Review: Splintered by A.G Howard

Splintered

Author: A.G Howard

Publication Date: January 1st, 2013

Publisher: Amulet Books

Genre: YA/Re-Tellings/Fantasy

---

Synopsis:

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now. When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

My Thoughts: I feel like I waited forever for this book. I remember finding it on someone's Waiting on Wednesday Meme a long while ago and I thought it sounded like such a great read. Most books I find randomly I forget about and am reminded when I seen it on shelves later on. But I never forgot about this one, most likely it was the striking cover that helped hold it in mind. But I purchased it as soon as it became available and also started reading it right away. Normally, books sit on my shelf for months, even up to a year before I finally crack it open because I have the inability to stop buying them hah.

Re-tellings definitely seem to be a thing lately and I must say that I'm pretty happy about it. So far the couple that I've read were really great and I know there are a couple more I am dying to get my hands on. This one, obviously, was a re-telling for Alice in Wonderland. This story takes us to Alice's great granddaughter Alyssa.  She's heard the rumors and stories and she might have just chalked it up to mental instability, considering her mother is currently a mental patient. Except for one thing, She can hear bugs and plants speak.  The desire to find out the truth behind all the madness and stories and her unnatural abilities takes her to you can guess where, down the rabbit hole.

I have to say that I really loved this re-telling of Wonderland. It was a much more dark and twisted place then we have previously imagined it to be and I thought it was brilliant. As if this story wasn't already freaking and crazy enough, Howard takes it to a whole other level and makes Wonderland just that much more creepy, wonderful, and real. Exploring Wonderland with a new set of eyes, with new adventures and eerie new companions was a blast. Howard definitely did an amazing job at re-vamping an old classic and dragging us back into the mystery and magic.

I'm not entirely sure how I felt about Alyssa, it seemed like they might have tried a little to hard to make her sound eccentric and unique, but her personality was definitely like-able. She was creative, willful and determined with a strong sense of self to boot. I also enjoyed that the romance wasn't pushed to far to the forefront. It was there but not in your face. There's a triangle as there so often is, but I would have voted to put her with the guy she didn't pick. I won't say names so I don't give it away but he was definitely the better choice hehe.

All in all, a wonderfully adventurous read with  a brilliant dark twist on the story we already know and love. Prepare to explore Wonderland all over, but in a way you've never imagined it before. I would definitely recommend it to pretty much anyone and if you are into the re-telling thing you should definitely get your hands on it.