Splintered

4.5/5 Stars

As I'm sure you have guessed by now, this is another book that I totally judged by the cover. But I was not disappointed at all by the actual book. It was great. I loved the Alice in Wonderland connection but I also appreciated Howard's own take on the world. While I loved Alyssa and Jeb as characters, Morpheus wins it all for me. He is absolutely amazing and I love his characterization. He is just so obnoxious but also completely lovable at the same time. I may be in the minority with this, but I loved each and every scene with him. And his interactions with Alyssa were great, the teasing, the tension, and just the overall way he approached things with her. And you could argue that many of his choices were despicable, and he was often quite cruel, but I think his actions and his heart were in the right place.

As I got further and further into the book and you learned more about the curse on Alyssa's family all because of what Alice had done to Wonderland, you got a better understanding of some of the choices Alison had made to protect her daughter. Alyssa was determined to do whatever she could to protect her mom and destroy the curse. I think having Jeb come along was a way to protect Alyssa from going completely head-first into the battle with little to no concern. It also kept her somewhat grounded as she realized how similar she was to the people of Wonderland and just how well she actually fit in if she thought about it. At first Alyssa's blind faith and love in Jeb really bothered me, (probably because I hated his girlfriend so much). Even now after finishing the book and knowing everything, I'm still not really sure how I feel about that. Plus my obsession with Morpheus definitely influenced my views.

As for the actual plot of the story, after Morpheus explained the “curse”, it was pretty clear what needed to be down to “save” Wonderland. And like with all things, it was easier said than done. I thought the plot progressed realistically and I don't have many problems with the way things progressed. And I was completely surprised by the twist at the end. I didn't even have a small inkling that it was even possible. That unpredictable twist allowed me to enjoy the book even more than I already was.

Overall, this was a solid first installment in the trilogy and I cannot wait to find out what Alyssa, Jeb, and Morpheus get up to in the next two books.