Splintered -
Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowersprecisely 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 Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.When her mothers 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 Alices tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alices 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.
Published: 2013-01-01 (Amulet Books)
ISBN: 9781419704284
Language: English
Format: Hardcover, 371 pages
Goodreads' rating: -
Reviews
Re-Read 11-4-16 to 11-5-16. I'm going to try to finally finish these booksSo after re-reading this I was quickly going down to a 3 star, maybe less - just because of Jeb's character. I mean he's hot and all and he's does good things sometimes, but for the most part he just sucks! I don't like the way he's controlling with Alyssa. I mean who is he to be telling her what she can and can't do or be with when he has a girlfriend. Whatever! And even though Morpheus did some devious things in the book, I just love him and his beautiful blue wings =)The thing is, Alyssa is related to the Alice Liddell that Lewis Carroll wrote about and they all go mad . . . Alyssa's mom is in an insane asylum for talking about rabbit holes and trying to kill Alyssa and talking bugs and flowers. Alyssa and her dad visit Alison in the ward all of the time. But things are just not as they seem. Why would they be, it's all cray in Wonderland world. Alyssa is a skater girl and she can hear the bugs and plants talking too. She thinks she's going to go mad like all of the other women in the family. But no, she just ends up going to Wonderland to be with Morpheus and try to help her mom. And of course Jeb just has to go along and for a while there I was ill reading all of his nonsense. Alas, the crazy ensued and we were off to the races with madness all around. There were a lot of pretty cool parts, some morbid but hey, it is what it is. And the freaking book covers on these books are some of the most amazing I have ever seen!!!!! MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
Alyssa is a descendant of Alice Liddell- the Alice who inspired Carroll to write his tale of white rabbits and fantastical creatures. But, Alyssa has a family secret: the women of her bloodline go insane when they come of age.She tries to look on the positive side of this: "At least one good thing has come out of my inherited insanity. Without the delusions, I might never have found my artistic medium." pg 10, ebook.Alyssa is in love with Jeb, a dark and brooding young man with a penchant for grunge clothing and a lip piercing (that she talks about all the time). But, he is dating the most popular girl in Alyssa's high school class, Taelor (of course).Things get really exciting when Alyssa starts to hear voices coming from the bugs and plants.After a brief introduction where the reader learns that Jeb is freakishly controlling and Alyssa's mother is in an insane asylum, she falls through a mirror and after some trials, finds her way into Wonderland.I thought this could have been a potentially interesting re-telling of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, but Splintered's uniqueness is stifled under a bunch of teen angst and a love triangle.Granted, I'm not the target audience for this book, but I'd been on a roll lately with awesome fairy tale re-tellings and I thought I'd give it a shot. Oh well.I actually enjoyed A.G. Howard's interpretation of Wonderland itself. The characters were familiar but twisted slightly.Here's a passage from the tea party- my favorite part: "Now we need to get back to our world. Like yesterday." "Yesterday, you say?" the hatmaker warbles in his bouncing timbre. "Yesterday is doable." Guffawing, the hare slaps a knee and adds, "Although two yesterdays would be impossible." The Door Mouse snickers, slipping back into his uniform. "No, no! You can retrogress as many yesterdays as you please. Simply walk backward the rest of your life." pg 187, ebook.Howard nailed the classic characterizations, but Carroll's original creations were far superior to Alyssa, Jeb, and Morpheus, who were her main contributions to the story.Disregard my opinions on this book if you simply must read any and all fairy tale re-tellings because, at the very least, it is that.Just be aware what you're picking up- a young adult romance/coming of age- and if that's what you're in the mood for, you may really enjoy it.I find that my expectations shape my opinion of a book almost as much as the text itself. For example, I think if I had been warned that Alice in Zombieland had really very little to do with the Wonderland story, I may not have disliked it as much as I did.Splintered actually has a lot of the original Wonderland in it and, if I had to choose between Alice in Zombieland or Splintered, I'd pick this in a heartbeat.Some highly recommended horror/fairy tale re-tellings (for adults): Alice or All Darling Children.Thanks for reading!
More reviews @ The Beautiful World of booksDNF halfway through...What I felt about the cover-What I felt when I started reading this book-What I felt about the main character-What I felt about the male love interests- What I felt about the love triangle-What I felt about the plot-What I felt about the writing-My feelings for the book-My final verdict-..............................................................................................................................
Can we take one moment and wonder how much better this book would have been if Jeb wasn't in it? CAN WE?!This guy was a major douchebag! Besides the fact that he was as good as useless to the entire plot, he had no respect all for Alyssa's opinions or decisions. "Jeb, I think--" "Shut the fuck up. I decide what you can and can't do."Protective was not even how I would describe him. Controlling is still an understatement. He treated her like a fucking puppy. Its not even like I'm reading too much into this because Morpheus kept pointing it out. And I feel so sorry for his actual girlfriend who he used and cheated on. What the fuck is wrong with his mindset?Alyssa fell into his bullshit everytime. I can't...I just can't even with her. She was a complete mary sue. That's all I have to say.Morpheus had his bullshit detector on the entire time which made me love him. His relationship with Alyssa though was so back and forth it made my head spin.The plot itself was alright. I would give it a 4. The ending was kind of quick and cheapened. Just no with Jeb though. Just no.ETA:A month ago a made the mistake of taking the plunge and reading the sequel (got it from the library no way in hell would I spend money on that trash) and it was even worse than I expected. If you're interested in seeing a (slightly spoilery) rant regarding the sequel and Jeb (again) then you can see it here.All I can say is apparently the author based Jeb off of her own husband and if that doesn't make you question the society we live in than I don't know what ever will.
Ok, unpopular opinion time: I love most retellings, but would rather just read the original Alice in Wonderland than see it get ruined like this. I did like some creative elements of this version of Wonderland! But the story itself was weird, full of YA cliches and slut-shaming, and just didn't hold my attention. The part that really killed the story for me was the characters... I didn't necessarily like any of them, honestly. The Jeb guy was super controlling, condescending, and possessive -- and what's up with him having a girlfriend but still having some awkward virginity talk with Alyssa? And I really couldn't stand Alyssa. At all.BUT a ton of people absolutely love this series. Almost everyone I follow gave it 4-5 stars, so definitely check it out for yourself!!