Splintered (Splintered Series #1) Published by Harry N. Abrams on February 18, 2014 Source: Owned Paperback
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, General, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Adaptations
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
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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.
Read all the books in the New York Times bestselling Splintered series: Splintered (Book 1), Unhinged (Book 2), Ensnared (Book 3), and Untamed (The Companion Novel). Get books 1 through 3 in theSplintered boxed set, available now!
Praise for Splintered: STARRED REVIEW
"Fans of dark fantasy, as well as of Carroll's Alice in all her revisionings (especially Tim Burton's), will find a lot to love in this compelling and imaginative novel." --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Alyssa is one of the most unique protagonists I've come across in a while. Splintered is dark, twisted, entirely riveting, and a truly romantic tale." --USA Today
"Brilliant, because it is ambitious, inventive, and often surprising -- a contemporary reworking of Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,'' with a deep bow toward Tim Burton's 2010 film version." --The Boston Globe
"It's a deft, complex metamorphosis of this children's fantasy made more enticing by competing romantic interests, a psychedelic setting, and more mad violence than its original." --Booklist
" Protagonist Alyssa...is an original. Howard's visual imagination is superior. The story's creepiness is intriguing as horror, and its hypnotic tone and setting, at the intersection of madness and creativity, should sweep readers down the rabbit hole." --Publishers Weekly
"While readers will delight in such recognizable scenes as Alyssa drinking from a bottle to shrink, the richly detailed scenes that stray from the original will entice the imagination. These adventures are indeed wonderful." --BookPage
"Attention to costume and setting render this a visually rich read..." --Kirkus Reviews
"Wonderland is filled with much that is not as wonderful as might be expected, and yet, it is in Wonderland that Alyssa accepts her true nature. The cover with its swirling tendrils and insects surrounding Alyssa will surely attract teen readers who will not disappointed with this magical, edgy tale." --Reading Today Online
"Creepy, descriptive read with a generous dollop of romance." --School Library Journal
Award: YALSA's 2014 Teens' Top Ten
Review
Rereading this book, I gave it a higher rating than the First time I listened to it as an audiobook when I gave it a 3 star rating because I kept losing the story’s details. So I think this one was a much better fit to read in a physical format as I gave it five stars this time around, and my review is much more positive. I do believe that stories sometimes fit better in our lives than do at other times.
Splintered is a dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Alyssa is a descendent of the original Alice Liddel, the inspiration for Lews Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland. The woman cursed with a madness that allows them to hear bugs talking, forcing her mother to be institutionalized. Alyssa has a love interest named Jeb, who I think this book could have done without a very nice guy. In a desperate attempt to save her mom Alyssa is determined to find Wonderland, and of course, Jeb accidentally gets taken along for the ride.
The trip to Wonderland is just as twisted in someways as the original and was deliciously dark and creepy. I thoroughly enjoyed Wonderland’s journey, and I can not wait to see what unfolds in the rest of this series.
“Sometimes a flame must level a forest to ash before new growth can begin. I believe Wonderland needed a scouring”. Check out my review of Splintered by @aghowardwrites the first book in the Splintered Series Click To Tweet
About A.G. Howard
A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. She always wondered what would’ve happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child.
When she’s not writing, A.G.’s pastimes are reading, rollerblading, gardening, and family vacations which often include impromptu side trips to 18th century graveyards or condemned schoolhouses to appease her overactive muse.
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