Review- Splintered by AG Howard

Splintered

AG Howard

Release Date: January 1, 2013

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher: Amulet Books (Abrams)

ISBN:  1419704281

Source: ARC from the publisher

Rating: Obsessed!!!!!!!!!

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From Goodreads.

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.

I really don’t know where to begin this review so be prepared for crazy amounts of rambling!! Peeps this book is my absolute favorite YA book of 2012!!!!!!!! It’s definitely one of all-time favorites in the YA genre !!!!!!! And I know it doesn't come out until January 2013 but I read in 2012 so it counts! I love this book so hard because it was beautifully written and was about one of my favorite children’s stories! Alice in Wonderland!!!! I have had quite the obsession with Alice I own the books by Lewis Carroll, the Disney cartoon movie, the Tim Burton version (with Johnny Depp), and the SyFy mini-series Alice which has a very soft spot in my heart *cough* Hatter *cough* *Swoons*. Ok wait this was a review right?

So….. Like I said I am completely obsessed with this book and the world that AG wrote about! She took the Wonderland we all know and love and made it darker, stranger, and more twisted and I loved every minute of Alyssa’s journey through the looking glass! BTW Alyssa rocks! She's seriously badass and I love her character and that she's willing to go through hell to save her mother and the rest of her family from this curse.

I am also obsessed with a certain male character in the book! His name is Jeb and he’s literally the boy next door but he’s not the star quarterback or class president. He’s damaged goods, a bad boy with a heart of gold; a skater, an artist, with a wicked sense of humor and a sarcastic side, he has a labret piercing, and is just drop dead gorgeous! Oh and did I mention he goes through the looking glass with Alyssa??? And he is her best friend and protector and coincidentally the love of her life; and maybe mine lol! Ooh and he does something that I literally swooned over and, he made me bawl like a baby (ugly, ugly tears!)!

But if y’all need a darker hero there’s Morpheus (or as some of us have dubbed him Moth you’ll see why) AG described him kinda like Eric Draven’s character from the movie The Crow (one of my all-time favorites btw) except he has blue hair and wings!!! Yeah he’s pretty gorgeous too and he’s the epitome of a bad boy!

Ok wow yeah I did ramble but, seriously peeps as soon as you can, grab this book and read it!!!! It is definitely a DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) book and AG managed to leave some open threads at the end so I’m hoping that means we’ll get to go through the looking glass or down the rabbit hole again; because I would love more of this world! I seriously would love to live in it!

I think I had almost every page in this book marked with post-it’s for passages but I wanted to share some of the swoon with you!

Without warning, Jeb snags one of the rings in my belt and spins me around. In one smooth motion, he lifts me onto the narrow, crescent-shaped table. My skin trembles beneath his touch as he scoots me all the way against the wall, his hips wedged between my thighs. We’re level—face-to-face--. The fluttery feeling fills my head—and in the shadow of my darker side, a rush of satisfaction wells up, a perverse thrill that I can stoke his emotions to this gut-deep reaction.

I brace my hands against his shoulders to maintain space between us, but it’s only for show. My bluff fades to weak-kneed enthusiasm the instant he snags my wrists and pulls them down, leaning in do our noses touch.

“Reality check right back at ya,” he says, his breath a hot rush in the chilly room. “I know you’re not a kid anymore. You think I’m blind?” His fingers lace through mine, pinning my arms against the cold, smooth mirrors so our heartbeats pound against each other. “You’re the one who’s oblivious. Because there’s nothing brotherly about the way you make me feel.”

*Thuds* I could share more but I want….no I NEED you all to read this book so you can see the awesomeness!!!! I hoped you liked your taste of Jeb ;) Pre-order this book now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!