Title: Splintered (Splintered #1)
Author: A.G. Howard
Published by: Amulet Books
Released: 2013
Summary: Ever since Alyssa Gardner's great-great-great grandmother Alice Liddel went to Wonderland, all the women in her family have been cursed. Bugs and flowers talk to Alyssa all the time, but she knows not to talk back to them, she doesn't want to end up in an asylum like her mother. Madness runs in her family and Alyssa is afraid she can't escape it, but what if Alyssa can break the curse? What if she can find a way into Wonderland and fix whatever Alice messed up? Alyssa will do whatever it takes to save those she loves, even if it means entering a world where nothing makes sense.
My Thoughts: I am torn on this one. There were parts I liked, parts that were weird, and parts I got tired of. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. I was into it and excited to see where it was going to go. It all went to crap when Alyssa got to Wonderland. I just felt like I read this book so slowly and wasn't necessarily excited to pick it up. There were interesting bits to it, but I just didn't end up loving it. Because I'm weird and obsessive, I'll probably read the rest of the books in the series, even the novellas, just so I can see what happens and say I gave it a fair shot.
One of my problems I had with the story was the romance. I didn't hate it in the beginning, I could totally buy into Alyssa and Jeb. In fact, I still like Jeb, I think he's a good pick for her. It was once they got to Wonderland that I really began to hate the romance. It just felt kind of unnecessary. There was so much stuff happening in Wonderland and I didn't think it was really the time for them to gaze into each other's eyes, admit their feelings for each other, and kiss passionately. I just felt there was other stuff to do and they picked the wrong place and the wrong time to work out all their relationship issues.
The love triangle, or whatever it was, also got on my nerves. It was another thing that felt so unneeded. Alyssa doesn't even know Morpheus that well. Plus, I don't know if I ever really trusted Morpheus. I just hate when love triangles get added just to increase the tension. So yeah, I was over this love story before it even started.
This book was also just a weird read for me. Wonderland was really strange. It had the feel of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland along with the game of Alice: The Madness Returns. Everything was made as odd as it could be. I also thought there was a lot of jumping around in Wonderland. Alyssa and Jeb were constantly in new places, experiencing stranger and stranger things. It was honestly just too much. A sort of unpleasant sensory overload. I will say that A.G. Howard did a good job of describing this strange place and bringing it to life in the reader's mind, but I think she could have toned down on the weird.
I really wanted to love Splintered. It has a beautiful cover and an interesting premise, but I just couldn't love it. Wonderland was too weird. The love triangle was stupid. The romance just felt out of place and in the way of Alyssa's adventures in Wonderland. I'll probably end up reading the rest of the series because I'm weird. I wish I would have loved this book, but I just didn't.
BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5
Wonderland failed to wow me.
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