A little about the book up for review today:
Title: Unhinged (Splintered Book 2)
Author: A. G. Howard
Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairy Tales
Length (print): 400 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $9.99 ~ Hardcover $14.00
Synopsis:Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole. She was crowned Queen of the Red Court and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the boy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly appealing Morpheus. Now all she has to do is graduate high school. That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn't show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland--where she (partly) belongs. Could she leave Jeb and her parents behind again, for the sake of a man she knows has manipulated her before? Will her mother and Jeb trust her to do what's right? Readers will swoon over the satisfying return to Howard's bold, sensual reimagining of Carroll's classic.
***Will not appear in review elsewhere. Holy crap at the covers for these books, huh? I love, love, love them. They're all so very close to monochromatic, the cover for Splintered was the same (but green), and the next one in this series appears to be red. Booyah. I have an idea where that story may be going by the image on the cover alone. Red is a bad lady. *grins* I love it! This book gave me chills as it carried me along on its back through a mad, mad world.***
Let's get to the review, shall we?
I was browsing through Barnes and Noble when I spotted this book nestled among the titles in the Teen section. Of course, because I'm me, I picked it up. Bad decision (ask my husband and kids), because I couldn't put it down once
From a Reader's Perspective:
Wow. I got completely sucked in by the descriptions and world building going on in Unhinged. Several times I caught myself closing my eyes for a moment to get a more vivid picture in my head of what was going on around Alyssa. She's one tough cookie, and I can't help but root for Morpheus in the crazy love triangle going on. There are no middle book blahs going on here. This story was funny, fun, and contained all the wonderful madness of Splintered. I wasn't disappointed, and I can't wait to read Ensnared in January. When the end happened, I wished for more book right away. Unhinged totally left me with a book hangover for a couple of days after I was done reading it. I liked how the second book built on the first one and set me up for the third. Jeb was kind of annoying. I know, sad to say, but I'm crossing my fingers for Alyssa to take her place in Wonderland as queen with Morpheus by her side. I had one of the little twists figured out by the middle of the book, but it was no less thrilling. You'll enjoy the creepy factor. This isn't a retelling of Carroll's story, it's a total re-conception of why, who, and how, building on Alice's ancestors.
From an Editor's Perspective:
Just a pronoun misplacement or two; nothing to write home about.
Rating:
1 Star for edge-of-my-seat world building
1 Star for giving me such likeable characters I don't know which one to root for
1 Star for just enough description without going overboard
1 Star for pacing, tying things together with book one, and setting me up for book three in a non-irritating way
1 Star for great editing
Overall, 5 out of 5 stars. Recommended if you dislike retellings, but love great spinoffs, of classic fairy tales.
I hope you all enjoyed that little review!
Have you read any of the books in this series?
Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
