Book Review: Splintered by A.G. Howard

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Adventure

Summary: Alice Liddell, went back into the human world to tell the tale of her adventures in Wonderland through Lewis Carrolls children’s classic, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. But of course, nothing is the same once you’ve come back from Wonderland. Alice’s bloodline was cursed by the Red Queen and decades later, her descendants suffer from the curse. 

Alyssa Gardner, hears the thoughts of plants and insects. Was she crazy? Maybe. Her own mother is admitted at the closest mental hospital,and when her mother’s mental health turns for the worst, Alyssa discovers that what she thought was fiction was indeed reality. Alyssa is now on the quest to reverse the curse for the sake of her mother, but what she encounters on this whirlwind of a journey is not what she expected.

Review: 

If you think that this is going to be your normal fairy tale retelling, think again. A.G. Howard takes us unto a whole new world filled with things that we didn’t know from the stories. She spun this delicate web separating the truth from the lies and through this marvelous story we see a new side to the story that we love.

The first thing that drew me in to this book is the cover. Let’s be real, it’s gorgeous and indeed it is striking. Yet, I was unsure if I would love it, because I already have high expectations for this book, and fairy tale retellings are jumping into the mainstream these days, it’s hard to keep the original context and the author adding in their imagination, making it their own.

Plot-wise, it’s very engaging, fast paced and it keeps the reader on edge with added romantic tension. The characters were believable, they might as well be real people that inspired the work as what Alice Liddell was when she inspired the story. The writing is gorgeous, lyrical in the sense that you won’t get tired of the style. And the story, as what I have said is not what you’d expect from a typical retelling, in fact, I do not consider it as a retelling at all. A.G. Howard based it on Alice and then it’s a whole new world from there.

SPLINTERED is the marvelous debut novel by A.G. Howard. It is adventurous as it is heart warming to go back once again to Wonderland and see that particular world through Alyssa’s eyes.

I gave this book the full whooping five stars. 

(This review first appeared at the Book Blog I am part of, The Blabbering Reviews.)