Sometime last year, Splintered by A.G. Howard was all over my social media feed. The reason: a Dutch translation. I ignored this book at first, because I’m a bit over fairytale retellings and I’m not an Alice in Wonderland fan at all. However, when I saw the ebook for a highly discounted price, I decided to give it a try. Did this book manage to surprise me?

About the book

Splintered by A.G. Howard
Series: Splintered #1
Published by Amulet Books on January 1, 2013
Pages: 371
ISBN: 9781419704284
Genres: Fantasy, Young adult

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 review

To be honest, I went into this reading experience with not many expectations. I know Alice in Wonderland is not my favourite fairytale and I’m also a little bit over the retellings as I’ve stated before. However, the Dutch publishing market often falls years behind. This book has been published in 2012 and even though older YA and me are often a match, I still was a bit hesitant to pick up this book. Hence why I first ignored it. Admittedly, I wasn’t aware of the fact that this novel is YA at first as it got published under a fantasy brand that also publishes romantasy and adult fantasy. I therefore expected this to be for adults. However, this is not the reason why this book indeed happens to not really be for me.

The women in Alyssa Gardner’s family are cursed. They are able to communicate with bugs and flowers in a way no one else can. Alyssas mother has been admitted to a mental hospital years before, because of this uncommon behaviour. For now, Alyssa is able to keep everything under control, that is till her mom’s condition worsens. To lift the curse, Alyssa must travel through the rabbit hole to Wonderland and correct the mistakes her great ancestor Alice Lidell, the real-life inspiration of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland series, has made. Will Alyssa succeed in lifting the curse and bring her mom home for good?

The main reason why I didn’t like this book were the characters. I just didn’t feel any connection to Alyssa and Jeb. Of course I felt for them both for various reasons I can’t stretch further into because of spoilers, but I found it hard to get to know them really. Maybe this had to do with all the magic in Wonderland, I don’t know. Everything seems to go smoothly for Alyssa and therefore it feels like she’s not growing much as a character. She is under the influence of magic a lot and still has the mission to lift the family’s curse, but other than that we barely get to know her. Same for Jeb, we learn a bit about him, but not enough for me. I know this is not a character driven book at all, but I still hoped to like these characters more than I did.

Because everything seems to go so smoothly for Alyssa, the plot wasn’t too intriguing for me. It never felt tense or exciting, I was never on the edge off my seat. I was able to finish this book pretty quickly nevertheless, but that’s mostly because of the easy flooding and accessible writing. I just wasn’t a fan of the singular POV and third person narrative. This therefore made the book and its characters feel distant to me, whereas it often works well. I just wasn’t intrigued by it and I can’t help it. In fact, I actually forgot most of the storyline already.

As you can see, Splintered by A.G. Howard felt just meh to me. It’s not bad, but not good either. It’s just there and fans of the Alice in Wonderland fairytale definitely would enjoy this retelling. The writing is easy flooding and accessible, whereas the characters and plot are just mediocre at best. Maybe this is because I don’t enjoy this fairytale at all and my curiosity got the better of me, but I wasn’t intrigued in the slightest. It’s safe to say that I won’t be continuing this series. It’s a nice try, but didn’t work out well for me in the end. Are you looking to add another Alice in Wonderland retelling to your collection? This series might be a great addition for you.