Review: Splintered

Splintered
by A.G. Howard
Published January 1st 2013

by Amulet Books

ARC from Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Thoughts:
Splintered puts a delicious and dark twist to the very famous Alice in Wonderland tale. There's a macabre and gothic feel to it as Alyssa the great-great-great grand daughter of Alice Liddell is fraught by hallucinations of talking insects and flowers and has a hobby of collecting these dead insects to be made into works of art. It is understandable that Alyssa is a tortured soul with a mother who is admitted to an asylum for having these very same illusions. And as she struggles to come to terms with her unusual ancestors, she realized she must  try to lift the curse that has been plaguing her family for generations.

I really love the rich and detailed world which the author has successfully created and was both eerily enchanted and terrified of it. What I didn't like are the host of predictable characters, the uninspiring love triangle and also the confusing ending which left me scratching my head. The book is also very slow at the beginning and I'm just not interested to read pages about Alyssa's mooning about her next-door neighbour Jeb. She's supposed to be this cool and aloof skater girl but her moments of dreaming is entirely wearisome.

I'm recommending this for the wonderful and compelling adventure and also for the magnificent fantastical version of Wonderland but not for the protagonist.


Verdict: 3 stars.
Available on: Amazon