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A review by novelgoddess
Splintered by A.G. Howard
4.0
Splintered is a fantastical reimagining of the Alice in Wonderland story by Lewis Carroll. AG Howard creates a beautifully rendered Wonderland without getting bogged down in her descriptions.
The first part of the book introduces us to Alyssa who is the great-great-great-Granddaughter of Alice Liddel whom Carroll based his story on. Alyssa and the women that have come before her, have all gone insane early in life. Alyssa's own mother is currently locked in an Asylum. Alyssa knows her days are numbered because she can hear flowers and bugs talking to her. But before she completely loses it she wants to get to London and try to make some sense of this curse her mother talks about in her more lucid moments. Howard lays a lot of groundwork to help the reader understand Alyssa and her motivations. I totally sympathized with Alyssa and the feeling that she had a ticking time bomb in her head.
Alyssa does find her way into Wonderland and inadvertantly brings along of the object of her affection, best friend Jeb. I loved Jeb! He was so gallant and wanted to protect Alyssa from everything...but we all know how that goes. We also get introduced to Morpheus. He's one of those guys you "love to hate" and "hate to love", all at the same time! He appeals to Alyssa's darker side, her Wonderland-side. He's also a master manipulator!
Once Jeb and Alyssa are in Wonderland I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to see how Howard was going to tweak famous "Alice" scenes and she didn't disappoint. There is a steady and heady build-up to the final scenes/battle where everything literally turned on a dime and you didn't know who or what to believe. I had no idea of the turns this story was going to take until they happened and even then I wasn't completely convinced that it really happened.
I don't know why I put off reading Splintered for so long. It received so much positive review and comment...but I guess I'd been disappointed by too many other "retellings" that it just sat on the shelf. It wasn't until I received a galley copy of the second book in this series, "Unhinged" that I decided to read this. I'm so glad I did! And since Morpheus is on the cover of Unhinged, I'm curious as to what chaos he will bring to Alyssa's life!
The first part of the book introduces us to Alyssa who is the great-great-great-Granddaughter of Alice Liddel whom Carroll based his story on. Alyssa and the women that have come before her, have all gone insane early in life. Alyssa's own mother is currently locked in an Asylum. Alyssa knows her days are numbered because she can hear flowers and bugs talking to her. But before she completely loses it she wants to get to London and try to make some sense of this curse her mother talks about in her more lucid moments. Howard lays a lot of groundwork to help the reader understand Alyssa and her motivations. I totally sympathized with Alyssa and the feeling that she had a ticking time bomb in her head.
Alyssa does find her way into Wonderland and inadvertantly brings along of the object of her affection, best friend Jeb. I loved Jeb! He was so gallant and wanted to protect Alyssa from everything...but we all know how that goes. We also get introduced to Morpheus. He's one of those guys you "love to hate" and "hate to love", all at the same time! He appeals to Alyssa's darker side, her Wonderland-side. He's also a master manipulator!
Once Jeb and Alyssa are in Wonderland I couldn't put the book down. I wanted to see how Howard was going to tweak famous "Alice" scenes and she didn't disappoint. There is a steady and heady build-up to the final scenes/battle where everything literally turned on a dime and you didn't know who or what to believe. I had no idea of the turns this story was going to take until they happened and even then I wasn't completely convinced that it really happened.
I don't know why I put off reading Splintered for so long. It received so much positive review and comment...but I guess I'd been disappointed by too many other "retellings" that it just sat on the shelf. It wasn't until I received a galley copy of the second book in this series, "Unhinged" that I decided to read this. I'm so glad I did! And since Morpheus is on the cover of Unhinged, I'm curious as to what chaos he will bring to Alyssa's life!