Book Review: Unhinged (Splintered #2) by A.G Howard

Unhinged (Splintered #2) by A.G Howard

Release Date: 1st January 2014

Publisher: Amulet Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 387
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2014 SSC 

Summary from Goodreads:

"Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head. "

Review:

** Spoiler Alert: Read at your own risk**

Do I really need to even write this review. Just, go read the book. Or if you haven't read its predecessor Splintered yet, go read that first, then read this novel. Because, like, you really need to. It's just that good. 

I think what's great about this follow up to Howard's amazing debut is that it's not entirely what you'd expect it to be. Whilst Splintered was predominantly set in the twisted world of Wonderland, we spend the majority of this one in the human world. But don't worry about missing the creepiness of Wonderland, because that manages to follow Alyssa into the real world too; from her mosaics to Sister Two herself, this time, the battle is fought on Alyssa's turf. Even Morpheus is there, doing questionable things, but ultimately doing it all for Alyssa. What's great about Morpheus in this novel is that we get to see a different side to him, something softer. He's still manipulative as all hell, but another side of him is starting to peek through. With this extra attention on Morpheus, Alyssa's other love interest, Jeb, does get pushed to the back a little. But he's there just enough that a love triangle is firmly established, and really, Alyssa could choose either one of them.

Now let's move onto Alyssa's mother Alison, because man o' man, everything revolving her little story arc was just plain amazing. When Alyssa discovered one of her mosaic's depicted three Red Queens dueling for the crown, I was sure the twist would be that Alison was going to try to steal the crown for herself. But then NOPE, actually it was something completely different, something I totally wasn't expecting, because it had to do with Alyssa's DAD. Because, of course, he's somehow involved in this all too. Which is actually handy, considering that massive cliffhanger ending. Lord, it's going to be tough waiting for the final instalment in this trilogy. 

Overall, just go and read this series. Just do it. 

Book Review: Splintered (Splintered #1) by A.G. Howard

Splintered (Splintered #1) by A.G. Howard
Release Date: 1st January 2013

Publisher: Amulet Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 370
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 ODY and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"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."

Review:

I think I loved everything about this book - but I don't find that particularly surprising. Around about the end of last year, reviews for Splintered started popping up in the blogosphere, and there was not a negative review in site. When I found out it was a retelling of a classic story, I knew I just had to read this.

Splintered is the twisted retelling of the classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. In the novel, we follow our heroine Alyssa (and her crush Jeb) as she travels to Wonderland to break the curse that's been haunting her family ever since little Alice fell down the rabbit hole all those years ago. And what ensues is definitely not something you'd be expecting. 

As I've said already, I loved everything about this book - and I mean everything. I loved our three main characters; Alyssa, the strong heroine, Jeb, Alyssa's crush, and Morpheus, Alyssa's childhood friend and guide to Wonderland. I liked how these three main characters interacted, with Jeb and Morpheus basically representing the two worlds (our world and Wonderland) and in doing that, being polar opposites. It was interesting to see different sides of Alyssa become more pronounced when she was around one or the other. And Alyssa herself was a great female protagonist - I mean, she was so determined the break her family curse in order to save her mother, how could you not love her?

And the retelling of a classic - my word, Howard did an amazing job taking Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and building upon it to create this fascinating read. All the main characters you know - the Red Queen, the Caterpillar, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter - have been taken, but they've been twisted into these new, more gruesome characters, and I absolutely loved it. However, my favourite part of this book has to be the plot itself. This was an unpredictable read for me, and I didn't see that twist at the end coming, at all. Even after the 'tests' were revealed, I still couldn't see the vitally important connection between Alyssa and a certain Wonderland character. That twist at the end, and that final battle, brought the story to a satisfying end, and left it open for future sequels. All in all, this is a story that I loved completely and wholeheartedly, and I would recommend it to anyone.