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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Alice in Zombieland By Gena Showalter

Released: 2013

Author: Gena Showalter

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Zombie, New Adult

Pages: 416

Series: White Rabbit Chronicles #1

Inner sleeve Overview:

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave.

Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real.

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies.

 

 

My Review:

 

Despite some rather clever nods to Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice in Zombieland has very little to do with the story it derives it’s name from: Alice in Wonderland with zombies? I think not. But don’t get your knickers in a twist, this story is every bit as captivating.

  

Ali’s father never let her or her sister out at night, was an alcoholic, and swore he could see zombies. Although she loved her father, she couldn’t help but to sometimes wish he could be normal for once. At the time she didn’t believe in the zombies that claimed he was seeing. Seriously, can you blame her? Her dad is claiming to see fictional monsters that no one not even his family can see. At this point, calling him eccentric would be putting it lightly.

The eve of Ali’s birthday, the day of her beloved little sisters ballet recital Ali’s begged that she and her family break the rule regarding nighttime and attend Emma’s recital.

That was the day everything changed.

On the ride home zombies attacked their car. That night Ali lost everyone she loved most in the world.

Zombies.

“My father was right. Monsters walk among us.”

 

Zombies killed her family.

Ali thought she was going insane.

Broken and shattered, yet still strong and brave Ali’s got a fierce inner strength that refuses to give up, even when she really wishes she could. True to her Carroll counterpart, Gena’s Alice falls down the figurative rabbit role finding herself emotionally lost.

After waking up in the hospital Ali meet’s Kat, the Cheshire smile of this story. She is so vibrant and engaging, she really shines out of the pages. Kat is a veritable force of nature, a whirlwind of energetic vitality and urban slang she could call her own creation. “True story.”

But Kat is hiding her own secret.

Alice Bell is not your typical sit-back-and-take-it heroine and soon Ali finds herself in an undead battle as Zombies stalk her and she wants revenge, with a little inside knowledge, a natural ability to separate her spirit from her body and the ability to fight, Alice becomes a force to be reckoned with.

“Yeah, okay. You’re right. I was having dinner with Zombie Carl the other night. You know, steak, rare, and a bottle of vintage type A. He told me all his secrets, but too bad for you I promised him I wouldn’t tell. In exchange I asked him to gather his best undead buddies and stalk me through my friend’s yard. And oh, yeah, it was totally fine if they wanted to use me as an all-night-dinner buffet, because having organs is SO last year.”

She’s made some friends and meets the bad boys- the Slayers, but this particular violet eyed Cole Holland holds her attention and suddenly after making eye contact she has a rather steamy vision of the two of them kissing. It’s immediate attraction; I love the way their relationship evolves. Nothing is easy for them and no it is not inst-love, they bicker and butt heads a lot making for some rather delicious and humorous banter, it wasn’t just the bad boy wooing the innocent girl and it wasn’t just a girl finding her ‘true love’. It was two strong individuals, two bad-asses coming together to be an even stronger duo. I love that Cole is willing to allow people to believe the illusion of him being a dangerous ill-tempered bad boy because it gives him an excuse for the unusual behavior sometimes demanded by his commitment to keeping people and his ‘Slayers’ safe. He is sensitive to and respectful of Ali’s lack of experience with boys… PAUSE! Can I just take one minute to appreciate all that is Cole Holland, Mm YES PLEASE!!

 

“Should I pull on a shirt?” he asked with hint of amusement. I WILL NOT BLUSH. “No.” He’d be doing the world a favor if he never wore a shirt again, but I wasn’t going to tell him that part. “You’re fine.”

The sexual tension between Ali and Cole is undeniable and electric; the scenes are blazing with chemistry even though its all relatively tame, even with hot chemistry they still take things slow (minus the visions). So slow in fact that there became points where I found my self frustrated by them, I mean, COME ON enough foreplay already, GET.IT.ON!

“Cole cupped my cheeks and brought my gaze back to his. “Why wouldn’t I dance.”

Uh, maybe because at first glance he looked like he ate puppies and kittens for lunch? As for what he enjoyed having for dinner-that couldn’t be discussed in polite public.”

 

PAUSE:

I love that he is wonderful to her grandparents, and sympathetic about the loss of her parents and sister. And despite his instinct telling him that she should be sheltered and protected, he believes in her ability to stand on her own to feet and make a stand alongside him.

It’s impossible to forget about Ali’s all to sweet and protective grandparents, I laughed so hard at their attempt to fit in with Ali and ‘speak her language’. It’s seriously funny, awkward yet heart warming all at the same time.

“You’re smart, pretty, and you aren’t a douche purse.”

If i’d had food in my mouth I would have spewed it. Douche purse? She must mean douche bag. But okay, I could roll. I was getting used to her filthy, funny mouth.”

 

Nana’s use to douche purse had me giggling every time to the point that I may or may not have adapted the term into my own vocabulary. 😉

I am not typically a huge fan of zombie stories, they just never really appealed to me, but this story was quite original and very interesting. Gena Showalter took the liberty of twisting up zombie lore a bit until she had something original. They’re actually infected spirits that have risen from human bodies. They don’t use their teeth to bite into flesh – they use their spirit form to actually enter the human body of their victims and feast on the spirit of the victim, which results in the spread of their infection. (Luckily the slayers have an antidote that if administered in time will revert the infection.)

I liked LOVED this book, I found myself crying along with Alice. I laughed with her, I lust after the hot bad-ass guy with her, I got invested in her chaotic world.

Gena Showalter may not have taken us down the rabbit hole with the mad hatter and the Queen of Hearts, but instead she pulled back a veil of our own mundane world into one filled with slayers and normal high school students fighting a war against Zombies. Zombies who are becoming more organized and have an unrelenting desire to capture Ali… Will the white rabbit cloud be Ali’s saving grace? Or will she be otherwise doomed, stuck between two anti- zombie groups fighting for two totally different goals?

Alice in Zombieland promises gore and action! Plus a love that is sweet without being sappy.

Would I recommend this to a friend? Indeed, I already have! (She loved it too!)

Coming Soon:

A Court of Thorns and Roses By Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses

Released: 2015

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tales, New Adult

Pages: 432

In Series: First Book, Hopefully not the last!

Inner sleeve Overview:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wold in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal but Tamlin-one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

 As Feyre dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility to a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it… or doom Tamlin- and his world- forever.

 

My Review:

CAUTION! POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!

I was rather disappointed when I read that Sarah J. Maas was creating a reimaging of the classic Beauty and the Beast. Reimaging’s can really either go one way or another, they can be lackluster and utterly common, or completely brilliant and one of a kind, those that fall in the void (middle) aren’t even worth mentioning. Since I have adored all of Sarah J. Maas previous works I decided to give this one a chance. For starters the cover is GORGEOUS! Even if Maas name weren’t boldly printed at the top I would have picked up this novel anyways out of curiosity because the cover is so beautiful. Luckily and to my surprise this reimaging was BRILLIANT!

“Because your human joy fascinates me—the way you experience things, in your life span, so wildly and deeply and all at once, is … entrancing. I’m drawn to it, even when I know I shouldn’t be, even when I try not to be.”

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

Sarah creates a whole new world, where the Mortal Land, Feyre- the protagonists world, exists alongside the Faerie Realm Prythia, which is made up of the Spring, Summer, Winter, Autumn, Dawn, Day and Night Courts of the Fae. The world is so vividly painted that you can almost smell the roses in the Spring Court garden; touch the pool made of starlight, see the magic swirling around them and feel the intense attraction between Feyre and Tamlin. We quickly establish that Tamlin is the “Beast”, rapidly acknowledging he is not what Feyre accepts faeries to be. Tamlin is able to shape-shift between man and beast willingly, along with the rest of his Spring Court, He has all been cursed, and all wear jeweled masquerade style masks while in his human form.

“We moved together, unending and wild and burning, and when I went over the edge the next time, he roared and went with me.”

― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses

A stand out point in this novel that other YA lack was the sex, yes- S.E.X. Not implied but actual intense, passionate sex; it made the book feel more relatable and realistic, not to mention steamy, and certainly blush-worthy without being raunchy classless.

“By large, my ministrations are soft-handed and sweet,

But scorned, I become a difficult beast to defeat.

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“ THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE…”

I GOT OUT, CHOKING ON MY OWN BLOOD

“IS… LOVE”

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For though each of my strokes lands a powerful blow,

When I kill, I do it slow…”

Photo credit: Tumblr

Clockwork Angel: Cassandra Clare

The Infernal Devices 

Clockwork Angel

Released: 2010

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 496

In Series: Book One

Barnes & Noble Overview:

When Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks, and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa’s power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm’s length…everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world…and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

My Synopsis:

Much like Tessa felt as she made her initial conditional strides off the steam liner ship and onto the bleak Southampton dock, I discovered myself being maneuvered into the shadowy universe of Old London. Clockwork Angel entrapped me—snare, line and sinker. Right when you begin to get swept up into the era- BOOM– myself as the reader is plunged into an extraordinary world where automaton armies are being amassed, demons hide in dim dark corners and vampires prey on the vulnerable & weak, but… are the notorious Shadowhunters enough to keep the darkness at bay?

“Whatever you are physically…male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy–all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.” 
― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

My Review:

I was attracted inside of the initial few pages and despite the fact that I thought it would be hard to peruse a Shadowhunter novel that did exclude the beloved Clary, Jace and the team, I observed that I developed to adoration for the characters in The Infernal Devices very quickly. Also, to be completely forthright I loved Tessa as a protagonist a great deal more than I did Clary, Tessa is so keen and overcome and full grown, and I delighted in seeing the story from her eyes. Her enchanting love of literature made her all the more relatable. One of the first things I saw about Cassandra’s written work style is that she is exceptionally lovely which truly suits this Victorian era time set of this novel. The dialect alone made me feel as if I was perusing an excellent romance book, falling in love along side the characters. Even if there is a love triangle.  At first thought, i typically have a cringe style reaction to love triangles, but in this particular trilogy I reveled in it. Cassandra makes it exceptionally difficult to pull for one guy over the other when they are both so lovable and a suitable match for Tessa. I found myself going back and forth pulling for Will then for Jem, they we’re written as two sides to a coin & complimented one another perfectly. Their relationship was beautiful on it’s own.

Clockwork Angel constantly surprised me with the plot twists and turns and the evolving personalities of the characters. This is an action-packed book, with a strong punch of urban fantasy and a hint of a love triangle. I would recommend this epic fantasy to any of my fellow YA loving readers with out a doubt.

“He opened his mouth. The words were there. He was about to say them when a jolt of terror went through him, the terror of someone who, wandering in a mist, pauses only to realise that they have stopped inches from the edge of a gaping abyss. The way she was looking at him – she could read what was in his eyes, he realized  It must have been written plainly there, like words on the page of a book. There had been no time, no chance, to hide it.

“Will,” she whispered. “Say something, Will.”

But there was nothing to say. There was only emptiness, as there had been before her. As there would always be.

‘I have lost everything’, Will thought. ‘Everything.” 
― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel