Splintered [Review]

Stats:
384 pages [Kindle]
Expected to be Published: 1 Jan 2013
ASIN: B008JHQ56Y
Goodreads


Synopsis:
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.


My Thoughts:
Splintered is a perfectly creepy take on Carroll's Alice. In fact, the main character Alyssa Gardner is the great, great, great, great granddaughter of Lewis Carroll's inspiration for Alice, Alice Liddell. Alyssa has grown up being mostly raised by her father and scared of ending up like her mother, who resides at Souls' Asylum. She hears flowers and insects talking to her already, it's only a matter of time before she goes full-blown crazy like her mother. Events unfold until Alyssa finds herself seeking out the rabbit hole to fix all of Alice's mistakes to get rid of the curse on her family that has left her mom in her current state.

I found Howard's take on Alice incredible. She did a beautiful job of world building, as well as, building the backgrounds of many characters. The weaving of the traditional characters into these new, kind of demented, twisted characters was brilliant. I really enjoyed how everything turned out in the end. Alyssa was a very interesting heroine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Publishing for a chance to read this galley.


Previous Review:
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick {here}


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