Review: Ensnared (Splintered #3)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: A. G. Howard
Format: Hardcover (somehow managed to get it three days before release?)
Pages: 384
Rating: 7 out of 10

**Spoiler Alert: This is the third in a series. You can find Splintered Here**

Summary (Thanks Goodreads): After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She's determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world--a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that's gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after?

So: I'm finding myself wishing I had made notes for this book while reading. I am so disorganized. Blah!

Okay...I was super excited for this novel. Like, I found it on the shelf before it was supposed to come out and I attacked it and hugged it and bought it and was prepared to fight if one of the works told me that it was a mistake that it was already on the shelf. I would have taken that poor sucker out man.

I suppose that it was worth the hug, but it would not have been worth an assault charge. The novel was less out a let down then Ruins was but it didn't go exactly where I thought it was going to. 

Yes, I loved the world that Howard painted, as always. The mystery and beauty and pure craziness of the world was what got me into this series in the first place. Howard writes so well that I would jump on any other novels that she might write in the future. There is just something about how the world is spun so that its fascinating and dangerous but so that you still want it.

However, I was a little... I don't know. I guess I didn't mind it too much but it seemed like a little bit of a cop-out. All this build up. Who is it going to be and it ends up just being. All that build up was a little bit for nothing. Still, I have the urge to strangle Morpheus. I have never loved and hated a character so much at once. I guess that was the point of him since Alyssa felt the same way about him. That right there is some pretty freaking awesome character writing, let me tell you. Sadly, the manipulation of Alyssa continues and even with her explaining it all away, I hate him for it.

This series though, people...

Basically: I loved this entire series and wish I could have a really in depth discussion about it with someone but I refuse to give any spoilers. I think that if you like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or books that are a little strange and heavy in the fantasy, this book is for you. Push through the pure weirdness of Splintered. It was rough in the very beginning but you get into it pretty quick and I couldn't put any of them down. I bet you will like it. 

Review: Unhinged (Splintered #2)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: A. G. Howard
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 400 (not enough)
Rating: 10 out of 10 

** Spoiler Alert: This is the second in this series. The review for Splintered is HERE **

Summary (without Goodreads, I'd be Unhinged): Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.

My Thoughts: I was so excited for this novel to come out. When it finally did, I was out of cash and couldn't get it right away. I cannot explain to you how sad I was to be forced to read everyone else's reviews for this novel while I waiting to get it. It was the most heart breaking thing I've ever been through. Just kidding...this novel was the most heart breaking thing I've ever been through.

I love this series. I don't know why. Alyssa is nothing like me. Usually, I fall in love with characters that I can see myself in but this time I love that she's so different. She's unique. I've definitely never read a novel where the main character dresses like she does. I'll admit that my brain can hardly imagine what she really looks like. I guarantee that the author's vision of her is very different than my own. I know I tone her down a lot more than I ever have with a character. I can't help it. Yet, I love her so much still. I feel so bad for her. Her life kind of sucks most of the time. She really can't escape when her stupid ancestors caused. 

Now, as for this love shenanigans...this series just drives me crazy. I love both love interests but I also hate both love interests. Morpheus is the most annoying and amazing character I've ever had the horrible luck to read about. He makes me so mad. I hate him so much. I really do. Sadly, I am also madly in love with him. Can't he just be nice and stop lying and stop plotting and scheming and ruining Alyssa's life. Yet, he also saves her life and pulls out her true self. I'm so conflicted. It's so painful. Like I said, it's the most heart breaking thing ever. Then there is Jeb, he's nice enough. He's smart. He's a good match for Alyssa, except for the fact that she spends a great deal of this novel lying to him because he doesn't remember Wonderland. That is painful too. She can't fully be herself around him. He's a bit more distant in this novel too which makes her upset. Both love interests make me crazy. I'm so conflicted. I ship her with both of them and I want them both to be endgame. 

I feel bad for Alyssa's father. I hope that whole issue gets resolved in the next novel. 

This author is amazing. They paint a wonderful picture of the world and of their characters. I see it all so clearly in my head. It's amazing and I love it. The author has this amazing ability to make me feel the character's pain. I've never seen anything like this. I've never felt anything like this. I could read this author for forever. I hope she keeps writing. She could easier be my favourite author. I've never been so conflicted with characters or plot points. It's...I can't even describe my feelings to you. I sound like an idiot I'm sure.

The end of this novel is a total killer. I warned you. You read it right there. I damn near threw my book. Kristen constantly puts novels in "time out" when she can't handle the plot. I've never had to do this with any novel. This is the closest I've ever come. I swore quite a lot upon reading the ending. It hurt so bad. It's just not far. I can't even tell you. No seriously...

I just love the idea of this series so much. It takes something that so many people know about and builds it up. I've read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I can't imagine the research that Howard put into this series. I can't imagine how many times she read the Wonderland books. I wish I could have her imagination. I have a pretty good imagination but I'm so jealous. This world is an incredible one. It's real to me like almost no other novel is. I can't tell you enough how good this series is. It surprised me. I picked Splintered up because it was on sale! It may have been the best buy of my entire life.

Go right now and buy this series. Buy both books. I promise you won't regret it. If you do, tell me why so I can argue with you. These novels are amazing.

If I could do one thing, I would thank that author for giving me a world to run away to. She offers a place to escape too. It's dark but also beautiful. Thanks, A. G. Howard and keep writing. I wish I could tell them myself. I aspire to write like they do.

Final Thoughts: I WANT THE NEXT NOVEL SO MUCH, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. I NEED IT! You should read this series. It's so much better than I thought it would be and this author is amazing. I hope this novel catches on big. I wish the author/publisher would send me the next one. HEAR THAT HOWARD AND AMULET AND ABRAMS? I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER IF YOU DO!


Stop reading here to avoid a spoiler


The novel makes it so they both can be endgame which I think is equal parts brilliant and a cop out on the side of the author. Yet, if it doesn't happen I will hate my life. I want it to happen. I want it so bad. I can't wait for the next novel.

Splintered

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: A. G. Howard
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 371
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (Where would we be without Goodreads?): 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: This is one of those books that I was willing to stay up all night reading just so that I could get to the almost end. Sadly, I couldn't stay up all night and finish it. This is definitely a world you can get sucked into. It is much darker than Alice in Wonderland but that adds to the interest. 

This novel works at all kinds of emotions. At times you think that the main character is crazy but soon you find that you get pulled into this crazy world in which she lives. You are happy when she is happy, confused when she is confused, and sad when she is sad. Parts had me teary eyed. Other moments had me excited. The story is also very good at confusing one's feelings and emotions. Do you want her to be with guy A or guy B? You go back and forth. It hurt my head. This is because of how confused the main character is. It's good to have a little bit of this.

The characters are amazing. They all have depth, thank god. Sometimes they make you so angry then, moments later, they make your heart melt. One part of this story absolutely devastated me. Alyssa has to make a choice and chooses to save someone she loves. This choice has some sad consequences that I prayed would be undone but they weren't. Luckily, it all turns out okay. On the other hand, I realized that someone else would be saved. Figuring this out of my own took away from the plot a bit when it actually happened but, trust me, I was happy nonetheless! 

I have to be honest, I pretty much threw out what Alyssa looked like in my mind. I couldn't help it but I found that, every time there was a description of her, I had been imaging something else. The other characters, however, have descriptions that are hard to ignore, especially the Wonderland characters. They are so creative that they really capture you. I loved that they were the perfect, pretty characters from Alice in Wonderland. The author was very smart to add an explanation as to why the characters looked different than they did in Alice in Wonderland. I like that; it makes it more real to me. It also makes sense. 

In Closing: I think that you should give this book a shot but I definitely think it would be a good idea to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass before this novel because, if you do, you can make connections that would otherwise be lost on you. One of the best parts of this story is that the author clearly did their homework. I love when I see a reference and notice it. I love being in the loop that way. I think that you should read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and Splintered, that's the moral of the story. 

Check out the author's blog for more information on this outstanding novel: http://anita-authoraghoward.blogspot.ca/