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: Awaken (Abandon Trilogy #3) by Meg Cabot

Awaken (Abandon Trilogy #3) by Meg Cabot

Release Date: 7th May 2013

Publisher: Scholastic
Format: eBook
Pages: 258
Rating: 4.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2014 EBC, 2014 RC and 2014 SSC 

Summary from Goodreads:

"Death has her in his clutches. She doesn’t want him to let go.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera knew by accepting the love of John Hayden, she’d be forced to live forever in the one place she’s always dreaded most: the Underworld. The sacrifice seemed worth it, though, because it meant she could be with the boy she loves.

But now her happiness — and safety — are threatened, all because the Furies have discovered that John has broken one of their strictest rules: He revived a human soul.

If the balance between life and death isn’t fixed, both the Underworld and Pierce’s home back on earth will be wiped away. But there’s only one way to restore order. Someone has to die."

Review:
Overall, this was a solid end to a series that I was starting to worry about. After that infuriating second novel, I was worried our third and final addition to this trilogy would be similar. But, thankfully, we returned to what I loved about Abandon (mostly). 

If you read my review of Underworld, you'll know that I had some major problems with Pierce. She just acted so stupid sometimes, and she couldn't seem to get by without John glued to her side. Thankfully that stopped. Whilst she may have been forced to deal with things without John, Pierce still managed to do quite well, so when John did return, she didn't return to the annoying girl she was in Underworld. And whilst John is still fiercely protective of Pierce, I don't remember him manipulating her as much as he has in previous novels. Then again, this could be because he was gone for a while and he actually wasn't able to, but I like to look on the positive side and see it as character growth.

Overall I enjoyed the plot. Lots of questions were answered, everything was resolved, John and Pierce are in a good place. Honestly, I can't actually remember specifically what happened, which probably is an indication of how memorable this book is. What I do remember were the major conveniences. Like the whole thing with Alex - majorly convenient. But lets not get into that, because that would lead to spoilers.  

So, my final thoughts? I enjoyed it. I thought it was a fitting end to a series that had started to go downhill - much, much better than the second novel. 

Book Review: Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years #1) by Gregory Maguire

Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years #1) by Gregory Maguire
Release Date: 6th December 2000

Publisher: Harper Collins
Format: eBook
Pages: 406
Rating: DNF

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

Summary from Goodreads:

"In Baum's land of Oz, animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. Green-skinned Elphaba, future Wicked Witch of the West, is smart, prickly and misunderstood; she challenges our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil."

Review:
I thought I would enjoy this a lot more than I did. Anything and everything that includes a retelling, or reimagining, of a classic story or fairytale, is something that I'm bound to love. But, I just didn't love this. And I think the problem is, when you strip this back, and take away the fact that it's set in the Wonderful Land of Oz, and our main protagonist is Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, then what you end up with is a purely political book. And thats just not something I'm interested in.

I've wanted to read this for years, ever since I read one of Maguire's book way back when I was in high school. Seeing Wicked in the theatre only made me more interested, so when I acquired this one sometime last year, I added to to be TBR and was super excited to read it at some point this year. And now that I've read about 300 pages, I'm very disappointed. The fantabulous that I was expecting, probably because I expected it to follow the same plot as the musical, wasn't there. Instead I had a really political book, with our main character Elphaba fighting for animal rights. Which is all well and good, but this isn't the story I was looking for. I was looking for the forbidden romance between Elphaba and Fiyerio (which I did get, but it was cut waaaay to short), the warring between best friends Elphaba and Glinda, the downfall of Nessarose, Elphaba's preaching sister, destined to be the Wicked Witch of the East. Maybe if I had read further I would have gotten this - but with only 100 or so pages to go, its a bit late to be introducing these storylines.

I will give Maguire credit for taking a classic evil character and showing her in a new light. Elphaba was brought to be the Wicked Witch of the West through cirucmstance - her crusade for animal rights pitted her against the Wizard, painted as a dictator leader. I'm assuming the loss of her lover, Fiyerio, also pushed her onto this path. Since I didn't finish the novel, I don't really know, but everything Elphaba did seemed to make sense, given the context. Elphaba is a human, not just an evil character.

This is the first time that I've DNF-ed a book. I've always had the view of pushing through to the end, even if I wasn't enjoying the novel, because sometimes, the best things happen at the end. But as days crawled by where I didn't even touch this book, thoughts of putting this book down and picking something up eventually came. And with that, I picked up The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. And I loved it. I flew through it in a couple of days, and so I thought of picking this one up again. But, I went for something else, and it's become apparent to me that I won't be picking this one up again.

Book Review: Underworld (Abandon #2) by Meg Cabot

Underworld (Abandon Trilogy #2) by Meg Cabot
Release Date: 1st June 2012

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 318
Rating: 3.5/5.0

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

Summary from Goodreads:

"Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

Seventeen-year-old Pierce Oliviera isn’t dead.

Not this time.

But she is being held against her will in the dim, twilit world between heaven and hell, where the spirits of the deceased wait before embarking upon their final journey.

Her captor, John Hayden, claims it’s for her own safety. Because not all the departed are dear. Some are so unhappy with where they ended up after leaving the Underworld, they’ve come back as Furies, intent on vengeance…on the one who sent them there and on the one whom he loves.

But while Pierce might be safe from the Furies in the Underworld, far worse dangers could be lurking for her there…and they might have more to do with its ruler than with his enemies.And unless Pierce is careful, this time there’ll be no escape."

Review:

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

Oh Underworld. I really, really wanted to love you. But, unfortunately, you fell into the trap of being a filler between the first and third novel in the series. What a shame. 

I loved book 1 in this series, so needless to say, I was excited to pick this one up and continue forward with the story. But herein lies the problem - the plot didn't particularly go anywhere. We spent in entirety of this book trying to save one person, which is all well and good, but I need a bit more. And not only did the plot not really go anywhere, but I had some major issues with the characters. Take Pierce, our protagonist, for example. I don't know why, or how it happened, but Pierce suddenly became extremely stupid in this novel. There were many times when she'd say something and I'd think, Oh honey, really? Here's an example

Pierce: Oh look, my phone works, lets turn it on and watch some videos

2 seconds later

Henry: I saw you looking at your magic mirror, you really shouldn't do that

Pierce: Huh?

That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but really, IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO FIGURE OUT. Pierce just aggravated me with her sheer stupidity at points.

Also, let's talk about John. I get that Pierce and John are meant to be or something, but you know what, he's really not that great of a guy. Sure, he wants to keep Pierce close and protect her, but you know how he thinks he'll achieve this? By constantly lying to her and trying to trick her into doing things that would force her to stay in the Underworld with him. Yeah, no, that's not what a guy who loves you is supposed to do. 

So what exactly did I like about the book? Well, we got a lot of back story established here, which was probably the main purpose. We also had some cool new characters established, who I'm sure will play a big role in the final novel. Whilst I did have some issues (read: lots of issues) with the plot and our two main characters, I devoured this book quickly because of all the questions that were posed and the answers we were getting. It's just a shame that these questions and answers weren't surrounded by a more interesting and forward moving plot. Here's hoping that the final instalment will be much, much better. 

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.  

Book Review: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: 5th Feb 2013

Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 452
Rating: 5.0/5.0

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

Summary from Amazon:

"Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. 

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner."

Review:

This was a fitting sequel to Meyer's debut novel, Cinder. To be honest, I was worried that the introduction of new main characters might interfere with what was already set up in book one, but it all worked out really well.

What I love about this series is that each book incorporates a retelling of an old fairytale. Cinder, if you can't tell based from the name, was based on Cinderella, and Scarlet has been based on Red Riding Hood. I was worried a bit when I found this out, because I wondered how Meyer was going to effectively incorporate a new story and new characters, whilst also continuing on the story she began in Cinder. But, Meyer was very clever with how she used the characters of Scarlet (little red riding hood), Wolf (that one's pretty self explanatory) and Scarlet's grandmother Michelle, so that they had significance to the continuing storyline from Cinder. 

Overall, Meyer continued the fascinating story of Cinder in the second novel in the Lunar Chronicles, and I'm really excited to see where the next novel takes us. 

Book Review: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: 3rd January 2012
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 387
Rating: 5/5

This book was read as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge

Summary from Amazon:

"Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future."

Review:

I had been dying to get my hands on this book ever since reviews first started appearing last year. I was a bit wary at first because I wasn't sure how well an appropriation of the classic fairytale Cinderella would fare, considering Cinderella was being updated to a cyborg mechanic. But I have to say that I absolutely loved everything about this book, and the appropriation of Cinderella was done really well. If you didn't know that this was a retelling of Cinderella, you may not have even been able to pick up on it.

Even though you knew basically where the plot was heading, this was still an enjoyable and unpredictable read. And this is mostly the case because this story is set in the new, dystopian world of New Beijing, with Cinderella as a cyborg. These two main plot twists add a whole new dimension to the story, and allow Cinder to stand out as a great story all on its own, and not merely a retelling of a classic fairytale.

My only issue was with the relationship between Cinder and Princess Selene. As soon as the princess was mentioned, I knew what the connection there was, it was so obvious. But nonetheless, this was an amazing debut novel, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.