Review of Splintered by A.G. Howard

I originally bought Splintered by A.G. Howard about two months ago but didn't read it because of all the other books on my TBR list. After two months I finally reached Splintered on my list and started reading it, I finished it yesterday and I hate myself for holding off on it for so long. The writing in the book was gorgeous and the story was compelling with an unexpected twist at the end. I really felt like I knew the characters in real life and found myself stuck between rooting for Jeb or Morpheus when they were competing for Alyssa's attention. Furthermore it was the first Alice in Wonderland retelling I've read and I'm convinced that no other retelling can beat it.

Splintered's main character is Alyssa Gardner who is a descendant of Alice Liddell who was the inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Her family has a curse stretching back to Alice Liddell, in fact Alyssa's mother is in a mental hospital and Alyssa herself can hear bugs and plants talk though she tries to hide it. When her mother's mental condition becomes worse Alyssa finds out that her mother can hear the same things she can and that Wonderland is real after all. She is determined to break the family curse and goes to Wonderland, unfortunately she mistakenly drags along Jeb who she has known for years and has a secret crush on. Alyssa finds out that Wonderland is a much darker and twisted place than in the stories and is faced with a series of tests that she has to pass. The tests include daunting challenges like draining an ocean of Alice's tears, waking up a sleeping tea party, and facing the dangerous bandersnatch. She is helped along the way by her childhood friend Morpheus whom she had forgotten but piece by piece remembers. In the end Alyssa has to pick who to trust and finds out the shocking truth about Wonderland and what really happened when the original Alice went to Wonderland.

4.9/5 - I'd say that the only bad part about Splintered was that it was too short for me and I wanted to keep on reading after the book finished. Thankfully, its sequel Unhinged is out and I will be buying that as soon as I can and reading it.

Most importantly, Splintered is a crazy and amazing retelling of Alice in Wonderland that everyone alive should read and will regret if they don't read it.