Splintered by A. G. Howard Narrator: Rebecca Gibel
Series: Splintered #1
Published by Abrams on 2013-01-15
Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
Genres: Adaptations, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Fantasy & Magic, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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.
Julie’s Review:
Splintered is kind of hard for me to review because I both found it unique and exciting, but at times a little overwhelming. Maybe that’s why I only rated it 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the premise and thought the idea to have the modern day retelling be centered around the descendants of Alice Liddell to be really clever. I also liked how the book kept you guessing about who to trust and what the true story really was. I liked the characters quite a bit. Alyssa, who always thought her family had a history of mental illness, who goes on her quest to help save her mother. Jeb, who goes above and beyond to help Alyssa. And then there’s Morpheus. He definitely does everything to help Alyssa on her quest, but the whole time leaves you wondering whether he has ulterior motives. The characters are likeable and interesting. I also liked how the story wrapped up nicely and left me wondering what happens next since this is a trilogy. I like when books in a trilogy do not end in a massive cliffy.
What I think gave me trouble and what I called overwhelming were all the things that happened in Wonderland. Some of it was cool, and I enjoyed seeing the Alice story in a new light. But while the Alice story can get a bit weird and a little boring at times, this plot line had similar issues for me. Some of the trials that Alyssa went through were just eye rollingly weird to me. I can only handle so much before my attention starts to wander. Then there’s a potential plot hole that kind of bugged me. Alyssa goes through a lot of trials to prove herself, and each trial fulfills a prophesy. Well there is one specific prophesy that was fulfilled with the help of a friend, and without going into details and giving anything away, when Alyssa makes a wish to help save her friend, she still ends up in the same place with all the tests passed. But that one specific prophesy should not be possible to pass by herself, so um, it was either not explained well, or that’s a plot hole. Also, I’m just not a fan of this particular audio narrator. Her voice just kind of grates on my nerves.
So, overall, it is an interesting story, but I had some issues with some plot points.
[…] I seem to be the black sheep in that opinion. I have mixed feelings about Dorothy Must Die and Splintered. Destined was alright, but I wanted more from a Psyche retelling. I actually DNF’d Rumpel. […]
[…] Splintered by A.G. Howard […]
Oh, Julie. You hit the nail on the head for me with, “the Alice story can get a bit weird and a little boring at times.” BRAVO. I’ve been struggling for YEARS to come up with a good way of describing how I feel about Alice–weird and boring, LOL. But despite that, I still got this book. I want to like Alice, so I keep hoping that this one will finally get me to, but my hope is equal to my reluctance, so here we are a year and a half later, and I still haven’t read it. One day . . . 😉 Fabulous review!
Jessica @ Rabid Reads recently posted…Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
*takes a bow*
Seriously though I love the elements of the Alice story, but after reading it as an adult, and watching the Disney movie (which was one of my faves) as an adult, it comes across as creepyfied and at times is a yawn fest. But, still, take little pieces out and stick them anywhere as a reference, and it is super cool. This is definitely not a one sitting kind of book but I think if you take it a bit at a time and enjoy the weirdness that is the Aliceverse, you might enjoy it too. I listened to it wayy to quickly and that might be why I was overwhelmed with it all.
Hmmm – I actually have this audiobook on my list to read this summer. It seems like everyone has raved about this series and that always scares me – like I’m setting myself up to not like it. So I’m kinda glad to see a review that lowers my expectations just a bit lol! I have my fingers crossed that the narrator won’t bother me though, that would be a bummer. Great review Julie 🙂
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Thanks 🙂 It is the same narrators as Of Poseidon and Uninvited and many others. I just happen to not like the um texture? of her voice lol.
I still need to read this book, looking forward to it though. Nice review.
Emma recently posted…ARC Review: Frost Hollow Hall
I’d be curious to see what you think of it when you get around to reading it 🙂
I enjoyed this book, but the love triangle aspect really irked me. I ended up giving it a 4 star rating. However, I LOVED the next book, Unhinged, and gave it 5 stars 🙂 Can’t wait for the last book in the trilogy to be released!
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I am curious about the next book since this one wrapped up so nicely. Glad to hear you thought it was so much better. I’ll have to get around to it soon.
Nice review, Julie. I’m glad there were things about Splintered you enjoyed. I can understand what you’re saying about the plot and the ‘too much’ going on. This is a book I’ve meant to pick up (love the cover & premise) but for whatever reason, I haven’t yet. I think I’ll still give it a try but it’s good to know I may have some trouble with the ‘weird’. 🙂
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The covers of these books deserve to be wall art heh.