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 the Splintered 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 JournalAward: YALSA’s 2014 Teens’ Top Ten
Meet Alyssa Gardner, soon-to-be high school senior and the narrator of the strange tale that is Splintered. Her hobbies include skateboarding, eating ice cream with her father, and creating mosaics out of dead bugs to keep them from talking to her. A very well rounded teenager, except for the whole family curse thing. Alyssa is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Alice Liddell, as in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. All of the women before her have ended up in asylums, and Alyssa is determined not to. She's going to break the curse, and the only way to do that is to go where it all began: Wonderland.
Wonderland is awesome! It's much darker, eerier, and generally stranger than the original. The differences are explained away by saying that Alice was either too young to understand what she was seeing and projected familiar things onto the strange Wonderland creatures, or she blocked out the scarier parts. Both of which make perfect sense. Whatever the reason, the author has created the most fantastic Wonderland in existence! I could not get enough of this world! The best word to describe it is vivid. I could easily picture everything!
In addition to an amazing world, the plot was also fantastic! It's one huge adventure as Alyssa and Jeb navigate their way around Wonderland. Alyssa thinks she's just undoing all of the havoc that Alice caused during her trip, but maybe she's doing something much grander? It's hard to tell since she can't really trust her guide, Morpheus. He's super hott, but also ridiculously evasive of Alyssa's questions. I loved him, but I didn't trust him.
Without a doubt, Splintered is going to be on my list of favorites of the year (the cover is gorgeous, too)! It's magical, exciting, and romantic! Of course, there's a romance, and boy oh boy is there one majorly steamy kiss! Wow! This book has all of the things make me fall in love with books. I knew I would love it from the very first line. It has an utter strangeness that I adore, without crossing into cheesy territory. Splintered is a wild ride that you will not want to end!
