Splintered: Review

Author: A.G Howard
Page Number:371
Publisher:Amulet Books
Source:Bought

Description:
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.

Review:
This was yet, another amazing book of the year. This book made me a tiny bit worried in the beginning, since I knew it was a grotesque re-telling of Alice in Wonderland. I thought somehow this book would mess up my perception of the actual Alice in Wonderland. It did not ruin my perception of the classic book. If anything, I barely thought about the classical book when reading it. You know the book is based off a classical book, but when I read it, I forgot entirely about that. Maybe because of the major difference in it, or maybe I was just too transfixed by everything.

The vivid descriptions in the book was an awesome part of this book. Yes, I know that sounds a bit weird, but it let me imagine how this Wonderland compares to the classic one. Trust me, there weren't very many similarities, but there were a few. Just, most of them were way more twisted or cruel. It made the story interesting to me.

The romance was very...interesting. What kind of ticked me off about it was the love triangle. I have mentioned before that I usually don't like love triangles simply because one guy gets left out 95%. In this story, Jeb and Morpheus are the victims of a love triangle. Of course, she has to choose one of them, and I'm glad in the end that she chose that guy. However, it also made me sad and angry that the other guy will be left out. As you may have noticed, I'm being a good spoiler free girl by not mentioning any names( you must read it to believe it)!

The plot of the story,and also the most important part for me is what hooked me from beginning to end. You were always kept on your toes guessing what would happen next. There were many surprising turns in the novel, which I LOVE! You could tell the author planned everything out carefully to make an intriguing plot. Again, I have to say the plot was the most interesting part to this novel, which is quite a complement in my case!

Now, the dreaded ending. The ending was...surprising. I like surprises, I do. But, this surprise devastated me, which isn't not entirely bad. Sad endings always makes books linger in my mind. While the ending ate at me for days, making me relive that moment again and again, the devious author was writing the sequel to the book( probably doing evil things in that one too). So, for a debut, this book deserves a standing ovation!

4.5/5