Unhinged by A. G Howard

Unhinged by A. G Howard
Genre: YA Fairytale Spinoff
Expected Publication: January 7th, 2014
Publisher: Amulet
Page Count: 384
Goodreads
Amazon

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.

Hosting a Splintered read-along was probably one of the best decisions I've made this year. I'd been lusting for it, what with the beautiful cover, and I just couldn't wait to read it. And now, after a few months, I've been given the opportunity to be apart of Krazy Book Lady's ARC tour of Unhinged and I am a happy book blogger.

Soooo, Alyssa bothers in the aspect that she's always doubting her childhood friend Morpheus. This also could be due to the fact that I'm Team Morpheus all the way, but Al's manner in the way that she treats Morpheus has always bothered me. However, she is such a dynamic character. Being in her position, I wouldn't know what world I belonged to either. Save a bunch of crazies in this unfamiliar land or save the lives of those you know and consider normal? So, I mean, I have to give her some credit and having half the mind for doubting an inhabitant of Wonderland, but I still think she acted a little poorly.

WOAH. I have to say that this was a great sequel to Splintered. I have to admit that I had no idea where the author could have brought the next book. All I knew was that I wanted another. The plot thickens when Alyssa has to decide which world to save and be a part of. Troubles definitely get more troublesome when some certain characters *ahem* Red *ahem* just won't go away.

So I loved the growing relationships between Alyssa and her mom and Alyssa and Morpheus. We really didn't get to know Alyssa's mom very well in the first book and, in this one, readers get an inside look at the not-crazy mother. And I cannot tell you how much I was swooning over Morpheus in this book. You're perfect, moth boy!

One thing that really distinguishes A. G Howard from other authors out there in the world is her writing. Beautifully vivid and dark. Her original spin on a favorite fairytale of mine and her incredible writing made the perfect recipe for me. I always feel like I'm being transported into Alyssa's story once I open her books. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing that originality in pieces nowadays, sadly.

Unhinged was a great addition to the Splintered series and I absolutely cannot wait for the next one. I am totally flipping out over that ending! And if you've not read Splintered yet, I highly suggest you do. With gorgeously descriptive writing, a dark mood, a fast pace, a twisty plot, and Morpheus, it'll make a great read for anyone. 

5 Splashes

Splintered by A.G Howard

Splintered by A.G Howard
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication: January 1st, 2013
Page Count: 371
Goodreads
Amazon

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.

Ever since I first laid eyes on that beauteous cover, I knew I had to read it. (forget what it's actually about!  Look at that pretty cover!)  I mean, it's absolutely gorgeous, and to discover that it was a spinoff of everyone's favorite story of madness and insanity and magic put the need for this book very high.

Alyssa was a character I instantly clicked with.  I don't know why, since I don't have a mother in an asylum or anything, but she was just very likable.  I loved her stubborn determination and bravery she never knew she had.  She was unique and quirky with her clothing style and thoughts on Wonderland, which for the most part were curiosity and fascination.  She grew gradually as the story progressed, strengthened and wizened, and I enjoyed reading her progression.

But who cares about main characters when you've got Morpheus!  Mother of all that is good and holy, I knew I was in deep the first sentence he came onto the page!  Longer, blue hair, hypnotizing black eyes with pretty eye bling, WINGS, form fitting pants, and a terribly seductive attitude.  He was too perfect in so many ways.  I know that most people will be rooting for Jeb for various reason, but I don't care!  Take the human!  I'll take the sexy moth man.  Morpheus was just amazing, with his dark and suspicious ways, great looks, and bad attitude.  Never a dull moment with him, I tell you.

Speaking of Jeb, I kinda thought he was a bit of a tool.  He dates this Bitch Chick Taelor for some wimpy ass reason while being all protective over Alyssa.  I don't know about you, but that was a no-go for me.  If he wanted to be with Alyssa all secretly on the inside, he should have grown a pair and did something about the situation he was in, like break up with Taelor yesterday.  On top of that, his protective streak would get a little overbearing frequently.  Dude, give the girl some space!  She's got it covered!

Continuing with the review, I'll talk about the writing.  Never have I enjoyed reading a book where the imagery was so descriptive and enchanting, yet still left room to the imagination.  The balance was perfect.  I just loved all the world building and the beautiful--or raunchy!--descriptions of Wonderland creatures were mesmerizing.

Splintered was the perfect and dark twist on the Alice in Wonderland story we all know.  Dangerous, twisted, sexy, and enchanting, it had all the elements to keep me hooked until the very end.  The story was like a spider web with drops of water on it.  Hypnotic and complex in design, and harbinger of danger and darkness.  Fans of spinoffs, mystical, magical stuff, and gorgeous writing will possibly enjoy this book.

5 Splashes

Splintered Read-A-Thon Wrap-Up

Whew!  What an amazing and heart-pounding ending to this book!  I hoped that Splintered would be good, but it surpassed my expectations.  I am so glad that Monica and I hosted this read-a-thon, because Splintered is one book you don't want to miss out on reading.

So here's what all happened.

Jeb and Alyssa attempt to ride their makeshift skateboards across this fissure in the ground, but fail.  Turns out Alyssa's got wings, but has to abandon Jeb and gets kidnapped by these ugly creature things.  Alyssa meets Twid Sisters One and Two, gets Red's soul trapped in hers, and receives Chessie's smile.

Alyssa travels through a mirror portal to the castle and discovers some ugly truths about Morpheus, like the fact that Alyssa is only in Wonderland to perform these tests to become queen so that he can be free of a curse that was invoked on him through Deathspeak when Queen Red was dying.  So in all, the whole Liddell curse was sham. BOOSH.

Alyssa braves herself for the final test which is to distract the jabberwock long enough to put Chessie back into one piece and retrieve the vorpal sword.  Things happen where we all discover that Jeb sacrificed himself for Alyssa to escape out of Wonderland and that Morpheus never planned on letting Alyssa go.  But Alyssa has that tear wish thing that the ferret had gifted her with and she wishes that she had never opened the door for Jeb before she ventured to Wonderland.

However, she's still in the same situation she was in, only Jeb isn't with her and Morpheus knows what she did.  Now, the Red King has his head bobbing like an apple in water in that box because he saved Grenadine.  They all leave and--WHAM--Queen Red's soul comes to life--vines and all--and tries to take over Alyssa's body.  Obviously, Alyssa aint' having any of this, and fights off Red until all those vines and stuff are out of her body. (Which was extremely gross!)

But things aren't over yet, because Red decides to take over the jabberwock's body instead and gobbles up Morpheus.  Alyssa ties a few loose ends in Wonderland, and returns to the real world.  She decides to keep her netherling wings and wicked awesome eye bling, but they fade when in the human world, so the idea that she'll have to return to Wonderland is always with her.  Alyssa goes straight to her mother at the asylum and tells her that the entire Liddell curse was fake and that she can stop pretending that she's all crazy.

She goes home and awakes to the news that Jeb and Tailor broke up--on prom night no less!  Jeb doesn't remember anything that went on in Wonderland at all, which was a bit saddening, but whatcha gonna do?  He invites Alyssa to go to London with him, and while I don't ship them, I may have gotten all warm inside because JEB COULD FINALLY SEE WHAT WAS IN FRONT OF HIM HIS ENTIRE LIFE.  It was a nice ending to a fantastic story!  I loved it so much!


Thanks to everyone that participated in this!  The Twitter chat was so much fun, and I hope that the winners will enjoy their new goodies!  I hope everyone else enjoyed the book as much as I did!

Splintered Chapters 1-7 Wrap-Up

Woo! We're one week down!  How did everyone's reading go?  Everyone finished their goal for last week, right?  

So what are everyone's thoughts on the chapters?  Honestly, I'm enjoying it so far.  I'm super curious to see how things are going to turn out for Al and Jeb.

We're introduced to Alyssa who can hear bugs and flowers talk.  Her mother is sentenced to life in an asylum, and Alyssa spends her time either skating, pinning bugs into works of art, or trying to convince herself that she's not crazy, like her mother and her grandmother and her great grandmother and so on.  Her great-great-great grandmother is Alice Liddell, the Alice in Wonderland.

We're introduced to Alyssa's best friend Jeb and Jenara, who are brother and sister and Alyssa's neighbors.  And there's possibly something going on between Alyssa and Jeb, I'm certain.  Oh, yes....

Things happen, but it's a little complicated for me to explain here, but both Jeb and Alyssa end up going down the rabbit hole and come across Rabid White and fight off these zombie flowers.  And that's where chapter seven left us!

And here are some questions to think of:

• Why do you think that Alison, Alyssa's mother, is keeping up that act at the asylum?
• What do you think of Jeb so far? Do we ship him with Alyssa?
• Why do you think Alyssa calls her mother Alison instead of  Mom?
• Do you think that this skater punk style that Alyssa has going on is the real her or is it part of her act to not be like her mother?

Comment your thoughts!  And don't forget to read chapters 8-14 for this week!

Splintered Read-A-Thon Sign-Ups

 

Woohoo! Hey, guys!  Monica over at  Cover Analysis and I will be hosting this AMAZINGLY AWESOME read-a-thon!  For this read-a-thon, we've chosen Splintered by A.G Howard.  For the month of March, we will be reading and hopefully very much enjoying Splintered! 

Splintered by A.G Howard

Publication: January 1st, 2013

Publisher: Amulet Books

Page Count: 371

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. 

Starting Monday the 11th, we will begin reading the first 7 chapters of the book.  Then on next Monday, we'll read the next 7 chapters.  And on the next Monday after that, we'll all finish up the book. 

Monica and I both highly encourage all who join to tweet, take pictures, and blog about this read-a-thon!  Use the #SplintRAT hashtag and have a blast interacting with other participants!  There will be a Twitter chat and a giveaway going on, so make sure to participate in any way that you can!  Most importantly, HAVE FUN!

Sign up for the Splintered Read-A-Thon below