Splintered Review

Splintered Review

Author: A.G. Howard
Reading level: Ages 14 and up
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Amulet Books (January 1, 2013)
Language: English

Summary:
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 Review/Thoughts: The first thing about this book that caught my eye was the cover. Of course, like many books, I do judge a book by its cover, then the title, then the blurb, and first few pages of a book. If I like it, I want it.  With this book, I had to have it.
The thing that caught my attention about this novel was the story line/plot that I read on A.G. Howard's website. The retelling of Alice in Wonderland.
Now, I never read any Lewis Carroll's books, but I did see the movie adaption of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which I loved.

Again, like I had never read any of Lewis Carroll (for I always thought he was a female) Alice in Wonderland books, I can say, from reading this book, it gave me the general idea of what the original book was about.

Splintered is a YA retelling of Alice in Wonderland where the main character, Alyssa, is a descendant of Alice and she wants to break the curse that had plagued her family's heritage for years.  And I was impressed with this book.

What I liked:
* The purple print in the book.
* The twists in the book of Wonderland and the mysteries of Alyssa's heritage.
* The author takes her inspiration of Alice in Wonderland and adds her own dark and twisting world into her novel
*The imagery. It was amazing. I could clearly see every single thing happening, playing in my head like a movie. Heh, I hope it becomes a movie. Can we call Tim Burton, please?
* The characters:
-Alyysa
-Jeb
-Tae
-Morpheus
-Dad
-Mom
-and other small creeppy netherlings of Wonderland

What I didn't like:
* There was not one thing I didn't like about this book.
*Okay, I lied. There is this tiny little thing:
-The pacing. There were times where I found myself skimming and flipping through the pages. This is because, at first, when I was trying to read it, I couldn't sit and focus. I was distracted, but eventually, I got it down (somewhat still unfocused) but still read and finished it, but that's all that counts, right?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Conclusion:
So, Splintered is a great book, especially if you're a fan of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. This book does a great retelling of the famous fairy tale of all time.
Of course, this book will not be everyone's cup of tea (see what I did there?) There may be some things that some people will not like, such as how Alyssa is the "cliche" punk girl. Jeb is just the best friend on the sidelines who finally confessed his love for the girl. Morpheus is the dark, tall, mysteriously dangerous magical bad boy and so on. But that's okay. Some people will like this book and some will not. Personally, I LOVED this book. Would I read it again? Mmm, no. That's because I don't re-read books, but I sure do remember them pretty well after I read them.
So, Splintered by A.G. Howard is definetely a keeper on my shelf.
I would give this a 4.8/5