Splintered by A.G. Howard

Title: Splintered

Author: A.G. Howard

Genre: Retelling; Romance; Fantasy; Young Adult

Published: 2013

Pages: 371

Barnes and Noble Overview:

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. 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.

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My Review:

Honestly, this book on it’s own didn’t have me in ‘awe’. I love Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland which is the precise reason i decided to pick up this retelling in the first place. In Splintered Alyssa Gardner is a descendant of Alice Liddell, THE of ‘Alice’ from Lewis Carroll’s story. Have being said, being the descendent of a perceived crazy woman didn’t exactly fair well for Alyssa and her popularity among her peers. What they didn’t know was that Alice’s adventures were true. Unfortunately for Alyssa, Alice also upset the balance of Wonderland and it’s up to her to set things right if she’s to free the women of her bloodline from the curse that has caused the women in her family to be committed to a mental institution. Wonderland is a dark, twisted, rather creepy land full of fae and faeries, the common known wonderland phrase “… off with her head” as been given a whole new meaning in this land of darkness. The story starts out rather slow but after Morpheus and Alyssa are reunited things take a turn for the more interesting. Morpheus is an inhabitant of Wonderland who Alyssa has known in some form or another since adolescence.

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“I stare at the photo. It’s an image of a huge black-winged moth from one of Alison’s old albums. The shot is amazing, the way the wings are splayed on a flower between a slant of sun and shade, teetering between two worlds. Alison used to capture things most people wouldn’t notice—moments in time when opposites collide, then merge seamlessly together.”

I know some readers will look at Morpheus, Alyssa, and Jeb and see nothing but an obvious love triangle, but for me it was something different. Although Morpheus is manipulative and conspiring, I found him as a mysterious sexy bad boy that I couldn’t help but root for a times. Jeb on the other hand, even if he was intended to be the ‘knight in shining armor’ type, I still found myself kind of peeved with his character. Together they must reset the balance and right the mistakes once made by Alice and her time in Wonderland.

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“Morpheus reaches out to catch a teardrop on his fingertip. He holds it up in the pale glow that radiates from the few remaining sprites above us. A curious frown curves his lips. “You cry for him yet bled for me. One must wonder which is more powerful. More binding. I suppose we shall one day know.”

Splintered’s world is a much creepier Wonderland than the usual silly Disney inspired wonderland most are use to, and some of that I got really into, while there were other parts that made me question my interest. Overall though, and thanks to the unexpected twist at the end, I do plan on reading the second book in the series to find out what happens next.

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