Splintered: Splintered Book One Author: Visit Amazon's A. G. Howard Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1419704281 | Format: PDF
Splintered: Splintered Book One Description
From School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up-This darker, modern update of Alice in Wonderland is more likely to please fans of Tim Burton's film adaptation than those of Lewis Carroll's novel. Alyssa, 16, is a descendant of Alice Liddell, the girl who was Carroll's inspiration for Alice. Her mother lives in a mental institution, and she herself struggles with hearing voices from insects and flowers. Do the women in her family suffer from a curse that can somehow be traced back to the original Alice? The opening chapters drag a bit, but the action picks up when Alyssa finds herself in Wonderland, fighting for her survival-and for her mother's sanity. Howard maintains a lush atmosphere throughout, reintroducing Carroll's characters as truly nightmarish monsters. Though Alyssa's ongoing quests can sometimes seem aimless and the requisite love triangle forced, teens looking for a creepy, descriptive read with a generous dollop of romance will gravitate toward this title.-Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library, WAα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
From Booklist
YA authors have used fairy tales and fantasy as a backdrop for contemporary stories for decades, and first-time author Howard is no exception. Relying on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland as the infrastructure, as well as Tim Burton’s fantastical movie landscapes for inspiration, Howard crafts a teenage skater girl, Alyssa Gardner, who feels compelled to throw herself down the rabbit hole in an attempt to cure her mother’s madness and quiet the ever-increasing chatter in her own head. But Alyssa does not make this journey alone. Childhood friend Jeb enters Wonderland with her, a constant grounding to the real world as they encounter Morpheus (who sports a hookah), Rabid White, Chessie, the Red and Ivory Queens, and other iterations of Carroll’s familiar characters. It’s a deft, complex metamorphosis of this children’s fantasy made more enticing by competing romantic interests, a psychedelic setting, and more mad violence than its original. With one test after another that she must pass, Alyssa soon learns that the only person she can rely on is herself. Grades 8-12. --Frances Bradburn
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- Series: Splintered
- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (January 1, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1419704281
- ISBN-13: 978-1419704284
- Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
~Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!~
I liked basically every Disney movie as a kid. Every one, that is, except for Alice in Wonderland. When the new fad became Alice retellings, I rolled my eyes and said, "There's no way this goes well." I still requested Splintered anyways.
Then I finally started reading.
Alyssa isn't supposed to be Alice. Alice went and came back from Wonderland ages ago, and now her family has to deal with the notoriety of that fact--and the fact that all the women in her family since Alice had ended up locked away in asylums, if they didn't kill themselves first. Alyssa's mother has been committed for a great deal of Alyssa's life, and Alyssa herself has just started hearing the voices of plants and bugs. She's pretty sure she's going to follow her mom shortly. She tries to make the voices stop by turning bugs into artwork and skateboarding with her iPod turned up. The other voice, the familiar and male one, that's in her head all the time like a second consciousness isn't helping matters, though.
And that is just the beginning.
Now, you may be able to understand how much I was drooling by this point already. This isn't the Alice story of your childhood, people. Even when Alyssa gets to Wonderland, Howard turns all your preconceptions on your head. For just a teaser, you know the White Rabbit? Well, Alice messed up his name. He's actually called White Rabid, and he's partially a skeleton. You cannot tell me that isn't an awesome way to go. You can't.
I wish I could explain more of the twists, but then there would be spoilers and oh dear. But just know they're SO AWESOME.
Besides all the things Howard has done to the world, I was also impressed by how layered the plot was.
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales
Quick & Dirty: Beautiful, epic retelling of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, and it is amazing!
Opening Sentence: I've been collecting bugs since I was ten; it's the only way I can stop their whispers,
The Review:
Alyssa Gardner is a 17 year old girl and her life has never really been normal. When she was 5 years old there was an accident, where her mother ended up hurting her. Her mother ended up in an asylum for the mentally disturbed. When Alyssa was in the 5th grade she had her first period and she started to hear bugs and plants talk. Turns out Alyssa's great-great-great grandmother is the girl that inspired Lewis Carroll to write the classic story of Alice in Wonderland. Well it's not just a story, Alice actually did visit Wonderland and while she was there she disturbed the balance of things. Because the balance was never restored there was a curse placed upon all the females in Alice's family. All of the female descendents have ended up going crazy at some point in their life. The only way for Alyssa to have a normal life and to save her mother from electric shock treatments is to break the curse. So down the white rabbit hole and on to Wonderland she must go.
Alyssa is a girl with a lot of spunk and style. She likes to skate and she loves to paint. She has always been a little different, but she deals great with what she has been given in life. She was a really easy character to connect with and I totally loved her. Once she enters into Wonderland you get to see her transform into this strong, capable woman that goes after what she wants. She doesn't end up going to Wonderland alone her neighbor and best friend Jeb accidentally comes with her.
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