Splintered by A. G. Howard

Splintered by A. G. Howard
Release Date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads Stars: 3
Rating: Enjoyable

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. - Goodreads

Guys, I'm disappointed. Given the hype surrounding this book, I was expecting a retelling of epic proportions. But that's not what happened at all, and I ended up getting ridiculously bored halfway through and I was so close to just skimming it.

Things I Liked:

- Howard's writing style. There's no denying that the author has a great writing style. The descriptions of the setting were amazing, and they really made me feel as though I was there with Alyssa, both in the real world and in Wonderland. It was vivid, and I adored it.
- The beginning. Captivating, enticing, fairly unique... The first third of the book was everything you could want. It captured me from the very first page. I remember thinking "YES, I am going to LOVE this" after I had finished the first chapter. Howard introduced the world and the mystery surrounding Alyssa's heritage really well, and I couldn't wait to find out more. The initial scenes in Wonderland were also awesome, and I loved how the author mixed up the characters a little bit to make them unique to this story.

Things I Hated:

- The love interests. Nooooooooooope. To begin with, Jeb is a complete idiot. In the beginning of the book he decided to hide his feelings from Alyssa and date a girl who bullied her. I can't remember his reasoning for doing this, but what the heck kind of reasoning could that be? And to add to that, he's controlling. He kept telling Alyssa what to do, and it annoyed me to no end. No, Jeb, let this FMC be badass and tell YOU what to do! 

And then there's Morpheus, who is so freakin' manipulative that I don't even know why Alyssa spoke to him, or even acknowledged him. He kept things from her, and it was obvious that he was out to manipulate her from the start. He's also really creepy, and there was a point where he and Alyssa had some weird orgasm thing by touching their birthmarks together. Yeah, I don't even know. 

But this didn't stop Alyssa from kissing both guys. Why would it? It's not as if she's a strong, independent female after all.

- CHEESE. Reading this book felt like I was watching a Stelena scene at times. The lines, the characters' actions... "Be my skater girl again." Really?
- Boring last two thirds. I struggled to get through it, I really did. After Alyssa and Jeb reached Wonderland, I was ready for some awesomeness. I mean, the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the Caterpillar must all be there in some shape or form, right? But no. After Alyssa spoke to the talking flowers and met up with Morpheus everything went downhill. If only it was all as good as the beginning.

So... yeah. I didn't love it. Splintered is bordering on Bland for me, but since I enjoyed the writing style and the beginning so much, I decided to rate it as Enjoyable. But... yeah, it was dull.