If you're familiar with this quote, you'll probably love
A.G. Howard's debut novel, Splintered,
a strange and macabre take on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.
A short summary of the plot reads thus: Alyssa Gardner, a
descendent of Alice Liddell (the inspiration for Carroll's Alice),
can speak to bugs and plants. This worries her, since the same ability put her
mother in the asylum; she's afraid
she'll end up like her mother and all the women who came before her who
also went mad. Gradually, Alyssa starts to realize that this hereditary madness
might actually be some sort of curse that descended upon her family when Alice
went down the rabbit hole - that's right, Lewis Carroll's children's tales were
actually true. However, real Wonderland doesn't exactly resemble the place of
wonder and magic that Carroll's books described; it's much darker and more
sinister. Alyssa must break the curse on her family by going into Wonderland
herself and fixing all the trouble that Alice
left behind.
As a huge Alice fan
myself, this book was a deliciously strange take on one of my favorite
childhood tales. A.G. Howard says she was inspired by Tim Burton's Alice
film, and her descriptions of the "real" Wonderland clearly show this
influence. Howard does a beautiful job of describing her version of Wonderland.
The picture in my head as I read was very vivid and detailed, and she wove a
lovely mix of strange and twisted with beautiful and imaginative. Many Alice
character favorites make appearances as well: the Mad Tea Party, the Red and
White Queens, the Cheshire Cat, and many more, though don't expect them to be
the same characters you know and love from Carroll's books! Howard has made
most of them entirely her own.
Alyssa is a strong character despite being haunted and
scarred by her mother's insanity through most of the story. She is clearly a
caring and mostly selfless person. I liked her and found her fairly easy to
identify with. Alyssa also has two men in her life: her best friend and crush,
Jeb, and her mysterious and dark guide to Wonderland, Morpheus, both of whom
tug on different heartstrings. Jeb plays the part of the sweet, trustworthy
teenage boy-who's-a-friend. Morpheus, on the other hand, is a Wonderland
resident from Alyssa's childhood dreams and memories. He's different from
anyone else she's ever known, and they seem to have some strange connection as
he leads her deeper and deeper into the twisted Wonderland and into the darker
corners of her own mind. I think Morpheus would have to be my favorite
character. I have a thing for characters with ambiguous loyalties and morals,
and Morpheus fits that description perfectly.
Although the things I've mentioned really make this a
great book, it's going on my favorites shelf in large part for another reason:
Howard connects her book intricately with Carroll's books, and her story is
filled to bursting with recognizable references to the originals. I absolutely
adore this, especially in the context of a rich, unique story. She's done a
lovely job with this novel.
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes
Lewis Carroll (as long as you're okay with having the familiar story changed
quite a bit…). As the book's cover says, "Welcome to the real
Wonderland."
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