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December 21, 2012

Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Splintered

Title: Splintered 
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication date: January 1, 2013
Genre(s): Young Adult (Paranormal/Retelling)
Source: Publiher
Format: ARC
Pages: 384
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.
I've never had a good run when it comes to retellings. I've read a couple retellings of literary works, such as Jane Austen's books, and I've never really been that impressed. However when I picked up Splintered and read the synopsis, I was instantly enchanted. Yes, enchanted. I am not a big fan of Alice in Wonderland but A. G. Howard went all out on the creativity and trying to make it her own, and that she did. Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I couldn't get past the amount of details and characters so it wasn't that great of a read. 
I have to admit, Splintered started off great. A curse that is hereditary and a girl who is afraid she's next in line to the psych ward where her mother is at. Alyssa just turned 16, and from her mother's blabbers, the curse is activated then. She only started believing in her mother's hysteric ramblings when she started hearing voices, ones belonging to insects! That was when she started doing some digging. I loved how the premise was laid out and I also liked the brotherly figure that Jeb, her friend, took up. Also, what was original was that Alyssa is Alice's great granddaughter! However everything went downhill with the introduction of Morpheus. I automatically hated him. He was a pompous, over confident, sleazy jerk in my books. I didn't like how manipulative he was and how Alyssa somehow couldn't resist and stay away from him. 
As soon as Alyssa went down the rabbit hole, my interest went downhill with it. I grew tired and restless trying to keep up with all the characters as well as the details in the book. I feel like people who are fanatics of Alice in Wonderland wouldn't have a problem keeping up, but like I mentioned above, it wasn't one of my favorite fairytales and my memory of the story is almost nonexistent. I also didn't like how trusting Alyssa was of Morpheus. Even though he tricked her multiple times, she still wanted to see the good side of him. 
I really struggled with this novel and ended up skipping detailed paragraphs trying to reach the ending. I was also so confused with what went down in the end but I didn't have it in me to go back and reread and try to get it. In other words, I felt like I've spent too much time on this novel already and it was time to close that chapter. Needless to say, many bloggers that I trust in their bookish opinions have absolutely adored and loved this one. Which is why I'm chalking it up to another freak thing where I am the only one who didn't like a book between all the ones that did. Be sure to check it out and give it a try, I am sure you'll enjoy it way more than I did. 

12 comments:

  1. Aww, Juhina! It's okay that you didn't like this book. My familiarity with Alice in Wonderland isn't very strong either, so I'm not positive that I'll enjoy this book. A.C.'s creativity seems fabulous though. I'm sorry Morpheus totally didn't work out for you. Thanks for being honest, and great review!

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  2. i loved it . i gave it 4.5 but thanks for being honest, and great review!
    maybe fairy tales aren't you thing

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  3. This is the first time I've come across a review of someone who didn't like Splintered and honestly, I was getting a little worried here. I really like re-tellings and while I'm not a big fan of Alice in Wonderland, I'd surely give this book a read to see what it's all about!

    Still a great review, Juhina!

    Sana @ artsy musings of a bibliophile

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  4. Such a shame you didn't enjoy this! I've never read a re-telling and I'm probably going to skip this one. Morpheus sounds like a real jerk... I hate when the girl falls for someone completely horrible - I mean, come on... what happened to girl power?! Books which bore you so much that you skip detailed paragraphs don't really bode well for me so I'll be giving this a miss.

    Thanks for the great, honest review, Juhina!

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  5. You aren't the only one who didn't like this. I have been seeing a lot of mixed reviews. Though I have skimmed them all since I am reading this soon and I don't like to read too many reviews right before I read a book. I am hoping that I like it.

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  6. Aww, I'm sorry you didn't like it. Honestly, I didn't consider reading this book, but since you liked the beginning of it, I might try it. Although I'm hating Morpheus already- there's only so much you can trust a person! Er thing. Whatever.

    Anyway, great review!

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  7. I'm sorry that you this book wasn't for you. I've been really interested in reading this book because I loved Scarlet by A.G. Howard. Morpheus sounds so irritating, it's totally understandable why you hated him. Hopefully your next read will be way better!

    -Angie @YA Novelties

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  8. I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you! I'm sure that I will love this book, since I'm a huge fan of fairytales and retellings :) and I really like Alice in Wonderland! I'm actually DYING to get my hands on this book. I need it so badly! Damn international thing, I want an ARC too :P Despite the negative tone, good review :)

    Mel@thedailyprophecy.

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  9. I'm sorry to hear that this book didn't work out for out! I was (am) still enchanted to read it. Like you I haven't been impressed by retellings but this one sounds amazing! I just hope I won't end up disappointed. Thanks for the review thought, my expectations are little lower now :)

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  10. Sorry this didn't work out for you Juhina, I haven't had much luck with retellings either, but I did have high hopes for this one :( I hope your next read is a lot more enjoyable! :)

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  11. So sorry to hear that you don't like this book. :/
    Too bad it has a beautiful cover.

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  12. I've been hearing so much about this book lately and so many people have been raving about it. So glad to hear your honest opinion. I still haven't decided if I'm going to give this book a try or not (Been indecisive for about a month).

    Janina @ Synchronized Reading

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