Publisher: Amulet Books
Pages: 384pgs
The Story
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.
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.
The Review
A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!
A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!
Alice in Wonderland is probably my ultimate favourite childhood book ever and it still remains so. As a very young child I was always the one wanting to be the Alice in Wonderland, whether it'll be living out her imaginative, fantasy world, or meeting some of the most outrageous characters out there, or simply being the one enjoying the many tea parties (even if I didn't like tea) with the Mad Hatter . . . so while I will read pretty much anything with Alice in Wonderland in a book or watch a film with Alice in it as well, but with that said, I still just couldn't get into this book no matter how much and how hard I tried to. Really, I did try.
Even with the majority of readers loving this book, SPLINTERED, I think what lacked a lot for me was the uninteresting characters and how the storyline was very similar (and pretty much same old, same old with Alice loosing her marbles) to my favourite video games American McGee's Alice and its sequel Alice Madness Returns, with a slight few hints of Tim Burton's own Alice in Wonderland film creation, which turns the once so beautiful and lovely place of Wonderland into a complete, utter bleak and disastrous, ugly place. So while I do applaud the author for the great details that she managed to put into her own piece of work - very beautiful details mind you - but I felt no real connection to this book which is sad to say considering I was very much looking forward to this particular title based on the many high praising reviews on it. But in the end . . . I guess that's what happens to readers now and again . . . some will love it and others not so much.
Overall, SPLINTERED wasn't necessarily a bad book but rather it wasn't the kind of book I longed for nor greatly loved. But don't let this book review stop you because there are so many readers out there that had loved, raved and non-stop praised this very pretty book up! So if you're a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland I can definitely guarantee most of you will end up loving this book, even if I didn't. It just depends what you want from a remake of a classic book!
Even with the majority of readers loving this book, SPLINTERED, I think what lacked a lot for me was the uninteresting characters and how the storyline was very similar (and pretty much same old, same old with Alice loosing her marbles) to my favourite video games American McGee's Alice and its sequel Alice Madness Returns, with a slight few hints of Tim Burton's own Alice in Wonderland film creation, which turns the once so beautiful and lovely place of Wonderland into a complete, utter bleak and disastrous, ugly place. So while I do applaud the author for the great details that she managed to put into her own piece of work - very beautiful details mind you - but I felt no real connection to this book which is sad to say considering I was very much looking forward to this particular title based on the many high praising reviews on it. But in the end . . . I guess that's what happens to readers now and again . . . some will love it and others not so much.
Overall, SPLINTERED wasn't necessarily a bad book but rather it wasn't the kind of book I longed for nor greatly loved. But don't let this book review stop you because there are so many readers out there that had loved, raved and non-stop praised this very pretty book up! So if you're a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland I can definitely guarantee most of you will end up loving this book, even if I didn't. It just depends what you want from a remake of a classic book!
The Rating
1/5 stars
awwww. tnx for giving it a try.
ReplyDeletetnx 4 the review
Thanks! I did try. A lot.
DeleteI really didn't like this book either. Kinda glad I'm not the only one!
ReplyDeletePhew! I'm glad I wasn't the only one either. Everyone seemed to love this book.
DeleteThis is the first negative review I've seen for Splintered. Thanks for the perspective. Very interesting... Sorry you didn't love it!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry too. Such a shame . . . but thanks!
DeleteAwww it's a pity you didn't like this book! I might give this a try if I can get ahold of a copy...otherwise, I'll just pass. Thanks for the honest review Erin!<3
ReplyDeleteThanks Shirley! I think you might like this one but . . . it just didn't work for me. :/
DeleteAwww, sucks this was such a huge disappointment, Erin!! Especially since you're a massive fan of Alice. I wonder how I'll like it given that I... er... haven't really ever watched or read an entire version of Alice. I've seen parts of the movie, but... that's it *hides* So I'm very curious if this will make me like it any more! Awesome review, though :)
ReplyDeleteI KNOW! It was such a disappointment . . . le sigh. YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED OR EVER READ AN ENTIRE VERSION OF ALICE!!!!!!!!!!! *falls to the ground* A child's childhood isn't a childhood at all if you haven't read nor watched something of Alice. Hehe. I think you might like this one but . . . it just wasn't for me. Sadly. But thanks!
ReplyDeleteOoh this is one of the only negative reviews I've seen for this book, it's nice to get a different spin on it. Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy it though. I'm a big Alice fan too - my Drama exam a few years back was in fact a twisted version of Alice in Wonderland! That's why I was really looking forward to this. Might still give it a try, but will try not to get too excited about it - I never really trust the hype to be honest anyway. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteAw, Erin, I'm sorry this was sucha dissapointment for you! Especially when you're such an Alice fan... STILL! Wonderful review! ♥
ReplyDelete