Splintered (Book Review)

Splintered
A. G. Howard

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:

After reading dozens of rave reviews about this book, I absolutely had to try it out myself.
Splintered is a twisted take on the classic Alice in Wonderland. I haven't read Alice in Wonderland, but reading this sort of made me want to!

Characters.........
4/5 for deep characters.
3/5 for relatable characters.

The heroine/main character of the book Alyssa is a descendant of Alice Liddell the one who "supposedly" gave Lewis Carroll his story of Alice in Wonderland. Alice's women descendants have unique ability's.
Ever since she was a little girl, Alyssa has been visiting her mother in a psych ward.
Alyssa is a unique main character. But in my case, I wish that I had connected more with her. She was a great MC. I just never felt connected. Other than that, I loved Alyssa! She was sweet, her love for her Mom endured through all of their troubles.
Jeb the guy of the book was a great character, but not one of my favorites. I never felt that he loved Alyssa as much as she deserved. But I do have faith in him getting better in Unhinged. I still loved his character......
All of the other characters were so unique and fun to read about!

Plot...........
5/5 for UNIQUNESS!
4/5 for easiness of following.

The plot in this was absolutely UNIQUE! I loved it!
Other than the fact that this is a sort of "retelling" there was so much uniqueness to the plot of this book!
The plot was fast paced.....but always took the time to explain things. I never felt confused of frustrated with the plot.......
The story line is a bit darker than your typical YA book, but not to the point of becoming depressing.

Loved the uniqueness of this book.....I wasn't absolutely crazy about Jeb, but I still liked him. And I liked Alyssa.
The plot of this book is fast paced and exciting (I read it in one sitting).
If you like retellings (or even if you normally don't) I would pick this one up!
4/5

Do you like retellings? Have you read this one yet? What did you think? Have you read Alice In Wonderland?