ARC Review: Into the Wonder Dark by Lilian T. James

Disclaimer: Please check content/trigger warnings which can be found at Lilian T. James' website here.

Releasing on December 26th 2023, Into The Wonder Dark grips it's readers from the first page with a new spin on the classic tale of "Alice in Wonderland". 8 year old Adelais (pronounced Ad-eh-lace), ventures by accident into "Underland", a middle ground for deceased souls who have yet to cross over into heaven/hell, after touching a deceased rabbit. Adelais has no clue where or how she has ventured to this new place and has yet to realize the danger she is in when she stumbles into Terek, a tanned shadowy figure while out hunting the Creatures of the Wood.

One of the content warnings is that the FMC meets the MMC when she is 8, however their relationship doessn't develop into a romantic one until Adelais turns 27 years old. Adelais meets Terek at 8 years old and develops a sort of acquaintance/situationship/friendship with him. He truly sees her in her younger years as a bratty little kid, and does not think of her in a romantic way at all until she reaches maturity. He doesn't even recognize her when she returns to Underland at 20 years old and they kiss. My personal opinion in this situation is that I don't see a problem with it because he is deceased and thus doesn't truly age since he died in his thirty's. However, you as a reader might see a problem with it (i.e., thinking that he is potentially or acting like a pedophile), and while I might disagree with that line of thinking, if this could be triggering for you, I wouldn't recommend this book. 

Lilian T. James

In addition, there is on-page violence, abuse and gore, off-page and/or implied child abuse and sexual assault, discussions of sexual assault, and discussions of marital abuse. If any of the previous mentioned trigger warnings might affect you, I would recommend proceeding with caution if you decide to read this book. As always, I am recommending this to readers aged 18+ due to it's sexually explicit content.

With tropes of:

-Found Family

- Possessive MMC

-Fated Mates

-Enemies to lovers

This book is perfect for readers who fell in love with Belladonna and One Dark Window. With dual POV of both Adelais and Terek, the characters are oblivious to each others experiences, giving readers an inside look into their thoughts and experiences. This was such a brilliant idea from James because it lets readers see the why behind their actions while that remains a mystery from the characters themselves.

I would rate into Into The Wonder Dark 4 stars and 3 out of 6 peppers on a spice scale. Please see my Rating System for reference which can be found here on my website. While the first chapter was a bit difficult for me to get into, once I understood a bit of Adelais' background, the story was easy and fun to get into. Similar to her Bookish Box Exclusive Edition of Untainted, I anticipate we can expect another exclusive edition for Into The Wonder Dark.

Thank you to Lilian T. James for allowing me to receive an ARC in exchange for my honest review.