Review: Splintered (Splintered #1) By: A.G. Howard

Title: Splintered (Splintered #1)

Author: A.G. Howard

Published: January 1^st, 2013

Source: Bought

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads 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.

My Thoughts:

I had high expectations going into Splintered, I had heard so many great things about it since it was released. I was excited because I hadn’t read an Alice retelling yet and I was really looking forward to seeing if I would enjoy it as much everyone else seemed to. I definitely did love it, the retelling was different and creepier then the normal Disney story that I am familiar with and I did read Carroll’s story so long ago but, I don’t remember much. I loved everything about it!

Alyssa has started hearing the flowers and bugs whisper to her, she has kept it hidden because of her mom, a part of the curse of her family is that they become crazy because their ancestor was Alice from the story of Alice in Wonderland. Alyssa finally realizes that everything that she has been told is real. She journeys into Wonderland that is much more dangerous and creepy then the story every reveals. She is doing this all to save her mom and the future women of her family forever.

I loved Alyssa, she was fearless and determined. She wasn’t afraid to jump into the world of wonderland to save her family. I think that if I was in her place I definitely would have been completely freaking out. Especially when she had to face some of the obstacles of Wonderland she didn’t cower in the face of danger, she has completely determined to set things right for her family. I definitely got the vibe from her character that she was more of a tomboy who liked to skateboard and I pictured her with a wild and crazy style.

There was a bit of a love triangle going on with Jeb, Alyssa’s neighborhood and lifelong friend and Morpheus who was her guide through wonderland and as she remembers more from her childhood something more to her. Morpheus was a character that I never completely trusted, and with good reason although I kept going back and forth throughout the book with his intentions he definitely kept me on my toes throughout the book. Jeb on the other hand was steady and completely true throughout the entire book. He loved Alyssa and was willing to go to the ends of the earth for her and I loved how she could always count on him no matter what.

Overall, Splintered was amazing! I cannot wait to get to the next book and find out what happens, I am dying to know because you are left with a bit of a cliffhanger. It was a retelling done well and it was definitely different from the original which is something that I think is so important when doing it that it feels like it can stand on its own completely.