Book Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Okay, I finally have a few moments to tell you about Splintered! First let me tell you again that I really loved this book. I honestly think it is my favorite new read of the year. I am writing my review while watching (more like listening) to the forth lecture from my course on metadata...so I apologize now because there will be typos.

Have you ever wondered what happened after Alice went down the rabbit hole? Alyssa Gardner knows. She knows that she, just like her mother, and her grandmother, and her great grandmother, and her grandmother before her, will go insane. Just like every female descendant of Alice Liddell has since she returned from Wonderland all those years ago. In fact, Alyssa fears she is already inheriting the family curse because she can hear insects and flowers speak to her. She had held the madness at bay for a few years with her beautifully morbid works of art but Alyssa is unsure how much longer she will keep her secret hidden. She fears she will end up in the same asylum as her mother before she even graduates from high school, before she even has a chance to be kissed for the first time.

Alyssa would do anything to have a chance at a normal life. To have a chance at love with her handsome and talented next door neighbor, Jeb. To have a chance at a life out of the shadow of the asylum.

But Alyssa is losing hope that this will ever be a possibility for her. As she notices stranger things occurring around her, she begins to question her family's past. Just as her curiosity hits its peak, her mother's mental health takes a drastic turn for the worse and Alyssa must get to the bottom of the family curse before it is too late to save her mother. In order to save her mother, Alyssa must do the one thing she fears the most. She must find the rabbit hole and journey to Wonderland to undo the mistakes Alice made and to lift the curse from her family's bloodline. With the unexpected aid of her crush Jeb and her mysterious and seductive Wonderland guide, Morpheus, Alyssa plans to do just that. However, once through the rabbit hole, Alyssa learns that not all is as it seems, including who she always thought she was.

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In A.G. Howard's deft hands Wonderland takes on a darker, more twisted, and by far more seductive role than the world originally created by Lewis Carroll. I always worry when a favorite book, legend, or myth is taken up by another artist. It is understandable why writers and artist attempt to add on and recreate the works of those who came before them. After all, the potential for greatness is very palpable and tantalizing but way too many grab the low hanging fruit and only manage to make a pale shadow rather than a transformative creation of their own. Howard's work is not one of those who grabs hold of the overly ripe fruit and pass it off as a tasty, yet stale, pie. Rather she manages to be one of the few who borrow, tweak and reform the classic work into something new, tasty, and delicious. I for one cannot wait for a second slice.