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A review by stuckinafictionaluniverse
Ensnared by A.G. Howard
3.0
Spoiler-free for the whole series!
The good:
* The Splintered trilogy is a tangled, pretty mess; just like Wonderland.
Howard excels at imagery and vivid descriptions (not to mention the fabulous outfits). She paints a crystal clear picture of the chaotic and fascinating Wonderland, and later on AnyElseWhere.
You thought Wonderland was crazy? Wait until you see The looking-glass world.
The world-building feels well-rounded and complete, but loses none of its charm and mystery.
* We have a villain with a solid backstory which is developed and fleshed out in a very surprising way. Their motive is convincing and fits in well with the story, even though we didn't find out much about them until now.
* We see many new creatures and even more twists on the characters from the original fairytale. My favorite was The queen of hearts, whose name you should take literally. *shivers*
* Despite the slower pacing, the story remains addictive and fresh. I always wanted to know what would happen.
* A great deal of swooning and fun, seductive dialogue. There's a lot of tension and teasing, and I love it.
I'd let Morpheus take me to Wonderland any day, if you know what I mean.
The bad:
ALL ABOARD THE ANGST TRAIN. There’s a large focus on the romance, and the plot is pushed aside.
This love triangle may not be the worst one I’ve read, but it’s annoying enough.
However, the drama wasn’t necessary to the story and I wish it didn’t exist. It would make the books three times better.
I really liked the family dynamics that we see in book 2, and was disappointed when those promising backstories and relationships took a backseat in this installment.
I hate when the story only stretches to a little bubble around the main character and her love interests. What happened to our secondary characters? Alyssa's dad, and.. what's-her-face... Jenara, right? Sorry guys, you better take a time-out so the angst can get the spotlight. *eyeroll*
* Alyssa; the girl who is incapable of making decisions.Try flipping a fucking coin? She keeps going back and forth between the love interests while paying no attention to the consequences.
It was dumb, it took up way too much of the plot and annoyed me.
Alyssa is passive, which is something I loathe in my main characters. She could’ve been writer stronger and more relatable overall, someone you could root for and love.
* Three whole books, and only one real friendship (not counting Jeb because he's primarily a love interest). I didn't realize until now that we have a strong lack of non-romantic relationships in the series. Ensnared is above all a love story and struggle between two sides, so there's no need for friends, or what?
Plus, every woman except the MC in this book are either evil or disposable - only there for a short time and then completely ignored.
* The very end is pitch-perfect and predictable, and it bugged me.
The more I think about it, the more pissed I get with how the love triangle wrapped up. It's something I've seen many times before, and it didn't feel well-deserved in this book. That's all I can say without spoiling it, but it was a disappointment.
Final verdict:
Ensnared succeeds as a conclusion, and is slightly disappointing as a novel. The pacing is slower than in previous books; the plot messier and the romance/angst turned up a notch. Howard makes up for it by introducing us to a new exciting world and adding more twists and turns.
This series was a hurricane of madness and beauty. There were parts I loved and parts I hated, but it is overall a fun, memorable and unique story.
The good:
* The Splintered trilogy is a tangled, pretty mess; just like Wonderland.
Howard excels at imagery and vivid descriptions (not to mention the fabulous outfits). She paints a crystal clear picture of the chaotic and fascinating Wonderland, and later on AnyElseWhere.
You thought Wonderland was crazy? Wait until you see The looking-glass world.
The world-building feels well-rounded and complete, but loses none of its charm and mystery.
* We have a villain with a solid backstory which is developed and fleshed out in a very surprising way. Their motive is convincing and fits in well with the story, even though we didn't find out much about them until now.
* We see many new creatures and even more twists on the characters from the original fairytale. My favorite was The queen of hearts, whose name you should take literally. *shivers*
* Despite the slower pacing, the story remains addictive and fresh. I always wanted to know what would happen.
* A great deal of swooning and fun, seductive dialogue. There's a lot of tension and teasing, and I love it.
Spoiler
THE LINGERIE SCENE. *fans self*I'd let Morpheus take me to Wonderland any day, if you know what I mean.
The bad:
ALL ABOARD THE ANGST TRAIN. There’s a large focus on the romance, and the plot is pushed aside.
This love triangle may not be the worst one I’ve read, but it’s annoying enough.
However, the drama wasn’t necessary to the story and I wish it didn’t exist. It would make the books three times better.
I really liked the family dynamics that we see in book 2, and was disappointed when those promising backstories and relationships took a backseat in this installment.
I hate when the story only stretches to a little bubble around the main character and her love interests. What happened to our secondary characters? Alyssa's dad, and.. what's-her-face... Jenara, right? Sorry guys, you better take a time-out so the angst can get the spotlight. *eyeroll*
* Alyssa; the girl who is incapable of making decisions.
It was dumb, it took up way too much of the plot and annoyed me.
Alyssa is passive, which is something I loathe in my main characters. She could’ve been writer stronger and more relatable overall, someone you could root for and love.
* Three whole books, and only one real friendship (not counting Jeb because he's primarily a love interest). I didn't realize until now that we have a strong lack of non-romantic relationships in the series. Ensnared is above all a love story and struggle between two sides, so there's no need for friends, or what?
Plus, every woman except the MC in this book are either evil or disposable - only there for a short time and then completely ignored.
* The very end is pitch-perfect and predictable, and it bugged me.
The more I think about it, the more pissed I get with how the love triangle wrapped up. It's something I've seen many times before, and it didn't feel well-deserved in this book. That's all I can say without spoiling it, but it was a disappointment.
Spoiler
You can’t have the cake and eat it too! It’s so typical and cowardly to get both guys. I was hoping Alyssa would leave Jeb to rot in a hole...Final verdict:
Ensnared succeeds as a conclusion, and is slightly disappointing as a novel. The pacing is slower than in previous books; the plot messier and the romance/angst turned up a notch. Howard makes up for it by introducing us to a new exciting world and adding more twists and turns.
This series was a hurricane of madness and beauty. There were parts I loved and parts I hated, but it is overall a fun, memorable and unique story.