Review Detail

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.