Splintered

What I Loved:

Okay, I admit it. I'm a sucker for well-done fairy-tale creepiness, and SPLINTERED certainly delivers. It's atmospheric, incredibly vivid, and full of whimsical madness. It's also full of courage, swoony times, and heart. Basically, if Lewis Carroll, Tim Burton, & Stephanie Perkins had a book baby, it would be SPLINTERED.

For me to fall head over heels for a book, I have to feel connected to the main character. I felt a strong connection to Alyssa from the very first page. She's damaged, haunted, and yet still hopeful. I can relate to that. I loved that she'd embraced her darker quirks even while she was terrified that they would land her in an asylum just like her mother. I also really loved that she was grounded with a close relationship with her father and two best friends living next door.

Now, let's talk about the romance. Spoiler alert: there's a love triangle. Sort of. I know some readers will look at Morpheus, Alyssa, and Jeb and see nothing but an obvious love triangle, but for me it was something different. I saw a girl torn between the boy she grew up with in dreams (and who is a master at manipulating her emotions!) and the boy who grew up next door. It made sense to me that Alyssa would take nearly the entire book to figure out how to stop being manipulated and how to demand respect for her opinions and choices from the boy in her dreams. I also kind of cringed at the boy-next-door dating Alyssa's arch enemy, but I felt the author did a good job of showing us right from the start that Taelor wasn't a typical mean girl, and that she and Alyssa had more in common that either of them wanted to admit. I loved the swoony moments, I enjoyed that Alyssa had the emotional dregs of her childhood love to contend with as a near-woman, and at one point near the end, I got teary-eyed.

The plot was fabulous. I absolutely loved this take on Lewis Carroll's book. This is an authentic nod to the original story (more than a nod, really) while still firmly being Ms. Howard's unique creation. Basically, she took the history of Alice in Wonderland and deepened it, explored what might have been, and gave life to what happened to Alice and her family after she'd gone down the rabbit hole. I never once thought to myself "that couldn't have happened" or "that doesn't make sense." I loved all the twists and turns, loved that the characters were all so deeply driven, and loved the ending.

Finally, the setting. Wow. Just ... wow. I love a creepy, twisted world, and that's exactly what I got. It's Wonderland and then some. Decadent, fascinating, and terribly dangerous, Howard's Wonderland had me glued to the page the entire time. Such a visual banquet! The author didn't pull any punches. So well done.

What Left Me Wanting More:

There are no perfect books, that's true, but this one was a perfect-for-me book. I so loved stepping out of my world and into this Wonderland for the duration of the story. Reading it was a treat.

Final Verdict:

SPLINTERED is a creepy, fascinating fairy tale full of beauty, terror, and heart. I highly recommend it.

Much as I love retellings, I have been burned, and badly, in the past. In fact, the latest gross disappointment was a purported retelling of Alice in Wonderland, which turned out to have nothing whatsoever to do with Alice in Wonderland. With this background, I embarked, somewhat skeptical but still hopeful. Splintered did not quite achieve what I dreamed it would, but it's a fun read that's not just pretending to be inspired by a classic to sell more copies.

A. G. Howard's debut brims with all of the kookiness of the original source material and adds in the creepiness of Tim Burton. Do not doubt, though, that Howard put her own spin on the story, because she very much did. She has not merely repeated Alice in Wonderland with an older heroine, sexy times and modern language; she has made something clearly her own out of Carroll's story. Reading this book, there is absolutely no doubt that Howard spent a lot of time reading Carroll's books, coming up with awesome ways to tweak and react to his books. This one is the real deal.

In fact, the world building is where Splintered really shines. Her vision strikes me as gloriously cinematic and true in essence to the original, though with a darker flair. Her changes were largely well-explained, and made the transition to an older heroine and audience completely smooth. Tim Burton could make one heck of a movie out of this, I have no doubt. Several scenes have a major creep-factor, most especially the one with the children's toys and how they're used in Wonderland. *shudders*

Howard's writing dovetailed with the story perfectly. I liked her style from the very beginning. She describes landscapes wonderfully, such that even a not-very-visual reader like myself had a pretty nice picture of Wonderland. I also credit Howard with being able to handle the nonsense, which requires a lot of skill.

At the beginning of Splintered, we meet Alyssa, who has evidently inherited the insanity that runs in the women of her family going back to Alice Liddell (the girl Alice in Wonderland was written for). She can hear bugs speak. To silence them, Alyssa kills them. Waste not, want not, so she makes art out of them. You guys should know that I freaking hate/am petrified of bugs, but her artwork sounds incredibly cool and I almost want to see it.

Artwork aside, though, I had a really difficult time connection to Alyssa...or any of the characters really. The biggest problem was the romance, a love triangle so obnoxious that I simply could not approve of any of the people involved in it. For a little background, though, we start out with Alyssa and her best friend, Jeb, who she has been in 'love' with for ages. He, for some reason, is dating Taelor, the mean, shallow, popular girl from school, who loves to make fun of Alyssa. Instead of doing the wise thing and getting over Jeb, because who wants a guy who would date someone who treats his best friend like dirt, Alyssa acts petty and jealous, and also commits theft. We're off to a great start.

As the story really gets going (and I will spare you concrete details), we meet the third party in this love triangle: Morpheus. My blogger friend KM warned me that I probably would loathe Morpheus, and she was right. Morpheus is manipulative and awful, completely sapping Alyssa of free will, because he is apparently made of catnip or something. Also, he's the kind of guy who wears leather pants, which is a surefire sign that he's not a nice guy. If that wasn't enough, he has blue hair and wings.

Actually, though, I liked Morpheus MORE than Jeb. See, Jeb has a girlfriend but continues to flirt with Alyssa. You know what's not cool at all? Cheating. Morpheus is undoubtedly more of a stereotypical bad guy, BUT he knows this about himself. Alyssa and Jeb regularly forget that Jeb even has a girlfriend, which I find utterly reprehensible.

Even worse, this love triangle indulges in the worst possible love triangle trope: true love. Throughout the book, Howard tries to maintain the sense that Alyssa loves both and is hopelessly attracted to both. I don't hate love triangles on principle, because, in real life, people don't always know who they want. However, I lose all respect for heroines or heroes who try to get away with cheating or leading people on by pretending that they have equal affection for both. Authors, if you try to make me believe that your heroine is in LURV with two guys at the same time, the end result will be me wanting to light all three of them on fire, especially when the heroine describes BOTH guys as angels during the course of the book.. Just saying.

Splintered could have benefited with a good bit less romance. I really don't feel romance was all that necessary, really. Despite that, Splintered proved quite enjoyable, and I'm very glad to have read it for its unique spin on Alice in Wonderland.