'Untamed' (Splintered #3.5) by A. G. Howard

*This review will contain spoilers!*

When I finished the Splintered trilogy, I was quite disappointed. It just didn't go how I wanted it to go, and the ending felt really rushed... It just wasn't what I'd expected, after how much I'd enjoyed the first two installments in the series.
However, when I heard that A. G. Howard was releasing 'Untamed' - a collection of three short stories based around the world and the characters - there was no way that I was missing up the opportunity to dive back into Wonderland once again.

'The Boy In The Web' (4/5)
I loved this inclusion. 'The Boy In The Web' is told from the perspective of Alison, Alyssa's mother, and focuses on her childhood and the events that led up to her rescuing Thomas, Alyssa's father, from Wonderland. Seeing parents being happy and affectionate is always rare in YA, because it's normally shown as some sort of taboo ("Ew! How dare my parents kiss in front of me! Groooooss!") but to see them interacting naturally and comfortably with each other was adorable, especially after seeing everything that they went through over the course of the series.
I thought the insight into Alison's childhood was wonderful, if harrowing, and her interactions with Morpheus definitely made me chuckle - whereas Alyssa is enamoured with him and lets him get the best of her quite regularly, Alison doesn't take any shit from him and that's really relieving. It makes Morpheus a much better character, too, because you get to see more of his attitude and his personality shines through.
When it went over to telling Thomas's memories, it was a bit over-dramatic, but it was nice to get a bit more of his backstory and how he came to be trapped in Wonderland.

'The Moth In The Mirror' (3/5)
On the one hand, I liked 'The Moth In The Mirror' because it let us spend some quality time inside Morpheus's head, but he spent the short story diving into Jeb's memories of his time in Wonderland in an attempt to work out and therefore exploit his weaknesses. I really do hate Jeb - my hatred of him grows more every moment - so needing to read three chapters from his perspective really grated on my nerves. It was nice to get his solo adventures in Wonderland filled in, because it makes for a much more rounded picture of the events of 'Splintered', but I thought his treatment of the netherlings and his constantly grumpy attitude were draining.
I was also a tiny bit disappointed that we were focusing on the memory train again: I'd been hoping the three short stories were all going to be vastly different, but this one just felt a bit regurgitated. It also was released on Kindle before this collection was announced, so that's something to be aware of if you're expecting this to be completely new material.

'Six Impossible Things' (2/5)
The longest of the short stories, 'Six Impossible Things' was the length of the other two combined. Focusing on Alyssa's life after the events of 'Ensnared', but before that epilogue, the six impossible things in question are six memories: three from Alyssa's mortal life with Jeb, and three from her adventures in Wonderland with Morpheus.
On the one hand, I enjoyed 'Six Impossible Things' because it made the ending of 'Ensnared' much more satisfying. We join Alyssa and Jeb on their wedding day, and we get to meet their three children - David, Victoriana and Jackson - which develops their life together and makes it seem more genuine. We also learn that Jenara, Jeb's sister, and her boyfriend ended up having a long and happy life together resulting in two children.
I also liked the first Wonderland memory that Alyssa recalls: one of her childhood adventures with Morpheus. I always thought that her childhood with Morpheus could have been expanded upon and made much more detailed, so this was a wish come true.
However, the rest of the story really didn't sit well with me. First of all, there's the fact that Jeb earns a wish in Wonderland and uses it to die when he finds out he has cancer. I can understand his reasoning - the longer he lives, the harder it becomes for their family - but it just seems to unbelievably selfish: he could wish for happiness for his children, or health for his great-grandchildren, but he chooses something self-serving instead. I never really liked Jeb as a character, and this just confirmed my suspicions.
I also thought the fact that Alyssa and Jeb waited until after their wedding to have sex just wasn't very authentic. Throughout 'Unhinged' they got very close to taking their relationship to the next level, and it just doesn't seem feasible that they'd then decide to wait four years. The fact that Alyssa marries Morpheus before sleeping with him in Wonderland, too: not many people until after marriage to have sex, so for someone to wait twice just seemed a little bit too fantastical.
Similarly, Alyssa goes to Wonderland and the next thing - nine months later - is giving birth to her and Morpheus's child. I don't know what fertility is like in Wonderland, but most people have to try for a while to have a baby, so this just made me raise my eyebrows. We also find out that Queen Ivory is pregnant with the child of her mortal companion, Finley, who died a couple of weeks before - the fact that they'd been together for over sixty years and just happened to get pregnant right at the end? That's not too feasible.
I'm not very good with books that feature true, everlasting love at a young age, so having Alyssa and Jeb AND Jenara and Corbin last until death... It's just not authentic. Divorce is prevalent in these modern times, and while some teenage relationships do last for life it's not that common - I was unconvinced.
And don't even get me started on the implications of Alyssa and Morpheus calling their child Muse... Ugh.
I think 'Six Impossible Things' would have worked better as the first story in this collection, because 'The Boy In The Web' references the fact that Jenara and Corbin know about Wonderland, but this story deals with them finding out the truth. Chronologically, it makes sense to come at the end - it does deal with the end of Alyssa's human life, after all - but to link in properly with the other stories I just feel like putting this one at the end was a mistake.

If you liked the Splintered series, you should probably read these short stories - especially if you weren't happy with the ending of 'Ensnared', because this gives a bit of closure. If you like your romance old-fashioned and cliched, you'll also love this collection. I'm glad I read it, but I'm not going to return to Wonderland any time soon. 

'Ensnared' (Splintered #3) by A. G. Howard

*This review will contain spoilers!*

'When Jeb's at my side, the world is a canvas - unblemished and welcoming; when I'm with Morpheus, it's a wanton playground - wicked and addictive.' 

This review will contain spoilers for the first two books in the 'Splintered' trilogy! If you'd like to read my review of the first book, you can find that here, or if you're interested in my thoughts on the second book in the trilogy, 'Unhinged', that's over here.

I said I was going to finish more series in 2016, so the logical place for me to start was with this final installment of the 'Splintered' trilogy. I didn't love the first book, but I fell head over heels with the second, so I was a teensy bit apprehensive going in.
'Ensnared' begins in London, with Alyssa and her father having flown on monarch butterflies from America to reclaim her father's lost memories. At the end of 'Unhinged', the portal into Wonderland had been destroyed, and Alyssa's mother was stuck on the other side, and her two love interests - Jeb and Morpheus - had been taken with Queen Red to AnyElsewhere, a twisted land that occupies the space between the mortal realm and Wonderland. By reclaiming her dad's memories, he's able to help her figure out another way into Wonderland: it turns out that he used to be a portal guard, so by tracking down his long lost family they're able to start their rescue mission.
The second they teleport into AnyElsewhere, they find Morpheus. This automatically put me on guard, because if you're going to a creepy, huge ass area, it's unlikely that you'll find the person you're looking for within a few hours, let alone a few minutes... It was just a bit too much of a convenient inclusion.
Morpheus takes them to Jeb, who has gone a little bit crazy because he's been infused with magic from both Queen Red (who is off inhabiting the body of Queen Hart, another insane relative of Alyssa's from years past) and Morpheus. It means he glows a bit purple, because Red's magic plus Morpheus's blue magic makes purple! (You'd think, being an artist and all, that Alyssa would cotton on to this combination earlier, but it takes her quite a while to realise...) Jeb's all angsty - because that's a super attractive feature in a love interest, don't you know - and with his magical powers he's been creating living paintings who can contribute to the world around them, as long as they don't get wet. If they get wet, the painting creatures melt.
Events happen. Alyssa's dad gets stung by a scorpion butterfly and nearly dies (gasp!) but Morpheus manages to retrieve the antidote (yay!). Morpheus then gets taken hostage (gasp!) but Alyssa decides to risk everyone to save him (yay!). When we reach the Queens castle, we discover Morpheus lied about being in peril (gasp!) but him and Alyssa are getting married (yay?).
It's all rather melodramatic. There's no real focus on the overarching plot of finding her mother and saving Wonderland, because there are too many subplots that need all of the attention, and with a different subplot being thrown in every twenty pages it's very up and down. The only thing that is regularly focused upon is... The love triangle.
When the lives of your closest relatives are in danger, you might think that's important to focus on. Instead of getting distracted planning a wedding, saving the life of your fiancé (who is not the one that you're marrying, by the way...) and just generally being indecisive, you might decide to put more of your brain power into remembering your dad is hidden on a hill in an invisible suit and your mother is who knows where, doing who knows what.
In fact, because of all of the 'Morpheus is in danger!' 'No, Jeb is in danger!' I forgot about the main plot myself, and when it was all resolved with fifty pages left I thought 'Well, what's still got to happen?'. The story that had been set up throughout the entirety of the second installment was just a bit neglected. The love triangle was also so focused upon that there wasn't even a big battle between Alyssa and Queen Red - her fear and love for Jeb allowed her to overthrow Red's control and defeat her, but it happened so quickly that it was quite anti-climactic.
There was something set up in the first book that was finally explained. If you'll remember, back in the first book Queen Red inhabited Alyssa's body, and since that point Alyssa has been having chest pains regularly. It turns out that this is because Red infected her with magic that strengthens her netherling heart, but because her mortal heart is also strong the organ is nearly ripping itself apart. Red admits that she doesn't think there's any magic that can fix it, and the only way for Alyssa to survive is to take the crown and restore herself to her full power netherling form.
Oh, but here comes the other bit of convenience: because Morpheus and Jeb both loved Alyssa as children, they could heal her with their child love magic. Instead of doing something risky and brave, like making Alyssa give up her mortal life just to survive, or having her die while trying to remain herself, there's another resolution that spontaneously occurs.
That, combined with the fact that Alyssa goes through with her plan from book two (in which she decided to live her mortal life with Jeb, then spend eternity with Morpheus) means that I felt quite cheated by this book. I'd been expecting her to choose between her sides, and to therefore choose between her love interests, not to get her way in every facet.
The only reason I'm rating this book as highly as I am is because of A. G. Howard's writing style. While the plot unravelled rather spectacularly, and the focus seemed to veer off completely, A. G.'s writing still filled me with joy and meant that I was completely sucked into the novel. I put it down for a few weeks but still managed to get reabsorbed in the story and the world, with all of its well-rounded and intriguing creatures scattered throughout. The Wonderland that she's created is fabulous, with a vibrancy and uniqueness all of her own: while she's taken inspiration from Lewis Carroll's creation, she's definitely run with it and made it her own.
I wish this final novel had impressed me more, but overall I am very glad that I read this series, because it was a lot of fun. I'm still planning on reading 'Untamed', a selection of three novellas revolving around the series, because one of them focuses on the events after the end of 'Ensnared' but before its (unnecessary) epilogue, and I think that might help me come to terms with the ending and appreciate this finale more.
If you enjoyed 'Splintered' and 'Unhinged', I would seriously recommend finishing off the series... Just don't have your expectations as high as I did.

'Unhinged' (Splintered #2) by A. G. Howard

*This review will contain spoilers!*

"If you won't stay and save Wonderland, I shall bring my own brand of chaos to the human realm."

If you haven't read my review for the first book in the Splintered series, 'Splintered', you should go and read that first! Because this is the second book in the series, I'm not going to be going too much into the establishment of the plot and characters, so if you want any back story you can get it there!
I didn't love the first book in the Splintered series as much as I'd been expecting to, because I had my hopes set insanely high for this series. However, I was certain that it was going to improve over the following two installments, so I couldn't wait to dive into the second book, and boy was I not disappointed.
'Unhinged' focuses much more on the human realm, starting straight off when Morpheus interferes with the human realm and partially drowns Alyssa, forcing her to use her netherling powers to free herself from the situation. He knows she cares about Wonderland, but because she won't admit it and worries much more about the people in her human life, Morpheus decides to take on a human glamour and start attending her school. Meanwhile Red is still causing problems in Wonderland, so Morpheus wants to persuade Alyssa to deal with her once and for all, despite the fact that all she really wants to do is get through prom next week and then move to London with her human boyfriend, Jeb.
The main thing that made me love this novel more than the first installment was definitely the fact that it was bringing Wonderland to us. Instead of trying to reimagine the famous Lewis Carroll scenes, it was brilliant to see the characters in our world, and how they affected the dynamics. Morpheus as a student was such an insane juxtaposition that it completely embodied the ethos of Wonderland, and the craziness just kept going from there. A. G. Howard has such a brilliant imagination, and seeing evil toys wandering in the school corridors and wraiths flooding into the school gym just kept me on the edge of my seat with every page.
However, even with everything that was going on it never seemed busy, which was another big positive. At a couple of points in the first novel I felt rather confused, because there was so much going on that I couldn't get my head around it, but that didn't happen with the action in this second installation. Yes, some of the secrets and lies were difficult to untangle - there was so much deception and confusion! - but because Alyssa didn't know what was going on either it didn't lock anyone out from the development of the plot.
While not much happened in the first half of the novel, it definitely wasn't boring; even though there didn't seem to be much going on, the characters were so compelling that even their developments and interactions were worth reading, and I would have been happy if this book had been longer. Finally getting to meet Alison, Alyssa's mum, properly was great - while at the start of the novel she seems like a terrible character, when her and Alyssa start bonding and opening up they are a badass team! It definitely feels as though we know all of these characters well. I'm finding myself caring about what happens to them and understanding the motivations behind their actions, which is something I can find hard to do! Similarly, love triangles really annoy me in ordinary situations, but the conflict that Alyssa is feeling with the decision between Morpheus and Jeb is completely understandable, and I actually feel sorry for her that she's stuck in the situation - first time for everything!
I am really anticipating the third installation. But I do have the terrible habit that when I'm really enjoying a book I read it really slowly, because I didn't want it to end, but the fact that I was waiting a couple of weeks between sittings of 'Unhinged' and I still didn't forget what was going on is a huge credit to how absorbing this world is. The dialogue is convincing, the characters are all three dimensional and completely unique, and the plot is unpredictable. If you're looking for a book that's going to keep you hooked, this is definitely the one.
I already have my copy of 'Ensnared', but knowing it's the final book in the trilogy makes me want to hold of on starting it - I just don't want this story to come to an end! But the ending of 'Unhinged' is a complete cliffhanger, and I need to know what happens, so I don't think my willpower will last for too long!
If you like retellings, read this book. If you like crazy, unconventional happenings in an everyday setting, read this book. If you like books, read this book! I can't think of anything that would make anyone dislike it, because it's so brilliant. 

'Splintered' (Splintered #1) by A. G. Howard

*This review will contain spoilers!*

'I've been collecting bugs since I was ten; it's the only way to stop their whispers. Sticking a pin through the gut of an insect shuts it up pretty quick.' 

I first heard of the 'Splintered' series a couple of months after the first book was released, but when I learned that it was going to be a trilogy I decided to wait until all three books were out before I would start to read them. After picking up the third book in the series, 'Ensnared', from a charity shop late last month, I thought now would be the perfect time to get the other two out of the library and to immerse myself in this world. 

'Splintered' is a sort of retelling, sort of sequel of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland'. Our protagonist, Alyssa Gardner, is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Alice Liddell, and insanity runs in her family. She has been able to hear plants and insects since she hit puberty. Her grandmother jumped out of a window in hospital, determined that she could fly. Her mother has been locked up in a mental asylum for the majority of Alyssa's life, after injuring Alyssa during one of her delusional episodes. All of these aspects mean that Alyssa is used to being called crazy: her classmates know about her link to Wonderland, and teenagers are cruel, meaning that they tease her at every opportunity. Alyssa keeps herself to herself, making amazing mosaic artwork pieces using only dead beetles, apart from her best friend Jen, and Jen's brother Jeb, who are her only real friends. 

First things first, I need to say how absolutely brilliant the front cover of this novel is. Having Alyssa surrounded by plants and bugs is a beautiful touch, and it really does immerse you into the story from the moment that you pick it up. I love it when book covers have such perfect attention to detail, so that was something that I definitely appreciated here. Another thing I also adored was the fact that all of the text was purple! That was a special touch that I'd not seen in another book. 

The book develops really quickly at the start, with Alyssa getting her quest from her mother - she needs to find the rabbit hole, go to Wonderland and fix the wrongs that Alice made, and then her mother should go back to being a lucid and level-headed woman. After finding a mysterious key and receiving guidance from the moth who has guided her and been her friend throughout her childhood, Alyssa quickly finds herself tumbling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. There was just one little aspect she hadn't anticipated - Jeb tumbling down after her. 

It was one of the first things that really conveyed how different this book was, the fact that the main characters love interest didn't willingly offer to go on her journey with her, but instead got accidentally roped into it. It seemed a lot more realistic and that fact made it a lot more enjoyable. Instead of it just being Alyssa who didn't now what was going on and who was rattled by the developments, Jeb was too - instead of being the cool and collected boy in charge, he in fact was much more frustrated and confused at the beginning of the novel. I really enjoyed the developments that both of them went through in the novel, individually and together, because it was great to see Alyssa go from the girl who wanted help to the girl who knew her own mind and knew exactly what she needed to do. Similarly, I was impressed by how Jeb's transformation was written; how he went from treating Alyssa like a weak little girl to actually understanding the fact that she could fend for herself and she needed his support rather than him to save her.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I was anticipating to, because there were aspects that did get a bit confusing. Due to the discrepancies and alterations between the Lewis Carroll version and this one, there were some bits of the story that felt lost in translation, and there were some passages that had me stumped on the first few readings, until I went back a bit further and unravelled what was happening once more. There were also a lot of clues put throughout the book to let you work out what was going on for yourself, and while they all made sense and slotted together in the end, it just made the development of the novel seem a bit too convoluted. 

However, overall I really did like it. Too many retellings make the stories nearly identical, so it was great that the Wonderland characters were so utterly twisted, dark in a completely gothic way, making it a completely unique construction. Some of the scenes sent shivers down my spine, freaking me out in a way I hadn't been expecting, and I always love it when a book can evoke such emotion in me. The characters were all flawlessly described, from the ferret-like man with his visible brain, to Mr Hattington and the conformateur springing out of his head, and they really do all come to life with A. G. Howard's writing. The scenery and landscapes are also treated with reverence; none of the descriptions of settings are throwaway, unnecessary moments, because all of the information that we get given becomes relevant in some way, shape or form.
Another thing that A. G. Howard took a lot of time with was the development on the relationship between Alyssa and Jeb. Too often in YA novels there's the will-they-won't-they question with the main character and their love interest, and the tension gets resolved super quickly and they move on together, but in this book the building of tension and the question over Alyssa and Jeb was an exciting plot line in itself. Instead of being insta-love, it took a while and they had their issues in the way, and I'm excited to see what happens in the next two books, with the question of Alyssa's attraction to Morpheus still hanging dangerously in the air. 

Despite the fact that the first book wraps up extremely well, I'm very excited to see where A. G. Howard takes this series in the following two novels, and I'm going to be picking up the second one within a week, because I am very excited. There's a lot of questions that still need to be answered in Alyssa's life, and there's so much potential with this series that I sincerely hope it can fulfill it.