Splintered (Splintered, #1)

by A. G. Howard

[layawaydragon]

Content Warning: Mental Illness, Abuse, Rape-y Moment,

The Good:
+Creepy Wonderland (McGee's Alice is still the best tho)
+Alyssa comes through in the end
+Wrapped up and concluded like a stand alone
+Like Morpheus despite his flaws. Felt authentic and perfect for Wonderland
+Cover LOVE!
+Liked the way the main plot is wrapped up
+Liked the writing
+Liked the twist with the Queens, esp. Red. Didn't see that one coming exactly.
+Understand Alyssa's attraction to Morpheus

The Bad & Other:
-Didn't care for Alyssa's wardrobe descriptions. IDC. And “dread like braids”? White girl, please!
-Jeb's an asshole. Alyssa and Taelor should've called him out on so much more.
-Taelor's depiction and being the Whore to Alyssa's Virgin. I felt so bad for her, she gets a bad wrap. She's not any worse than the others, but she's “the bitch”. And she got used and screwed over. And they should be thankful for her gift!
-Rape-y moment when Alyssa's on a mind-altering drug in Wonderland
-Alyssa and Jeb get away with and defend their good intentions when it hurts other people and are the “good guys” but don't give others the same treatment.
-Ugh, the “moment” between Alyssa and Taelor at the end.
-Convenient plot mechanics.
-Frustrating dense moments

I won a gorgeous hardcover of Splintered years ago, though now I can't find the record of from who. Seriously, not just the cover the but the chapter beginnings too and the little details like the page numbers. But I do have the email where I won a signed book plate of it from Cah Reviews.

I fell in love with Splintered's cover. Hearing it was a creepy, modern day re-telling of Alice in Wonderland sounded cool and a novel like American McGee's Alice sounded too good to be true. The love triangle made me go “noooooo” though.

I finally pulled it off the shelf last night and started reading. I was hooked in quick though Alyssa came off as trying to hard with her alternative, edgy clothes. I just went “eh, don't care” and moved on. It was hard picturing her in her main get-up and I quit trying. Of course, I don't give a fuck about fashion so YMMV.

Sadly, I stopped with less than 100 pages left and when I went back to read it the next day it lost a lot of its magic. I'd recommend reading it at a stretch if possible or just not thinking about it while reading. The more I thought about it, the more I didn't like it, which is why this review has a lot of negative but still a 3.5 stars. It was entertaining and it held me despite its flaws but it was held back from 4 stars because of those issues.

Characters:

Alyssa had me with hearing the bugs and plants. Her fashion sense came off as a defense mechanism rather than organic at first. Then I just didn't care. Several things happen because she's dense and stupid, which is frustrating. Otherwise, she's the perfect goth princess. Her relationship with her father and mother were heartbreaking and felt right.

Then there's Jeb, who really came off as an asshole. He tries dominating and controlling her from the jump and doesn't quit til way late. It's beyond looking out for her, it's condescending and a red flag. Determining her life with her father?!?! And the virginity remark! GRRRR. Fuck that purity nonsense. Not to mention his asshole behavior towards Taelor. (God, that's such a white suburban name/spelling.)

Taelor was the bitchy ice queen slut, at total odds with our precious Alyssa. She really got screwed by Jeb though Alyssa sticks up for him. Does he stick up for her with Taelor? No. Does he try to help Taelor? No, he just uses her and discards her after they planned their collage future together. But oh, poor Jeb!! Blech.

I felt so bad for Taelor. Her dad's an ass and she has issues so she lashes out in understandably wrong ways. But no worries, Alyssa saves the day and gets through to her! Bleh. She's jealous and insecure for a fucking reason and was right about it all. Then has precious princess rub it in like it's all her fault.

Um, no even if Taelor was perfect, it'd end the same way. She's not the fucking problem. Jeb is and he just made her issues worse. She deserves better and I hope she get is in the next books, if she appears.

But the dichotomy between Taelor and Alyssa is crystal clear and disturbing in a bad way. Of course she's “bad”, she has to be for the drama and for it to be justified with Alyssa getting her way. Alyssa doesn't need to be fucking perfect. It'd be fucking better if this whole mess was different but at least have some common sense and decency!

I'm surprised I liked Morpheus so much. He's creepy and manipulative but there's never any doubt of that. At least, not for people with a brain. Alyssa takes awhile. He has a plan and executes it brilliantly. He's fucked up and lied A LOT but he felt authentic. He's how Wonderland's supposed to be.

I mean there's royalty, high courts, free beasts, and it's playing out on a chess board. He's morally gray and doesn't apologize for it. He defends his actions though he's sorry it hurt Alyssa, he'd do it all over again. It was refreshing with Alyssa, the confused and naive special snowflake and Jeb, was defended for being an ass and so “wounded” all the time.

His remark on curing Alyssa's affliction was creepy and rape-y. She was under the influence of a drug. At this point, Jeb acted right but for the wrong, creepy, “purity” reasons. Yet even with crossing the line, I still like him. I suppose I prefer the devil I know over than a fake ass douche. (Jeb gets slightly better later.)

Setting:

I liked the creepy, twisted Wonderland. It definitely wasn't up to par with McGee's Alice but I appreciate what's here and how it intertwined with the original tale. If you haven't played that game or it's sequel, Madness Returns, it's HIGHLY recommended. It does come with a trigger warning for abuse though.





Plot:

Alyssa (and Jeb) missed things that were just frustrating. Like the sponge. And the chessboard references. And her randomly running off like an idiot for no reason?!?!

Alyssa's memory lapses played very well for Morpheus, even though it's supposedly her mother's doing that caused it. The whole thing would've blown up in his face without this. Did he have a back up plan? They also conveniently show up when needed. Meh. The dense moments were far worse for me.

Morpheus really was orchestrating the whole thing with Alyssa falling through it. Until the end, that really worked for her. So it payed off in the end. I do LOVE how it's wrapped up. It felt like a stand alone and it's concluded enough. I was actually a bit miffed to find out it's a trilogy when I went update my Goodreads. Thank fuck no cliffhanger. Now I can pick up the next when I feel in the mood for this kind of story again. That works much better for books with me IMO.

Mental Illness Treatment In The Hospital:

I cannot say if it's realistic or not to have the padded room and straight jacket still. From Googling, it looks like it's still somewhat in practice in the USA, but that's hardly conclusive. I don't know if the depiction is right in Alison's case. It was heartbreaking. Given her mom's actions, I'm not sure how to feel about the treatment. I've never gone that far, neither has anyone I know. It hurts reading it but I can't say if it's right or not.


Have a kitten!

I really hate asshole nurses. That's so cliché and only serves to justify what Alyssa did to her in the end. It wasn't necessary and since Alyssa's got the “doing anything for my mom” thing going on, it'd really prove how far if the nurse didn't “deserve a taste of her own medicine.” Stop giving her a justification for being shitty and just embrace it.


And another