I am so excited for this book, you guys! A. G. Howard hasbeen one of my dearest writer friends ever since I met her in the blogospherethe first time I started blogging, which was in April 2011. Almost 2 years ago!Imagine that! Before Splintered came out, heck, before Amulet bought it, I wasalready sure that Ms. Howard was going to blow our minds away with her literaryprowess. And I’m glad to have been proven right!
When her mother’smental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thoughtwas fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place fardarker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must passa series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking theslumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’smistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, hergorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, herguide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.
About the Author:
A.G. Howard is most at home when weaving the melancholy andmacabre into settings and scenes, twisting the expected into the unexpected.She was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. Shealways wondered what would’ve happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice’sAdventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker andfunkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories thatwon her heart as a child.
You can find her online at her website, blog, and on Twitter (@aghowardwrites).
Splintered is awonderfully macabre reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s version of Wonderland. Whilethe world of Wonderland is taken on a new spin with darker settings and TimBurton-esque creatures, I feel like the original sense of charm and adventurethat is inherent in Carroll’s Alice inWonderland is still very much present in this book.
Alyssa Gardner’s biggest fear is to end up like her mother:a resident of Soul’s Asylum with talking bugs and flowers for company. But alltoo soon, Alyssa finds herself hearing the bugs and flowers talk. The curse ofmadness that has plagued the women in her family for generations is inescapable—unlessshe goes down the rabbit hole to right the wrongs her great-great-grandmotherAlice Lidell, the original Alice, hadcaused in Wonderland. While Alyssa’s personal motivation is to keep herselffrom going insane, she’s also determined to save her mother from a life ofstraitjackets and electroshock treatments. There is also history between motherand daughter that has shaped their present-day relationship into somethingunnatural and guarded. For one thing, Alyssa refers to her mother by her name,instead of calling her “mom”. But despite their fractured relationship, Alyssa’slove for her mother drives her to find a way to get to Wonderland and sort outthe curse once and for all. I feel like this is the core and heart of the story—thatjust as much as Alyssa needed to correct Alice’s mistakes, she also needed tofix her connection to her mother.
We also have two swoon-worthy love interests: Jeb, thelongtime best friend; and Morpheus, a denizen of Wonderland who was a part ofAlyssa’s childhood. While Jeb insists on being Alyssa’s protective knight,Morpheus endeavors to bring Alyssa to her full potential, even to the point ofmadness. I thought both characters were good foils for each other, and theirreactions to Alyssa were, for the most part, entertaining. J
Wonderland is not what we’ve thought it to be. Ms. Howard’svivid imagination and sensorial prose has brought to life a truly cinematic visionof a world that’s filled with strangeness, madness, and beauty, offering us apeek into the darker side of ourselves.
Splintered has a little something for everyone: romance,adventure, mystery, and plot twists to keep you up on your toes.
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