister Jace, I salute you :)

This one starts off a bit slower than the others but it doesn't take long for the story to take off.

This one digs deeper into Alice's past, and she's faced with some decisions about her path and part in the Wonderland wars. Nothing of course, is what it seems.
Just when you think the answers are simple, something else sneaks up behind you and taps you on the shoulder.

Some of the answers in here were a bit shocking but as later events came into play, it all made a twisted sort of sense (as only Wonderland can ;-) ). The but done well.



We get more in depth with a few of the characters as well, seeing certain people before the events of the present was fascinating, especially

Plus , hidden in plain sight... love it!

And the stuff with Jack, wow...

Seeing some events on unfolding, puts them into new light... thinking on the glimpses and things hinted at from before, the whole puzzle and picture slowly filling out.

Really excited for the next one!!! Also I hope
Profile Image for Kseniia.
96 reviews13 followers
January 5, 2016
Thanks to Cameron for sharing the copy of "Wonder". It was the coolest new year's gift :)

This review may contain a few spoilers and quotes (as usually).

I am darkness wrapped in black blood, dipped into the abyss of the deepest ocean.

Welcome to the Freak Show. Or I must say the Show of Wonders? The Show, in which you probably have to find your Wonder to stay alive. The Show, in which you probably have to time travel to unravel all the secrets. "But time travel is impossible", you may say. "All is impossible," the Time may answer you, because he can do whatever he wants.

Yep, it was a small spoiler that the book will contain time travel (again). But hey! I love time travel stories! But thing is, the time travel is the book. This time Alice needs to know all about her future and even past.

Let's start.

My reaction to the whole book: WHAT THE F*CK DID I JUST READ!? IT WAS SO DAMN GOOD, BUT AT THE SAME TIME I HATTED CAMERON FOR THIS PLOT! WHY SOOOO MANY TWISTS OF FATE? WHY? YOU'RE JUST KILLING ME! But I like it. So, I'm waiting for Checkmate like Hachiko, really.

Let's continue.

Alice Wonder is 19 y/o girl, who killed her classmates in the bus. Alice is a student of Oxford University, who lives in the asylum. Alice is a hero, who saved many lives. But who is she, really? The Real Alice? The Good one? Or Bad one? A Monster?

Carter Pillar is a professor at the same University, who killed 12 people. And after that he started living in the asylum too. And became hero with Alice. But this is true, really? Why did he disappear for 14 years? Why the 14? Maybe this number has a connection with number 14 written in Alice's ward?

Jack Diamonds is a guy who loves Alice so much. Who is probably dead. Or not? How is it possible to be dead and alive at the same time?

Is the Queen of Hearts a dumb small person or an intelligent woman, who thinks through the moves in advance?

And the Duchess? An ugly woman serving to the Queen of Hearts or a rebel, who has own secrets and plans?

The Cheshire.. My lovely Cheshire. This cat - the one of my favourite characters for unexplained reasons. Um.. no. I know why I like him, but I won't tell, coz it's to spoilery.

This book told us about all of the listed above characters, revealed all their secrets and gave new food for thought.

As I mentioned before, the book is based on time travel. And all this for finding the Six Impossible Keys. At first, Alice was sent to future, where she finds herself at age 33, living among sane people. But are they really sane? She lives in a world, governed not by those people with whom she expected. Now it is splitted into two parts and you can't really say, where sane people live. People like Alice.

The future is like a video game. Shoot the bad guys. And when it’s ‘game over,’ rewind to the past and play it all over again.

The quote is very appropriate, because the future is an unstable thing.

But the BIG problem in the PAST. Just then are revealed absolutely all the secrets - who is Alice, the location of the Six Impossible Keys, and what is a WONDER. Btw, every Monster from Wonderland has own Wonder. This Wonder can be good or bad, it depends on a Monster. Wonders with their consequences, that have taken place in the fifth book.

I don't want to cross the borders of Spoilerland, so my favourite part: THE QUOTES.

“Smoking hookah is good for the skin.”

“Pain is like the Cheshire. A parasite. It can only feed on you if you let it.”

“Sometimes the truth is a slow burn of continuous pain. The longer it takes to reveal, the more it cuts through. A sword’s stroke is always merciful; a thousand small cuts are the real torture.”



Profile Image for Phoenix2.
1,263 reviews116 followers
June 7, 2016
After taking a break from the insanity series, I finally started Wonder. And it reminded me why I love these books. Fortunately, it was better than the last two books, which wasn't as good as the first one. I was a little skeptical over the whole time travelling, but it worked just fine. The author handled it great and the alteration of the povs were smoothly achieved. All the characters are back, but this time we get a little inside of their background stories, and of course, Alice's, which was a grant mystery from book one. And when we finally got to the bottom of it all, Cameron did it again and blew things up with the last chapters of Wonder!! Fortunately, I have the next one ready to go : D
Profile Image for Tanya.
10 reviews1 follower
December 9, 2015
Another winner again!!

Cameron Jace has done it again for the 5th time in a row. I love how this book goes more in depth with the individual characters. Near the end it made me want to cry and through the whole book there was a lot of times I was in awe by the twists and turns. The very last sentence of the book has me in shock. I say it everytime but I can NOT wait for the next one!! Keep it up!
2 reviews1 follower
January 17, 2025
Words cannot describe how much I loved this book. I devoured it in one sitting. I have to say its a tie between the first book and this book as my favorite books of all time. I don't want to say too much but I am SO excited for the next book!! Keep up the awesome work Cameron Jace!!
Profile Image for Tiffany.
64 reviews1 follower
April 10, 2021
Enjoyable Read

Another amazing addition to this series. I love the development and interactions that happens between the characters in this book. They are dark and depressing at times but still highly enjoyable to read.
Profile Image for Laura Guilbault.
Author 4 books18 followers
November 29, 2015
Like all of the others in the Insanity series, I loved it!
This one has a ton of twists and surprises, some of which you'll be shocked to read, others that will make you stop, and wonder all of the possibilities this will lead up to. Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock are introduced in this book as an ancient couple who work for time himself/itself. And time always finds a way. This is the only book in the series that has actually managed to make me shed a tear. The present becomes clear, and Alice discovers who she really is, and why everyone is so curious about whether or not she is the Real Alice.
Profile Image for Megan (ReadingRover).
2,016 reviews47 followers
February 13, 2020
I’ve become so sucked into this series that I don’t know where one book ends and another starts. That’s also because I bought the 9 in 1 kindle pack so they’re all mushed together. Anyway, these get better as I go on and I think that’s because more information is revealed. I don’t know if we will ever know if the Pillar is good or bad nor do I really care because he’s super fun! This book in particular is all about time travel. If you know anything about me it’s that I hate time travel! I avoid books that include it at all costs if it’s possible. It’s just too complicated with all the “don’t change the past or you’ll fuck up the future” shit. Then there are a ton of other rules that I can’t begin to explain. But being that I’m balls deep into this series which I’m loving I couldn’t just skip this book so I had to read it. Well let me tell you! I thought regular time travel was fucking annoying but a book about wonderland fucking nonsense based time travel is mind fucking bonkers. It’s all over the place! What’s happening? You do something here it fucks with something there. You don’t do this it changes that. Then in the end everything is basically the same because you can’t really change most things because time is unbeatable. But who knows because in these book you don’t get answers. They just say Alice we can’t tell you now. You’re not ready for that yet. It’s not the right time. So basically we find out why she killed everyone on the bus but ya know something changes and fucks up the future because time travel to the past got fucked from the get go. Oh, I didn’t even mention that in this book there are two oldies in charge of time called Mr Tick and Mrs Tock. They’re basically sociopathic loons. They’re the ones who manipulate everything. Bet you can guess what that means! Yup the usual time shit. Nothing goes well.
Ok enough of that. As much as I hate time travel I did like this book because we learned some stuff. It was a long convoluted road to get to the answers but they were there in the end. Yay!
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kayla Silverss.
Author 1 book126 followers
June 3, 2018
So I decided that I'm gonna finish this series, it's going downhill but I'm determined to complete it.
Profile Image for Sue.
471 reviews
October 3, 2016
So another one of the Insanity stories done. I think this is my favourite so far, although i feel that every time i finish one of Cameron Jace's Alice stories. I really liked the way the story has developed more with Pillar and Alice this time, you feel their connection, so not so many Alice nods to the original story this time but i think Mr Jace needed this story to enhance the characters. i have checkmate waiting in the wings to read but i don't want to start it too soon as i don't have the next one yet and so need to slow down! if you enjoyed the others in the series you won't be disappointed. On another note there were a few editing errors again in this one, words used twice, spelling mistakes, grammer errors etc, but Mr Jace has addressed this to his readers and now has new editors moving forward, so hopefully this has been resolved. It would be a shame if people were put off the first few because of this as the stories themselves are so good.
Profile Image for Elizabeth Emily Browne.
564 reviews
June 6, 2021
I decided to pick this series up again because 1. last time I read them I really enjoyed them and 2. because last time I missed the last book?? So I never actually concluded the series so here we are again and I am determined to do it right this time.

I absolutely love the characters in these books, such as Alice Wonder and Carter Pillar. I love how complex the characters are. They are all morally grey, not one of them is good or bad. Its more that they all have there own agendas. I also love that Jace includes actual facts about Lewis Carol and the Alice in Wonderland books. It just gives the books that edge.

I loved seeing Alice go back to the past in this one to try and change the future. I also loved seeing more of Carter Pillar and Fabiola and seeing there character growth. Now onto the next book!
Profile Image for Donna.
1,626 reviews33 followers
March 21, 2016
I didn't think the insane could become more insane until I read this book. I absolutely loved Mr Tick and Mrs. Tock. Their idea of fun is freezing time and messing with people just to see the chaos that ensues. They send Alice to the future and back in time to find the keys. Alice learns a lot about herself during these trips. Will Alice be able to save Jack and find her "wonder"?

I absolutely love this series even though it is slowly driving me mad. Is Alice good or evil? Who will win the Wonderland Wars? As it is said many times in the book "we are all mad here". Maybe book 6 will make some sense out of the insanity. Either way, I certainly can't wait to read it!
Profile Image for Elli.
138 reviews
October 11, 2016
I really love this book series.

The story was so exciting, from the first page to the last one. And it was such a flip-flopping, you got from one event to another. I had my doubts about the time travel, but everthing was still logical and meaningful. This is not easy and was sometimes really fascinating to see how the story progress.
At the end there is so a bad cliffhanger that I had to immediatly start reading the next book.

What a journey, what a great world, what an entertainment!
Thank you, Cameron Jace.
Profile Image for Jacquelyn.
852 reviews40 followers
March 20, 2016
Wait, what!!! Killed by who?!! Finally we know the truth about Tom Truckle but now I am left with even more questions (who is Mr Jay, becuase I kept picturing the Joker from Batman everytime but I know it's not him hehehe). My heart was breaking for Alice as I read this book. She kept walking the line between good & bad never 100% sure of who she was. And Jack, poor Jack!! The Wonderland Wars are coming and who will win, nobody knows.
Profile Image for Bookish Devil.
510 reviews71 followers
August 22, 2016
ahsnxjsnxjsnxnslmzmsnxsnsbsbxbwi,j+£+828jejxinejxnejdjejxjenxjiwowidbnendkwndndnend


This book made me fucking insane !

We're all freaking mad here ...Muhahahahahahah


sbdnsjenxnndksnsnxlanxnslsmxndnskxnnsxnnxjsnxndndkxksmaklalalsnxnxjsnndnxksmansnxndnajn!+£;*++j!£+"!!jdjxjdnjdjsk
Profile Image for Nele.
557 reviews34 followers
August 14, 2017
And it keeps getting better. I love each new book more than the last one.
This is one hell of a ride!
And btw, make this series into a movie!
Profile Image for Rachael.
92 reviews3 followers
October 24, 2017
This series has turned into something of a guilty pleasure read for me. I love every second of its wonderful, horrifying madness. This instalment was no different. fast paced, twists and turns, wonderland monsters. Filled with impossible choices for all our characters. Watching them struggle with the idea of good and evil and who they truly are. I enjoyed every second of it.

Still there is one thing I can never forgive ... why Jack?! I wanted a much happier ending for him. He's so precious and easily one of my favourite characters and really he deserved so much better than what he got. Though there is still time to turn this around. To fix it all. Even though deep down I know it won't happen, which is just terrible (I can hope though right? At least until I read the next couple of books and have my dreams shattered). Would love this series even more if poor Jack got what he actually deserved.
Profile Image for Hannah Simmons.
18 reviews2 followers
June 6, 2020
People wish that time would be on their side. Almost as if they believe it will. This book is clear evidence that time works for itself rather than us who plead for more.

In this installment, you meet two of the most annoying characters in existence. They join up with Black Chess and wreak havoc on Alice.

For what you may ask?

Pure boredom that's what. Well that I some underlying things you will learn as you read.

Not to mention, you as the reader get many heart-wrenching details thrown at you about Alice and her past...and possible future.

In this book, Alice will have to make many tough choices that will cause her pain regardless of why she makes them. For time has a way to make things fall into place.
Profile Image for Amber.
870 reviews
December 12, 2017
3.5 stars. An interesting return to Alice. The tale has taken a turn for the darker and is just as twisty and mad as ever. The Wonderland war is drawing nearer, and many of the characters are occupying more spaces in shades of grey, rather than black and white. Unlike the prior stories, this one didn’t so much have a cut and dry mission and resolution. It’s more setting the stage for what is to come next. All the foreshadowing has me curious about the new Wonderland monster and a shadowy villain who are working their way into the story.
Profile Image for Renetta.
112 reviews19 followers
May 30, 2018
Another great book in the Insanity series! This one left me so sad. I’m hoping it’s just the rollercoaster the author creates with lots of twists and turns, highs and lows. I’ve had about 176 theories throughout the books about what could be happening and I’ve been right about three times, close once! There’s one big one that I really hope I’m right about but like in the book, I won’t share that secret yet. *heavy sigh*
On to the next one...
(I am thrilled I found this series when it’s almost finished. I fear the waiting would have had me searching for a lullaby pill!)
12 reviews
July 20, 2021
Didn't disappoint. Always delivers......

The twisted tale gets even more intriguing very difficult not to wonder off mentally in the capacity of trying to predict what happens! Spoiler alert; whatever your imaginings are know that you will get it wrong nine times out of ten. Very unpredictable and as engaging as the previous four
Profile Image for Sam.
171 reviews
November 8, 2017
Double celebration because (even though I've read more) according to Goodreads, this is my 500th book AND I have completed my Reading Challenge with this book.
Give this whole series a try! You'll want more.
Profile Image for Mila.
785 reviews66 followers
April 6, 2018
It was enjoyable but also frustrating at times; it seemed like the rules of this universe don't matter in the slightest and it was kinda driving me crazy. Still gonna continue on with the series though.
Profile Image for Elaine.
434 reviews25 followers
January 17, 2019
Wow, just Wow! This was epic!! i loved all the twists and turns the story took. You never knew what was gonna happen next. And that ending...I NEED to know what happens next. Good that I already have the next book in this amazing series.
Profile Image for Anupama.
73 reviews8 followers
June 20, 2020
I'll still read the next one tho

SPOILERS!!

Grammatical errors tainted this book, and the plot used a lot of exposition to move it forward. The good vs bad felt like a cop out.

I'll still read the next one tho.
Profile Image for Carissa.
18 reviews
December 28, 2020
Couldn't finish this book and I really enjoyed the series up until now. I don't think they even had an editor look at this book. There are three grammatical errors in the first two pages, and it gets worse after that.
Profile Image for Jessica Sorenson.
185 reviews
August 10, 2017
I can't say enough about this series! This book was a little less action packed, and a lot more informative! I appreciated the lull in the story line.
11 reviews
January 4, 2018
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Just when you thought there couldn't be any more twists and turns, Jace proves you wrong yet again! I have never been so hooked on a story!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews

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