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riverlasol's review against another edition
5.0
Review of the first book:
When I first started reading this book, I was a little unsure of the characters. They were so very different from anything I had imagined, which grew on me throughout the book. I always love reading something that is different and unique. I was also a little disappointed that my favorite character, The Mad Hatter, wasn’t very involved in the story, though we did meet him. In turn, I was surprised that the main Wonderland character we did get to know was Morpheus (The Blue Caterpillar). By the end of the book, I understood the author’s choices and Morpheus was my favorite character. He is a multi-layered character and I look forward to learning more about his story. The plot of the book was what really amazed me. The author has one of the most amazing imaginations. She fit so many small adventures into this book that I can barely remember them all. I can’t begin to imagine what the next book will be like. If you are looking for a wonderfully written, fast-paced new read, then this is it!
To read my thoughts on the rest of the series, go here: https://libraryinmymind.com/2017/08/12/the-splintered-trilogy/
When I first started reading this book, I was a little unsure of the characters. They were so very different from anything I had imagined, which grew on me throughout the book. I always love reading something that is different and unique. I was also a little disappointed that my favorite character, The Mad Hatter, wasn’t very involved in the story, though we did meet him. In turn, I was surprised that the main Wonderland character we did get to know was Morpheus (The Blue Caterpillar). By the end of the book, I understood the author’s choices and Morpheus was my favorite character. He is a multi-layered character and I look forward to learning more about his story. The plot of the book was what really amazed me. The author has one of the most amazing imaginations. She fit so many small adventures into this book that I can barely remember them all. I can’t begin to imagine what the next book will be like. If you are looking for a wonderfully written, fast-paced new read, then this is it!
To read my thoughts on the rest of the series, go here: https://libraryinmymind.com/2017/08/12/the-splintered-trilogy/
bookfever's review against another edition
5.0
Splintered:
Once upon a time (which would be a few months ago in april or may 2012) I entered a giveaway to win an arc copy of Splintered. I never would've guessed that I would actually win this. To me winning Splintered was mind blowing.
Just one look at the cover and you get pretty much sucked in already, right? So it wasn't until august that I received my copy but it was so worth the wait. Not only that but the author was also really nice, always letting me now what was happening and when the arcs were being printed. A huuuuge thanks for that! :D
Splintered is the story of Alyssa Gardner, a descendant of Alice Liddell who was the inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Yes, that Alice!
Ever since little Alice descended down the rabbit hole and came out bringing a terrible curse with her, every female in Alyssa's family has been affected by madness; hearing the voices of bugs and plants.
To save her mother and herself, Alyssa must go down the rabbit hole herself to try and break the curse.
I must admit I never really finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, I've read about half of it until other books got in the way. You know how it goes. But even so I love anything related to Alice in Wonderland. Splintered is no exception. Not by a long shot. It was so wonderful to read. Pretty much every character you know from Lewis Carroll's tale is there, only a bit different. More mad and wicked.
Alyssa was a good heroine. I'm not saying my favorite heroine ever but eventually I started to really like her. I wasn't a fan of her at the beginning because I wasn't sure if she would live up to my standards that I know I have for my book heroines. Especially once she and Jeb, her friend and secret crush, entered Wonderland.
I also wasn't an immediate fan of Jeb. I didn't love him or anything. But I didn't dislike the fact that he was there with Alyssa. He was just Jeb. *shrugs*
And then there was Morpheus *grins* Wicked and wild, as A.G. Howard calls him. He was one of the characters in Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, you'll sure have read/heard about. I could never quite figure out is he was a bad guy, even when most of the time he was, or he was a good guy deep inside. He was so enchanting, dark and just plain sexy with his half mask that it's no wonder Alyssa had a hard time concentrating around him. I loved their relationship a lot more than Alyssa's relationship with Jeb, that was a little boring. Morpheus was way more exciting.Yeah, I just love him.
“He's a contradiction: taut magic coiled to strike, gentleness at war with severity, a tongue as sharp as a whip's edge, yet skin so soft he could be swathed in clouds.”
Of course there were other very interesting characters. Sometimes very disturbing to read about like those killer flowers... *gulp* Anyway... all of them were amazing and so original in their own way, different, even though they are from Carroll's tale. This Wonderland world is nothing like the one in the original book, it way more dangerous and gruesome. Just delicious.
Splintered was one amazing retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A.G. Howard gave a very original spin to the story, making it a whole lot more creepy, frightening and just fantastical. With its omnious characters and beautiful writing it was breathtaking to read about the Wonderland that Alice left behind.
Unhinged:
Wow! Unhinged was so damn good! I'm really impressed by how much I ended up loving it. It's been so freaking long since I read Splintered. Almost one year and a half I think so it's been really nice to get back into this amazing world. I had to stop a few times, though, to read some books that were due for review but I finally finished it and let me just say that I can't wait until the third book is out. I need it now!
It's a little hard to form any coherent thoughts with the way Unhinged ended. Really, just everything that happened in this book was non-stop action, mystery and of course a bit of romance. Speaking of the romance. I am not a fan of love triangles but I can truly see Alyssa's hesitation between Jeb and Morpheus. Which is really weird because I'm a huge Morpheus fangirl. Moths FTW! And may I just say that in this book he was especially amazing. I mean wow. I love him. And I really want him to end up with Alyssa someday.
But throughout this book I've been growing a bit fonder of Jeb too. Imagine that.
Alyssa has definitely grown as a character in my eyes. At the start of the book she thought she was done with all things Wonderland and ready to move on with Jeb. But of course things didn't go as planned at all. And I'm glad that eventually Alyssa finally found out for herself who she is and really believed it. You go, girl!
And the story... it was brilliant. A.G. Howard is a fantastic writer. I love her writing style so much. It's beautiful, poetic and yet dark and creepy. Oh this book was so creepy. I loved it!
I also really liked the little twists involving Alyssa's mom and dad. Their past together and how it wasn't all how it seemed. It was a pretty unexpected turn of events and I loved every bit of that!
What else can I say than I loved this book? I can't wait for Ensared to come out and find out how the story will continue from here on because the ending? Oh my god! I can't believe all that happened and those are the best books out there, that leave you shocked and breathless and aching for the next book.
So five stars definitely earned for Unhinged by A.G. Howard!
Ensnared:
First of all, I can't believe this series is over. It's been one of my favorites right from the start and I absolutely loved all the books. Ensnared was also really good. And the ending was pretty perfect to me.
First I want to talk about Alyssa for a bit. I've loved her since the first book and you can clearly see how much she changed. I mean, everything is out in the open in this book... herself, her feelings for Jeb and Morpheus, her need for wanting to restore Wonderland and her love for her family. She's always been a fantastic character but I ended up liking her the most in Ensnared. She was just so fierce!
The big question of this book was of course, who is Alyssa going to end up in the end. No spoilers here but I had expected it to end the way it did and I am definitely not disappointed. I'm pretty sure whether you're a Morpheus or a Jeb fan, you'll be pleased either way.
Like I said, Ensnared was really good but I have to admit that I enjoyed it a little less than the other two books. I just thought it was a little slow but other than that it was awesome. This series is also and will always be my favorite retelling of Alice in Wonderland and pretty much everything. I loved how A.G. Howard created this Wonderland and how she executed it. Her writing style is probably one of my favorites, it's just so gorgeous and whimsical at time - much like Wonderland is.
I don't want to give too much away about Ensnared but there were times were I was practically dying with nerves because some unexpected things happened. Some were good some were bad and some were just making me want to throw this book away. But overall I really liked the way the story went, aside from at times it was a bit too slow.
I'm a big Morpheus fan. Everyone who knows me a little will probably know that. And he was bloody brilliant in this book. I've probably said that about the previous books also but it's so very true. And I also must say that I wasn't hating on Jeb as much as I did in the other books. All characters changed a lot from the first book.
Overall, Ensnared by A.G. Howard was a very good ending to one of my favorite series. I'll admit that I teared up when I was reading the epilogue. Epilogues always get to me. But this one was really beautiful. Anyway, if you haven't read this series, I would highly recommend that you go read the books right now. One of the best series ever and I'll miss these characters so much!
Once upon a time (which would be a few months ago in april or may 2012) I entered a giveaway to win an arc copy of Splintered. I never would've guessed that I would actually win this. To me winning Splintered was mind blowing.
Just one look at the cover and you get pretty much sucked in already, right? So it wasn't until august that I received my copy but it was so worth the wait. Not only that but the author was also really nice, always letting me now what was happening and when the arcs were being printed. A huuuuge thanks for that! :D
Splintered is the story of Alyssa Gardner, a descendant of Alice Liddell who was the inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Yes, that Alice!
Ever since little Alice descended down the rabbit hole and came out bringing a terrible curse with her, every female in Alyssa's family has been affected by madness; hearing the voices of bugs and plants.
To save her mother and herself, Alyssa must go down the rabbit hole herself to try and break the curse.
I must admit I never really finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, I've read about half of it until other books got in the way. You know how it goes. But even so I love anything related to Alice in Wonderland. Splintered is no exception. Not by a long shot. It was so wonderful to read. Pretty much every character you know from Lewis Carroll's tale is there, only a bit different. More mad and wicked.
Alyssa was a good heroine. I'm not saying my favorite heroine ever but eventually I started to really like her. I wasn't a fan of her at the beginning because I wasn't sure if she would live up to my standards that I know I have for my book heroines. Especially once she and Jeb, her friend and secret crush, entered Wonderland.
I also wasn't an immediate fan of Jeb. I didn't love him or anything. But I didn't dislike the fact that he was there with Alyssa. He was just Jeb. *shrugs*
And then there was Morpheus *grins* Wicked and wild, as A.G. Howard calls him. He was one of the characters in Alice's Adventure in Wonderland, you'll sure have read/heard about. I could never quite figure out is he was a bad guy, even when most of the time he was, or he was a good guy deep inside. He was so enchanting, dark and just plain sexy with his half mask that it's no wonder Alyssa had a hard time concentrating around him. I loved their relationship a lot more than Alyssa's relationship with Jeb, that was a little boring. Morpheus was way more exciting.Yeah, I just love him.
“He's a contradiction: taut magic coiled to strike, gentleness at war with severity, a tongue as sharp as a whip's edge, yet skin so soft he could be swathed in clouds.”
Of course there were other very interesting characters. Sometimes very disturbing to read about like those killer flowers... *gulp* Anyway... all of them were amazing and so original in their own way, different, even though they are from Carroll's tale. This Wonderland world is nothing like the one in the original book, it way more dangerous and gruesome. Just delicious.
Splintered was one amazing retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. A.G. Howard gave a very original spin to the story, making it a whole lot more creepy, frightening and just fantastical. With its omnious characters and beautiful writing it was breathtaking to read about the Wonderland that Alice left behind.
Unhinged:
Wow! Unhinged was so damn good! I'm really impressed by how much I ended up loving it. It's been so freaking long since I read Splintered. Almost one year and a half I think so it's been really nice to get back into this amazing world. I had to stop a few times, though, to read some books that were due for review but I finally finished it and let me just say that I can't wait until the third book is out. I need it now!
It's a little hard to form any coherent thoughts with the way Unhinged ended. Really, just everything that happened in this book was non-stop action, mystery and of course a bit of romance. Speaking of the romance. I am not a fan of love triangles but I can truly see Alyssa's hesitation between Jeb and Morpheus. Which is really weird because I'm a huge Morpheus fangirl. Moths FTW! And may I just say that in this book he was especially amazing. I mean wow. I love him. And I really want him to end up with Alyssa someday.
But throughout this book I've been growing a bit fonder of Jeb too. Imagine that.
Alyssa has definitely grown as a character in my eyes. At the start of the book she thought she was done with all things Wonderland and ready to move on with Jeb. But of course things didn't go as planned at all. And I'm glad that eventually Alyssa finally found out for herself who she is and really believed it. You go, girl!
And the story... it was brilliant. A.G. Howard is a fantastic writer. I love her writing style so much. It's beautiful, poetic and yet dark and creepy. Oh this book was so creepy. I loved it!
I also really liked the little twists involving Alyssa's mom and dad. Their past together and how it wasn't all how it seemed. It was a pretty unexpected turn of events and I loved every bit of that!
What else can I say than I loved this book? I can't wait for Ensared to come out and find out how the story will continue from here on because the ending? Oh my god! I can't believe all that happened and those are the best books out there, that leave you shocked and breathless and aching for the next book.
So five stars definitely earned for Unhinged by A.G. Howard!
Ensnared:
First of all, I can't believe this series is over. It's been one of my favorites right from the start and I absolutely loved all the books. Ensnared was also really good. And the ending was pretty perfect to me.
First I want to talk about Alyssa for a bit. I've loved her since the first book and you can clearly see how much she changed. I mean, everything is out in the open in this book... herself, her feelings for Jeb and Morpheus, her need for wanting to restore Wonderland and her love for her family. She's always been a fantastic character but I ended up liking her the most in Ensnared. She was just so fierce!
The big question of this book was of course, who is Alyssa going to end up in the end. No spoilers here but I had expected it to end the way it did and I am definitely not disappointed. I'm pretty sure whether you're a Morpheus or a Jeb fan, you'll be pleased either way.
Like I said, Ensnared was really good but I have to admit that I enjoyed it a little less than the other two books. I just thought it was a little slow but other than that it was awesome. This series is also and will always be my favorite retelling of Alice in Wonderland and pretty much everything. I loved how A.G. Howard created this Wonderland and how she executed it. Her writing style is probably one of my favorites, it's just so gorgeous and whimsical at time - much like Wonderland is.
I don't want to give too much away about Ensnared but there were times were I was practically dying with nerves because some unexpected things happened. Some were good some were bad and some were just making me want to throw this book away. But overall I really liked the way the story went, aside from at times it was a bit too slow.
I'm a big Morpheus fan. Everyone who knows me a little will probably know that. And he was bloody brilliant in this book. I've probably said that about the previous books also but it's so very true. And I also must say that I wasn't hating on Jeb as much as I did in the other books. All characters changed a lot from the first book.
Overall, Ensnared by A.G. Howard was a very good ending to one of my favorite series. I'll admit that I teared up when I was reading the epilogue. Epilogues always get to me. But this one was really beautiful. Anyway, if you haven't read this series, I would highly recommend that you go read the books right now. One of the best series ever and I'll miss these characters so much!
brie_reads_'s review
5.0
This series was so good!!! I loved how it gave me the Alice in Wonderland story but with a good twist.
reviewsmayvary's review
4.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. I've been looking forward to it forever and it has ALL my favorite things. But there were a few things that bugged me: that the author uses the words delusions when she means hallucinations. I have quit books for less! I'm sad, I know. And that supposedly the main character is so bullied when really the kids just tease her about being the decendant of Alice Liddell. Like who cares. Flaunt that shit.
The story definitely makes up for those two things, but it kinda just rubbed me the wrong way right up front. Looking forward to book 2.
The story definitely makes up for those two things, but it kinda just rubbed me the wrong way right up front. Looking forward to book 2.
erina's review
5.0
Wow! Splintered was an absolutely stunning debut and I absolutely loved it. Very, very occasionally I read a book and think if I ever write a book this is what I would write. It was a sublime read, and I am very much looking forward to Howard's sophomore novel, whatever it may be. This is a book and an author I want to champion.
I don't quite know how a book based on a classic novel that is around 150 years old and has already spawned countless reimaginings managed to be original, but it did.
Splintered was original and read very differently from any of the books I've read in the last year or so. The writing was lyrical and beautiful. It was poetic and artistic and painted such vivid imagery in my mind. I could see these wonderfully creepy landscapes and creatures, I could taste the salt of tears, the copper of blood and the whiff of graveyard dirt. There were parts of this book that begged to be read aloud and over again. Setting was such a key part of this story, and something that is so often neglected in other book I read. It was wonderful here. Tangible.
In addition to being beautifully written and drawn, this book was a non-stop action adventure. There were twists I did not see coming, like at all. I had no idea how this book was going to end until I reached the last page (I so didn't want it to end...). There was danger, there was chivalry, there was romance, there was heartbreak, and redemption. Splintered is part of the hero's quest genre and there is plenty of action and fast-paced plot to keep readers glued to their page.
The characters were deliciously complex, and I adored them. The dynamics between Morpheus, Alyssa, and Jeb were often funny and I never quite knew who to trust and what would happen to the characters. I definitely connected to the characters emotionally, and they left me smiling, crying, and holy crap OH NOing, a whole lot.
Of course, the ONE book that I read that is not part of a series (tell me you haven't noticed a recent trend of "series" books), is the one book I couldn't get enough of. Fantastic read! Sad to see it end :( but it was a pretty magical, creepy, horrifying, fantastical, lovestruck, teary-eyed journey...
I don't quite know how a book based on a classic novel that is around 150 years old and has already spawned countless reimaginings managed to be original, but it did.
Splintered was original and read very differently from any of the books I've read in the last year or so. The writing was lyrical and beautiful. It was poetic and artistic and painted such vivid imagery in my mind. I could see these wonderfully creepy landscapes and creatures, I could taste the salt of tears, the copper of blood and the whiff of graveyard dirt. There were parts of this book that begged to be read aloud and over again. Setting was such a key part of this story, and something that is so often neglected in other book I read. It was wonderful here. Tangible.
In addition to being beautifully written and drawn, this book was a non-stop action adventure. There were twists I did not see coming, like at all. I had no idea how this book was going to end until I reached the last page (I so didn't want it to end...). There was danger, there was chivalry, there was romance, there was heartbreak, and redemption. Splintered is part of the hero's quest genre and there is plenty of action and fast-paced plot to keep readers glued to their page.
The characters were deliciously complex, and I adored them. The dynamics between Morpheus, Alyssa, and Jeb were often funny and I never quite knew who to trust and what would happen to the characters. I definitely connected to the characters emotionally, and they left me smiling, crying, and holy crap OH NOing, a whole lot.
Of course, the ONE book that I read that is not part of a series (tell me you haven't noticed a recent trend of "series" books), is the one book I couldn't get enough of. Fantastic read! Sad to see it end :( but it was a pretty magical, creepy, horrifying, fantastical, lovestruck, teary-eyed journey...
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