Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Splintered (Splintered, #1)
by A.G. Howard
Published: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Amulet Books
Available: Amazon

Synopsis:
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:
Wow!! That about sums it up for me. For some reason after I received a galley copy of Splintered I stalled on reading this book, but once I started I couldn't put it down.

Howard has an amazing way with words, that pulled me into the story immediately. The characters, the setting, the romance, and the adventure were all exquisitely done. Am I gushing? I think so, but I also think it is deserved.

Alyssa is a skater girl with a crush on the boy next door, who just happens to be dating her nemesis. But Howard doesn't fall into the easy trap of stereotypes. Alyssa is weird, artsy, and likeable. Jeb is hot, nice, and the kind of guy I would have crushed on when I was younger. The connection between the two of them is evident immediately and there were so many points during the book where the interactions between them were heart wrenching. When Morpheus is added to the mix, Howard managed to create an intriguing love triangle that contributed to the story instead of taking over.

I read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a few years ago and it didn't capture my interest. I had a hard time visualizing a lot of what the world looked like. Maybe that's why it took me so long to read this. Having seen the movie after as well as a theater production of it after I did at least appreciate the finer points. While reading Splintered a lot of little pieces clicked with me and I loved how I was able to connect it back to Lewis's work. Do you need to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to follow Splintered? No. But it wouldn't hurt.

As of right now this is my top read this year. I absolutely can't wait to read the next book in the series!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Wow. I'm not sure what else to say. Wow, this is a classic? Wow, this actually got published? I in no way, consider myself a literary connoisseur, but seriously? How could I have gone three decades not knowing what a mess this book is? The story rambles endlessly in areas and those moments that are synonymous with Alice in Wonderland are barely there. As I read this aloud to my students I was floored to realize how boring it truly is. Oh, I understand that story was probably never meant to be read by children (what with all of the drug references - which by the way I did skim over for the sake of my students and my job) but if I had been reading it on my own I probably would have closed it long before I reached the Mad Hatter.

Perhaps my expectations were to high, based not on the work as a literary masterpiece but on the cartoon movie I watched countless times as a child, or on the brilliantly designed trailers for the Johnny Depp version. But as I turned the last page I couldn't help be feel that the children's theatre version I watched last week was more enjoyable than the book.

My verdict:

A for concept, D for excecution