Splintered Author: A. G. Howard | Language: English | ISBN:
B008JHQ56Y | Format: EPUB
Splintered Description
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.
- File Size: 1829 KB
- Print Length: 403 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1419704281
- Publisher: Amulet Books (January 16, 2013)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B008JHQ56Y
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,977 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #7
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Fairy Tales & Folklore - #10
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Coming of Age - #24
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban
- #7
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Fairy Tales & Folklore - #10
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Coming of Age - #24
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban
~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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