Splintered (Splintered Series #1)

I liked the somewhat steampunk nature of the heroine in the story. It was a nice change from the more traditional heroines in most books out now. I liked the twist at the end but it wasn't a big reveal, I saw it coming some time before. It was still interesting and an enjoyable read. I'm planning on getting the sequel when it comes out in January.

This is one of my favorite young adult novels. It has the perfect blend of romance, action and story. The characters are uniquely crafted, spawned from a classic story so many of us love. I really enjoyed A.G. Howard's voice and the gorgeous mosaic of a book that Splintered is.

I like the twist on the Alice in Wonderland story. I am an adult, and this was definitely written more for teens. I read it because my daughter and I are going to see the author in a week or two, and I wanted to have read her work. If I had been a teen, I probably would have given it a 5 star. I like twists on old stories, so I found this one very interesting.

I loved the beginning and the ending, it was just the middle that fell flat. While I was reading it I didn't care for it as much as I did while thinking back on it. I already have book two and have high expectations and am hopeful that it is a better book.

This book got me. Lewis Carroll's realm has always been a favorite of mine. I knew from the first page I was going to love this book. Alyssa' s skater punk personality and flippancy is attractive and lends weight to her ultimate transformation...although I thought her naivete went on a little long. Great imagery and wacky, twisted characters.

It's always a little nerve-wracking to start watching or reading something that you have been waiting for with high hopes. And it's even worse to have said the object of that anticipation start off slowly...but thankfully, Splintered won me over, and we'll all live happily ever after. For now.

Splintered hit a lot of the high points for me in terms of what I'm looking for in a story that's a retelling or reimagining of another story. Top of that list is imagination -- I like seeing thing I recognize from the original, but the retelling needs to be full of lots of new and interesting ideas, it will hopefully surprise me and keep me guessing, even if, in the end, the story turns out the way the original did -- it just gets there using different means.

A.G. Howard is VERY imaginative! The ways in which she took the source material of Lewis Carroll's story were fantastic (in several senses of the word!) While I was waiting for my copy (I was planning on reading this as an e-book on release day, only to be thwarted: the e-book version doesn't release until the 15th), I downloaded a free copy of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." I'm not sure I've ever actually read it, or if I did, it was many many years ago. A person would not have to have read the book, because so much of Alice's world is a part of our popular culture, but I think that having the original so fresh definitely enhanced my enjoyment of this book.

There were a couple of places where the writing seemed a little uneven to me, but those were minor. Something that bugged me was the constant reference to Jeb's labret (a piercing below the lip, above the chin). I didn't mind that he had it, a piercing like that definitely brings to mind a certain type of guy, but I felt like I was being pummeled over the head with it, and it would take me out of the story for a moment.

All in all, I quite enjoyed this book, the first of my debut author challenge reads and hope that Howard writes more. I would love to see her imagination and creativity at work in future books, and I'm guessing her writing will just get better as time goes on.

My teenage daughter and her older sister LOVE this book and series. It is a very creative spin off Alice in wonderland that they say has wonderful descriptions that put you right into the middle of the story. They would recommend to anyone.

Exceptional twist to the classic. I really didn't anticipate everything in the book, some parts were cliche buy otherwise I devoured every page like they were going to evaporate. I would definitely suggest this title to friends who liked reading about little Alice and her travels in Wonderland.

what an interesting twist on an old story!! Alyssa's adventure down the rabbit hole with Jeb was exciting and well written. Morpheus is an interesting and likable charactor who pulls you in to the mystery that awaits them. It was a good read that I would recommend to friends

I love finding new books based on other well loved authors opinions (thanks Anna Banks). Full of life breathing imagery, magnificent action, plot upon plot, this was a masterpiece. Loved the characters, the world, and the magic of Wonderland. Thanks AG Howard. You are spellbinding brilliant.

a crazy world to navigate a family curse to break and a white knight at your side. can what he says be true or is the dark angel from your dreams what you thought? torn between two worlds and the two halves of herself in which world will she find her happy ending. . . fascinating

Talk about turning Alice upside down on her head! Absolutely, positively loved this twist on the beloved books of my childhood. Thank you, A.G. Howard for an unforgettable story that I can't wait to read more of!

I was excited to read this book after finding it. I love everything Alice in Wonderland. I would've liked for the characters to be a little older instead of around teenage years. It was tasteful though for younger readers. I will be reading the other books in the series also because I like the characters and I'm eager to read more of Alyssa's adventures. The author has a very good imagination and descriptions of things and characters is well written.

This book was just as "Wonder-Full" as the description promised . It has a little bit of everything, Suspense & Drama, Romance & thwarted love (pretty steamy too!) All set in this Dystopian Faery realm that we all know from our Childhood. I would recommend this book to Tweens, Teens AND Adults- it has something for everyone. I rated Splintered with 5 stars because it captivated my attention & kept me coming back for more!

A.G. Howard created such a fantastic, beautiful and sometimes horrific world in Splintered. The flawed characters had you rooting for them, wanting them to achieve the impossible. It was easy to picture everything as it played out...from the creepy dolls, to the artwork Alyssa created. And I have to say I fell in love with both Jeb and Morpheus. Anyone who loves fairytales with a twist will love this book! A MUST READ!

Wicked, weird, twisted and fun. I loved this book. A.G. Howard does a fantastic job making her characters resonate. Both Jeb and Morpheus pull my heartstrings, but Morpheus makes the book. Wonderfully done.

The imagery of this book excels, making it easy to picture everything from Alyssa's mom to the funky, vivid, and creepy Wonderland. The book pays homage to the original Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There books. Examples of this include from small things, such as a drink to make you smaller, and a cake to make you bigger, to large things, such as many of the characters we know from the original story, such as the Mad Hatter, talking flowers, Queens Red and White, the Caterpillar, and many more. However, she also puts her own darker, creepier, and creative spin on the tale. Examples include aphid-noshing flowers, Twid Sisters, and wait until you see the feast.
While I loved exploring A.G. Howard's take on Wonderland, I also loved the characters she invented or reinvented. A great example is Alyssa Gardner. Our female protagonist is the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the original Alice Liddell, and her family lineage is still being affected by Alice's tip down the rabbit hole to this day. Alyssa hears the whispers of flowers and bugs. She worries about these 'delusions' and tries to block them out, for fear of losing her mind due to curse that exists in the female side of her lineage, which has driven her mother mad, and many more before her. She heads down the rabbit hole in hopes of breaking this curse, accidently bringing her long-time best friend a secret crush Jebediah Holt with her only to meet a dark, mysterious, and attractive person known as Morpheus, whom she seems to have known for a long time. Now, I am normally wary of love triangles myself, but A. G. handles it vey well. While one is more trustworthy than the other, both guys have their advantages and disadvantages. Morpheus appeals more to her wild, wonderland side, but his motives are called into question. Jeb is very trustworthy, but sometimes a little too controlling. Honestly, both guys said things I thought were sweet, and both said things that infuriated me. I have my own opinions about who is better for Alyssa, but I leave it up to her to decide and to you to form your own opinion. Neither are perfect, but then again, neither is Alyssa. She makes her own mistakes, but I still found her a very fun character. In addition to having her own funky sense of style, she is also creative, smart, strong, confident, and of her own mind. She doesn't just easily go along with either guy completely, and knew exactly how to tell them when they've crossed the line. I especially liked seeing her dish out what Morpheus gave her right back at him. She isn't so strong as to be invincible and hard to relate to either. Such thing much her both fun and easy to relate to.
The plot is genius too. If you think you know exactly what's going to happen, I guarantee that at least one thing will catch you by surprise, and I love how it all plays out in the end. It's inspiring, and definitely helps you feel free to be and accept yourself, no matter how crazy or weird you may be. Do not miss this book, as it is marvelously written and will leave readers hungry for more. (Good thing it's part a series.)

I really like the book, has a great description of the scenery. The only thing that bugs me about this and a lot of other YA books is how whiny the female leads are. There are always two guys that the lead female torn about, it gets a little old. Highly recommended, teenage angst and all.

A grown up version of Wonderland. With characters both old and new. All wonderfully fleshed out and perfectly flawed. A bit darker, a little more twisted, but definitely more fun! A must read for anyone who is a fan of the original!

In Splintered, Alyssa Gardner is the descendent of Alice Liddell, the girl whose story inspired the Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. All the females in the Liddell line are cursed with insanity; Alyssa herself can hear insects and her mother is in a mental hospital. To save both herself and her mother from their insanity Alyssa (along with Jeb, her best friend whose she's been in love with since they were young) travels to Wonderland and meets the insane Morpheus, a moth/human/thing who has been in her dreams since she was young.

The Wonderland Howard creates is wonderfully dark. Nothing is like how Carroll described it; the white rabbit is not a rabbit at all and the jabberwocky is not even a living thing. All innocence of Alice's story is removed and replaced with more dark and gothic aspects. In order not to ruin the storyline I will not reveal more; the world was very engaging and interesting.

I wish the same could be said about the characters. This book has three main leads; Alyssa, Jeb, and Morpheus. The fact that Alyssa dresses like a emo/goth/punk with neon blue dreadlock extensions (like, seriously?) should have set off warning bells in my head. Throughout the book Alyssa receives almost no characterization or growth. All I learned about Alyssa is her backstory, and even then there was little of it. From beginning to end of this book I had no idea what type of person Alyssa was. Jeb, if possible, is even worse. After reading Splintered, all I know about Jeb is that he's 2 years older than Alyssa, his hair is dark (black or brown I can't even remember) and he has a garnet stud beneath his lip. Seriously, that stub gets described more then Jeb himself! Jeb, like Alyssa, is emo/goth/punk and for some reason is dating cheerleader Taelor, who Alyssa can't stand and vice versa. (Why Taelor would date Jeb is beyond me; its clear from the book that their personalities don't mix) All I learned about Jeb is that he hates Morpheus and has romantic feelings for Alyssa. If Jeb had been a cardboard cutout that Alyssa had romantic feelings for the storyline would not have been very different. Last but not least, Morpheus. Ah Morpheus. Off all the three Morpheus had the most characterization. Morpheus is a netherling with moth wings and magical powers. He is MANIPULATIVE, PSYCHOTIC, and overall doesn't care about the loss of life. For some reason, ALYSSA HAS FEELINGS FOR HIM. Why? I wish I knew, Howard doesn't tell me. The romance in this book is illogical and overall very stupid. The three main characters are just ridiculous and I dislike all three of them. My favorite character of the book was Ivory Queen who was in the book for about 10 pages.

The world building saved this book because both the romance and the characters are shallow and uninteresting. Usually I would be chomping on the bit to read the next book of a series but I feel no need to read the next book of this series. Although Splintered was fun at times, don't put it at the top of your reading list.

I recommend this book to all who believe you know who you are this has truly been a dark delicious magical ride . I loved every minute . Of it I have , always loved Alice and wonderland you have allowed me to travel to wonderland and be apart of the magic

I really enjoyed the warped Alice in wonderland story it takes something we already knows and disproportion it in till we no longer recognize it. I enjoyed every page of this book and the characters were amazing

Alice in Wonderland has always been one of my favorite childhood books. When I was a child I wanted to fall down the rabbit hole with Alice and see all the crazy characters. Alyssa got to do just that. Fall down the rabbit hole and meet all the crazy and I mean crazy characters. Plus the twist and turns in the story that kept you guessing until things started to fall together was great. Highly recommend this book