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novahkiin's review against another edition
2.0
Sweet baby Jesus, that was quite the second book slump.
I wouldn’t say I had the HIGHEST of hopes for this second book since I wasn’t a huge fan of the first, but to say the bar was as low as it probably should have been would be a little bit of a lie. I felt like the first book set up the story pretty well for what I expected to happen in the second book, but then it just… didn’t.
Well, okay. It kind of did. At the end. Everything up to that point was just a long line of “but why this” running through my brain. Like. I didn’t care. At all. Even a little, about what was happening with Alyssa and her annoying boyfriend Jeb and her creepy former friend Morpheus. I only really cared about the last third of the book when things started to really happen, which are not great statistics.
The ONLY reason this is getting two stars instead of one is because I still firmly stand by my previous statement that Howard is a very good writer. Description-wise, at least. Plot? Still not sure about that one, because while I enjoyed all the parts without romance, the romance and the tropes within the romance basically shot me dead in my own backyard. I hated them so much. And they all were in the first two-thirds of the book with a heavy concentration at the start. I am here for Alice in Wonderland madness — not teenaged jealousy and drama that has literally nothing to do with the plot aside from creating a boring plot dilemma that ends up spanning almost the entire book.
I don’t know. With how it ended, I once again have unfortunately high hopes (well, mediocre hopes, I guess) for how the last book will go. I’m thinking maybe it’ll be what I had hoped the second book would have been. But! We’ll find out when we get there, I guess.
First posted on my blog, Confessions of a Literary Addict!
I wouldn’t say I had the HIGHEST of hopes for this second book since I wasn’t a huge fan of the first, but to say the bar was as low as it probably should have been would be a little bit of a lie. I felt like the first book set up the story pretty well for what I expected to happen in the second book, but then it just… didn’t.
Well, okay. It kind of did. At the end. Everything up to that point was just a long line of “but why this” running through my brain. Like. I didn’t care. At all. Even a little, about what was happening with Alyssa and her annoying boyfriend Jeb and her creepy former friend Morpheus. I only really cared about the last third of the book when things started to really happen, which are not great statistics.
The ONLY reason this is getting two stars instead of one is because I still firmly stand by my previous statement that Howard is a very good writer. Description-wise, at least. Plot? Still not sure about that one, because while I enjoyed all the parts without romance, the romance and the tropes within the romance basically shot me dead in my own backyard. I hated them so much. And they all were in the first two-thirds of the book with a heavy concentration at the start. I am here for Alice in Wonderland madness — not teenaged jealousy and drama that has literally nothing to do with the plot aside from creating a boring plot dilemma that ends up spanning almost the entire book.
I don’t know. With how it ended, I once again have unfortunately high hopes (well, mediocre hopes, I guess) for how the last book will go. I’m thinking maybe it’ll be what I had hoped the second book would have been. But! We’ll find out when we get there, I guess.
First posted on my blog, Confessions of a Literary Addict!
aiko98's review against another edition
5.0
Tak jak jsem se zamilovala do prvního dílu, druhý díl miluji ještě víc. Přibyla zde spousta nových hádanek a záhad. Všechny teorie, které jsem si postavila na prvním díle, mi ten díl druhý 95% z nich dokonale vyvrátil. První polovinu jsem četla celkem pomalu, ovšem druhou polovinou knihy jsem se nechala pohltit a bylo opravdu náročné muset knihu byť na pár minut odložit. Druhý díl je ještě tak takticky zakončený, že bez váhání a sebemenší pauzy prostě musíte sáhnout po třetím díle.
bookish_notes's review against another edition
4.0
[b:Unhinged|17449197|Unhinged (Splintered, #2)|A.G. Howard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366994000s/17449197.jpg|24333509] is an easy read and builds upon the world created in [b:Splintered|12558285|Splintered (Splintered, #1)|A.G. Howard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1340134213s/12558285.jpg|17562095]. Unlike the first book, Unhinged takes place almost entirely in the human world and glimpses of Wonderland are seen through dreams and memories. Alyssa has evolved in her art medium and has moved from bugs to making mosaics with her blood. The mosaics all come together to tell visions of the future, of Red coming through Wonderland to destroy Alyssa.
Meanwhile, Alyssa and Jeb are finally together, but obstacles stand in their way - namely, Jeb's lost memories and Morpheus constantly showing up at Alyssa's side. We learn more about Alyssa's mom and her past with Wonderland. It's rare that we see loving families with the protagonist working with her parents in YA fantasy, so I appreciated the moments we see Alyssa and her mother and father working together.
[a:A.G. Howard|5186274|A.G. Howard|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1325561918p2/5186274.jpg] has a beautiful way of merging the familiar, [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|24213|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|Lewis Carroll|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872220s/24213.jpg|2375385], and the horror landscape of Wonderland she's created that give the story the dark twists that makes Unhinged so captivating.
Meanwhile, Alyssa and Jeb are finally together, but obstacles stand in their way - namely, Jeb's lost memories and Morpheus constantly showing up at Alyssa's side. We learn more about Alyssa's mom and her past with Wonderland. It's rare that we see loving families with the protagonist working with her parents in YA fantasy, so I appreciated the moments we see Alyssa and her mother and father working together.
[a:A.G. Howard|5186274|A.G. Howard|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1325561918p2/5186274.jpg] has a beautiful way of merging the familiar, [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|24213|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass|Lewis Carroll|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872220s/24213.jpg|2375385], and the horror landscape of Wonderland she's created that give the story the dark twists that makes Unhinged so captivating.
Spoiler
As a side-note, those poor kids never did get their prom, did they?peaceteacher's review against another edition
5.0
So many twists and turns!!!! Multifaceted characters that grow and change in believable ways. Just fantastic I just hope the series ends well :)
frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
4.0
This book would be a five for the last two thirds of the book. Because HOO BOY does it get good! Like really really good. As good as the first book!
Sadly, you have to get through the first third which, quite honestly, dragged for me a bit. It might have to do with the fact that I'm not a Jeb fan (at least not in the first two books. I find him really boring and way too protective), but I just...didn't particularly care about the plot until a bit later in the book.
But then it returns to the spell the first book worked on my heart.
Sadly, you have to get through the first third which, quite honestly, dragged for me a bit. It might have to do with the fact that I'm not a Jeb fan (at least not in the first two books. I find him really boring and way too protective), but I just...didn't particularly care about the plot until a bit later in the book.
But then it returns to the spell the first book worked on my heart.
heather4994's review against another edition
5.0
You don't usually start at the end when you are reviewing a book but BEST END EVER!! I don't say that for a second book, especially when so much is left in the air, but I was like a little kid about to wet her pants hopping up and down in my seat reading that ending. And I think A.G. Howard is a genius. I thought the Disney movie of Alice in Wonderland was confusing. I haven't even read Lewis Carroll's books. But I find this series incredibly complex. Wonderland is every bit fantastical and weird and Morpheus is darkly enticing as any paranormal or fantasy I've read. The real world Ali lives in is still bizarre in that while she used to make bug mosaics (yuck) she now makes blood mosaics using her own blood. She talks to bugs and her mother talks to flowers. Ali's worlds have collided. The weird world of Wonderland is bleeding into her human world through her dreams, through her nightmares and then through dangerous reality.
Now I want to make it clear, I am team Jeb, all the way. But whew, I might have been persuaded to change teams in this book. Especially as I think of Johnny Depp a la Pirates of the Caribbean every time I read Morpheus' name. He is deliciously enigmatic, leaving you guessing his motives, and exactly what he knows and is capable of, a huge question mark, but wrapped in a sensuously enticing man so that you kind of forget the darker parts of him. Until they show themselves, reminding us that however much we may desire him, however much he may convince us that he desires us, Morpheus is a creature of Wonderland. But that leads us to Ali. She is neither all human nor all Netherling. And it shows in this novel how much she is torn between the two worlds. Her Netherling side pulls at her calling her to be wild while she clings to the human world. And Jeb, even for a full human, has a bit of the bad boy in him. He rides a motorcycle, he's an artist, has a labret. He isn't exactly a milk and cookies boy.
So the story takes place in the human world this time, but there are plenty of Netherlings to make it puzzling and dangerous. Ali learns from past mistakes and not just her own. The story line takes place over only three days, but it is packed full of revelations and connections and Ali finds that she is more connected to Wonderland than she could ever have imagined. It all comes down to a showdown at the prom with Red and some other Netherlings, some more powerful than others, and then that ending. Ali seems to be repeating a pattern in her family. And yet, her little deception there at the end. Oh, so beautifully come full circle kind of end.
If you liked Splintered, you will LOVE Unhinged. If you Loved Splintered well be prepared for A.G. Howard to rock your reading mind. I recommend it to lovers of Alice in Wonderland and all the variations. It is a great reworking of the story. I love this one. I am thinking I should probably read the original though. Just to see how much better A.G. Howard improved on the original.
Thanks to the publishers at Abrams for providing an e-arc of the novel through NetGalley for review purposes. This did not influence my review at all. All opinions expressed are my own.
Now I want to make it clear, I am team Jeb, all the way. But whew, I might have been persuaded to change teams in this book. Especially as I think of Johnny Depp a la Pirates of the Caribbean every time I read Morpheus' name. He is deliciously enigmatic, leaving you guessing his motives, and exactly what he knows and is capable of, a huge question mark, but wrapped in a sensuously enticing man so that you kind of forget the darker parts of him. Until they show themselves, reminding us that however much we may desire him, however much he may convince us that he desires us, Morpheus is a creature of Wonderland. But that leads us to Ali. She is neither all human nor all Netherling. And it shows in this novel how much she is torn between the two worlds. Her Netherling side pulls at her calling her to be wild while she clings to the human world. And Jeb, even for a full human, has a bit of the bad boy in him. He rides a motorcycle, he's an artist, has a labret. He isn't exactly a milk and cookies boy.
So the story takes place in the human world this time, but there are plenty of Netherlings to make it puzzling and dangerous. Ali learns from past mistakes and not just her own. The story line takes place over only three days, but it is packed full of revelations and connections and Ali finds that she is more connected to Wonderland than she could ever have imagined. It all comes down to a showdown at the prom with Red and some other Netherlings, some more powerful than others, and then that ending. Ali seems to be repeating a pattern in her family. And yet, her little deception there at the end. Oh, so beautifully come full circle kind of end.
If you liked Splintered, you will LOVE Unhinged. If you Loved Splintered well be prepared for A.G. Howard to rock your reading mind. I recommend it to lovers of Alice in Wonderland and all the variations. It is a great reworking of the story. I love this one. I am thinking I should probably read the original though. Just to see how much better A.G. Howard improved on the original.
Thanks to the publishers at Abrams for providing an e-arc of the novel through NetGalley for review purposes. This did not influence my review at all. All opinions expressed are my own.
withthebanned's review against another edition
3.0
Originally reviewed on Books Take You Places
You may remember that I really enjoyed the first novel in this series, and I was very impatient to get my hands on Unhinged. I am sorry to say that though Unhinged was enjoyable, it fell a little short of my expectations.
I have a few issues with this novel, the first being the world building, or lack of world building in Unhinged. One of the things that made me fall in love with Splintered was the magic and darkness of Wonderland. I was completely enthralled by the macabre way in which Howard shifted the setting from childhood fantasy to twisted nightmare. This element was nearly missing from Unhinged, with the exception of flashbacks of Alyssa’s childhood in Wonderland. Instead, the novel took place in the human realm which made the shift from world building to follow the relationships of the series more, which brings me to my second problem with Unhinged.
I had a very hard time with the relationships in this novel, and frankly, I struggled deeply to relate to Alyssa. I found her to be spiteful, and childish, and not only do I think that she has outgrown Jeb, and is keeping him around for selfish reasons, I completely think that he has outgrown her, and deserves better. Prior to reading Unhinged I was all for Team Morpheus, and I can still see why he should be with Alyssa over Jeb, but in truth, I think that Alyssa has a lot of self discovery and maturing to do before she deserves either man in this love triangle.
These negatives aside, the plot was driven, the intrigue was there, and there were many revealed secrets that kept me interested. I enjoyed every scene with Morpheus, he stole the show in this novel and my favorite parts of Unhinged were those that included Chessie, Rabid White, and any Wonderland elements. I will say that the ending of Unhinged was especially interesting, it gave me a glimpse of who Alyssa is becoming, and if this glimpse into her character then I think she is going to grow into someone fantastic. At this point, though I was still interested enough in the story, the ending really reestablished my need to follow the series through to the end.
Admittedly, I did find this novel to suffer a bit of a sophomore slump, but it was still an interesting enough read that I look forward to what is to come in Ensnared.
3.5 stars
You may remember that I really enjoyed the first novel in this series, and I was very impatient to get my hands on Unhinged. I am sorry to say that though Unhinged was enjoyable, it fell a little short of my expectations.
I have a few issues with this novel, the first being the world building, or lack of world building in Unhinged. One of the things that made me fall in love with Splintered was the magic and darkness of Wonderland. I was completely enthralled by the macabre way in which Howard shifted the setting from childhood fantasy to twisted nightmare. This element was nearly missing from Unhinged, with the exception of flashbacks of Alyssa’s childhood in Wonderland. Instead, the novel took place in the human realm which made the shift from world building to follow the relationships of the series more, which brings me to my second problem with Unhinged.
I had a very hard time with the relationships in this novel, and frankly, I struggled deeply to relate to Alyssa. I found her to be spiteful, and childish, and not only do I think that she has outgrown Jeb, and is keeping him around for selfish reasons, I completely think that he has outgrown her, and deserves better. Prior to reading Unhinged I was all for Team Morpheus, and I can still see why he should be with Alyssa over Jeb, but in truth, I think that Alyssa has a lot of self discovery and maturing to do before she deserves either man in this love triangle.
These negatives aside, the plot was driven, the intrigue was there, and there were many revealed secrets that kept me interested. I enjoyed every scene with Morpheus, he stole the show in this novel and my favorite parts of Unhinged were those that included Chessie, Rabid White, and any Wonderland elements. I will say that the ending of Unhinged was especially interesting, it gave me a glimpse of who Alyssa is becoming, and if this glimpse into her character then I think she is going to grow into someone fantastic. At this point, though I was still interested enough in the story, the ending really reestablished my need to follow the series through to the end.
Admittedly, I did find this novel to suffer a bit of a sophomore slump, but it was still an interesting enough read that I look forward to what is to come in Ensnared.
3.5 stars
forsakenfates's review against another edition
5.0
This one was even better than the first for me. But that ending was so cruel. Luckily I have the final book and can start it soon. I absolutely love the world that A. G. Howard has created. The characters are great and the imagery is fantastic.