Splintered

Author: A.G. Howard
Series: Splintered #1
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Retelling
Release Date: January 1, 2013

Summary: 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: WARNING: REVIEW MAY CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS 

This book was....wow, extremely fascinating and intriguing while still being annoyingly hard for me to completely wrap my head around. This may be due to the fact that I have never really understood and appreciated Carroll's original Alice in Wonderland.

The (very simplified version) novel is about a girl, Alyssa, whose mother is currently in a psych ward for talking to bugs and flowers and after an accident in which she cut Alyssa's hands with pruning shears trying to kill a bug. We come to find out that Alyssa is a descendant of the original Alice from which Lewis Carroll drew his inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. Because of Alice's original adventures in wonderland, a curse has been placed on her and her future family. In order to break said curse Alyssa must find and venture into Wonderland to undo the tragedies that Alice unfortunately brought upon not only Wonderland, but her family as well. Along with her childhood friend, Jeb, they venture into Wonderland and try to turn back Alice's mistakes.

I enjoyed this book because it was a completely different take on the Alice in Wonderland (the Disney movie version) I had come to know. It had a very dark, gothic, Tim Burton-esc twist to it that seemed to suit the story just right. Alyssa's character was, in a way, haunting, but I also loved her quick and witty remarks to the supporting characters. She was also full of life and that gave the book a good feel throughout. Thumbs up for that one Howard! 

Jeb, Jeb, Jeb. I knew from the beginning I would like him! The ending totally broke my heart (BUT IN A GOOD WAY!!) He was always there for Alyssa throughout their crazy, hectic journey to Wonderland and a constant rock for Alyssa. I loved how things ended up.

Morpheus was, well, Morpheus. In relationship to the the original Alice in Wonderland, Morpheus would be the Mad Hatter! He was dark, handsome, totally twisted, and mysterious... I liked and yet disliked that he seems to have the hots for Alyssa. I'm not totally against the idea but not totally for it either.

This was an amazing read although I needed to take breaks throughout to really grasp what was happening, especially when I got to the last 50-75 pages and everything that can/could happen did!! This is one that will not disappoint!!

ALSO: 

It's a great time to start this series if you haven't already because the 3rd and final book in the trilogy, Ensnared, just came out a couple days ago so you can read the whole series without having to wait for an immensely long time in between book releases!