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Book Review-Splintered

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2024 3:07 pm
by Emily Spencer
Title: Splintered
Author: A.G. Howard
Genre: Fantasy
Series-Yes (Trilogy)

Brief Summary:
Alyssa Gardner’s family is cursed. Her mother is currently a resident of a psychiatric hospital, her great-great grandmother is Alice Liddell (the real-life inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, and Alyssa herself has been hearing the voices of plants and insects since she was a child. She lives with the fear that she will end up like her mother, who insists that Wonderland is a real place and not just the setting for a beloved children’s classic.

Alyssa will soon find out that sometimes truth defies logic, and the heart is a fickle creature of its own. Torn between two very different potential boyfriends, the poor girl must navigate not only the danger she faces in a fantasy-turned-reality but also where her loyalties (and heart) lies.

Here is what Goodreads has to say:
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 take on things:
I love fairytale retellings, and this one was pretty good. It is a light=hearted read with enough action to keep you interested, though it dwelt too heavy on the romance aspect for my particular taste. As a story it was pretty good, but I don’t honestly know if I will finish the trilogy. It almost felt like near the end, Wonderland was just a backdrop for teen angst and ‘who gets the girl’. I’ll have to think on this one; if you decide to read it, please let me know what you think.

Re: Book Review-Splintered

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2024 8:53 pm
by Artemisia Thorne
The Splintered trilogy is great! I just reread it the other week. If the heaviness of the romance isn't your thing then you may not entirely enjoy the other books, but they're definitely worth reading still, there are a few plot details that are done so well it would be a shame to miss out.

Re: Book Review-Splintered

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2024 10:55 pm
by Emily Spencer
Thanks, Artemis! You may have convinced me to give them a try :)