Review: Ensnared (Splintered #3) by A.G. Howard (Series Ender Challenge #1)

I got an ARC of this from trading through the YA Book Exchange with Jane from Much Ado About Books.  I didn't get around to reading it last weekend though, about a week after I got it.  But once I picked it up, it was all I could do to put it down in order to do things like sleep, work, drive, etc.  This review is going to be soooooo hard!  I loved it so much, but a lot of what I loved would be spoilers for other people, and I really don't want to ruin it for anyone.  So I'll do my best to be unspoilery.  Of course, if you haven't read the first two, I won't be able to help you with that, there will be things from those books.

We begin where the last one had left off.  Alyssa is on the train on her way to try to get the entrances to Wonderland opened back up.  Her dad has learned that all of the things that made her and her mother "crazy" are true.  And that at one time he was a part of all of it.  Alyssa's heart feels messed up thanks to when Red had been sharing her body.  Her mom is stuck in Wonderland, and Jeb and Morpheus are trapped in AnyElsewhere where they landed with Red.  There is an iron dome over AnyElsewhere that keeps magic from being used.  And Alyssa is so worried for Jeb, afraid that Morpheus either won't protect him, or will do something to keep Alyssa from ever getting to spend time with Jeb.  We learned in the last book that Alyssa and Morpheus's child will be what is needed to save Wonderland, to help with the imagination and dreams.  But Alyssa wants a life with Jeb as well.

Alyssa's father comes from a family that protects the two entrances of AnyElsewhere to keep things living there from getting out.  With her newly met Uncle, she and her father go in to try to save Jeb.  Only Jeb has changed.  Something about going into the world at the same time as Morpheus and Red has changed him, and he is cold to Alyssa.  He seems to be unable to forgive her.  While Morpheus has done his best to protect Jeb, Morpheus has lost his magic to Jeb it seems.  And along with that, he has told Jeb everything detail of the things that he and Alyssa have, making Jeb so unforgiving as he doesn't hear the whole truths, only what Morpheus chooses to tell him.

To save the world, they must capture Red, get through to Wonderland, and recreate all that has been destroyed.  But in the end everything will come with sacrifices. Some that may seem too great to survive, will in the end be just what is needed and even make their lives better in their own ways.

Can I just say, wow. The heartbreak, the sadness, the wonderful world, the beautiful imagery, the layer upon layer upon layer of story.  Things may turn out the way we want, but not in the way we think.  As I mentioned above, everyone has to give things up.  Even to a point, Morpheus.  One thing that I loved the most, I can't really even share, because I don't want to spoil that part about the ending for those of you who haven't read it yet!  And what is even more exciting is that the author posted today that there is a possibility of a follow up novella, here is the evidence from Twitter:

If I hadn't been at work on Wednesday when I saw this, there would have been some yelling and screaming going on!!  I need more of this world!  One thing that tells you how much I loved this, everyone knows that I never have time to re-read anything anymore.  But I want so much to go back and re-read all three of these books because I know I missed out on beautiful images from the land of Wonderland because I was in such a hurry to read and know what would happen.  The way the author writes is so wonderful, so beautiful, such an imaginative wonderful world.  Better even than the original stories that inspired her.

November is for Novellas Challenge #5: The Moth in the Mirror (Splintered 1.5) by A.G. Howard

I loved Splintered when I read it at the end of last year, and when I saw on Goodreads that there was a novella, one that kind of would help me last till the 2nd book came out, I had to have it, and so bought it with my birthday Barnes and Noble gift card for my Nook.  I would say this is definitely another novella that adds to the story.

We get Jeb's side of the story, things that were happening to him while Morpheus had Alyssa out passing his tests, to see if she could be the next rightful queen of Wonderland.  But, really, it is kind of through Morpheus's point of view.  You see Morpheus is able to get into Jeb's memories thanks to some good old fashioned magic.  So we get to also see how Morpheus reacts to what happened to Jeb when he wasn't around, and since he is in Jeb's head in a way, how Morpheus deals with Jeb's emotions as well.
I won't go much into the story, we know the basics as told through Alyssa's eyes in Splintered, this just fills in some missing pieces.  At only about 40 pages, it is another quick read, but, like the original novel, there is so much beautiful detail and description, that while it seems to be over fast, because you're so involved, it still is a lasting impression that you just get so involved in, thanks to that wonderful scene setting and character development.
Of course now I'm just ready to go ahead and read my e-galley of Unhinged, but it's not the next one I need to read, so I have to wait.  This was definitely worth the $1.99 it cost me for the e-book.

2013 Debut Authors Bash: A Few Words from A.G. Howard and a Giveaway

Dear Followers,
I was so excited that I got picked to host someone who I feel had the best debut novel of 2013, A.G. Howard.  You can read my review of the first book in her series, Splintered, HERE.  I was lucky enough to get an ARC of it and read it back in December before it was published.  So now of course, the wait for it for me is even longer!  Now, I am such a huge fan of this book that at the end of the post I am sponsoring a giveaway of it.  That's right, anyone that lives where The Book Depository ships is eligible to win a copy of this awesome debut book.  First I'll share a bit about the author from her website, and then I'll let you see the post she sent for me to share with you.  After you fill out the Rafflecopter, I've listed the dates of the other stops below that so you can go check out some more awesome debut authors!

About A.G. Howard

Anita Grace Howard lives in the Texas panhandle, and is most at home weaving the melancholy and macabre into settings and scenes, twisting the expected into the unexpected. She’s inspired by all things flawed, utilizing the complex loveliness of human conditions and raw emotions to give her characters life, then turning their world upside down so the reader’s blood will race.

Married and mother of two teens (as well as surrogate mom to two Labrador retrievers), Anita divides her days between spending time with her family and plodding along or plotting on her next book.

When she’s not writing, Anita enjoys rollerblading, biking, snow skiing, gardening, and family vacations that at any given time might include an impromptu side trip to an 18th century graveyard or a condemned schoolhouse for photo ops.

Be sure to drop by her Twitter or Face Book Author Page and say "Hi." She's always up for meeting new friends!

In the Absence of Words…

A typical work week for me is sitting in front of the computer for 8 to 10 hours a day, no weekends off (with small breaks in between to chauffeur kids around, make meals, or do laundry and occasionally but rarely housework--ha!). The majority of this time, I'm either writing words on my latest project or an interview, fixing words for my editor, or exchanging words (fun and amicable ones, of course) online via social media.

So much time spent with text can be mind-numbing. And sometimes I need a break from all the letters of the alphabet running tangents through my head. One of my favorite escapes is music. Even better if I can find music that tells a story ... because at my heart I'm a storyteller, and that's something I never tire of.

So, for any of you who've been slaving over sentences and scenes or even just typing up things for your boss or your business, I offer this hiatus via a beautiful heartbreaking story set in a post-apocalyptic setting, told only through song and computer animation. A feast for the ears and eyes, and an escape for the weary mind.

Enjoy.

Note: I am not the creator of this video. I found it on Youtube and fell madly in love. It's actually a clip from a short movie that has words spoken throughout. Here's the link for anyone interested in watching the original.

Thank you for indulging my tribute to the muse of music, and have a lovely week. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

September 1st

YaReads - Geoffrey Girard

Swoony Boys Podcast - Jane Nickerson

Kristi's Book Readery - Page Morgan

September 2nd

Book Bandit - Laura Lam

The Word Mineur - Mindee Arnett

My Friends Are Fiction - Samantha Shannon

September 3rd

Nose Graze - Jessica Verdi

Between Printed Pages - L. M. Augustine

You've Been Blogged! - Jody Casella

September 4th

Skye's Scribblings - Kasie West

Lose Time Reading - Emily Murdoch

The Eater of Books - Kelsey Sutton

September 5th

Book. Blog. Bake - Lauren Miller

Bookend 2 Bookend - Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Musings of a Blogder - Heather Reid

Allodoxophobia: The Fear of Opinions - Lindsey Scheibe

September 6th

Magical Manuscripts - Shaunta Grimes

The Reading Vixens - Sarah Ashley Jones

September 7th

Books for Birds - April Genevieve Tucholke

Book Blather - Romily Bernard

September 8th

The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club - Kara Taylor

Inspiring Insomnia - Stephanie Kuehn

September 9th

Kissed by Ink - Ellen Oh

Sleeps on Tables - J.R. Johansson

Always YA at Heart - Amanda Sun

September 10th

Lisa Loves Lit - A.G. Howard

whYAnot Reviews - Liz Fichera

Samantha Clark - Claire M. Caterer

September 11th

Rampant Readers - Leah Miller

Emily's Crammed Bookshelf - T. Michael Martin

September 12th

The Uninterrupted Reader - Cat Winters

The Book Beacon - Christina Mercer

September 13th

Read & Reviewed - Lindsay Ribar

Paranormal Book Club - Kit Grindstaff

September 14th

Books as You Know it - Mary Gray

Paranormal Reads - Elsie Chapman

Bibliophilia, Please - Helen Douglas

September 15th

The Book Cellar - Erin Bowman

Fantasy Book Addict - Miriam Forster

September 16th

Pond Across the Pond - Laurie Crompton

YaReads - Debra Driza

September 17th

Teen Librarian Toolbox - Mindy McGinnis

Le'Book Squirrel - Kimberly Ann Miller

Finding Bliss in Books - Lydia Kang

September 18th

Rachel Reads - Errica Lorraine Scheidt

Kentucky Geek Girl - Holly Smale

September 19th

Turning Pages - Amy Butler Greenfield

Beauty and the Bookshelf - Alison Cherry

September 20th

Synchronized Reading - J.L Spelbring

Reading is My Treasure - Kristin Halbrook

A&C Book Junkies - Carey Corp

September 21st

Playing Jokers - Lenore Appelhans

Lizzie's Dark Fiction - Elizabeth May

September 22nd

Sandwich Making Book Bitches - Anne Applegate

Little Bookwork Reviews - Jennifer Iacopelli

September 23rd

Moosubi Reviews - Megan Shepherd

Little Miss Trainwreck - Julianna Scott

September 24th

Fictionators - Emma Trevayne

Pimples, Popularity, and Protagonists - Corey Ann Haydu

September 25th

Breath of Books - Steven dos Santos

Jennzah - Chelsea Pitcher

September 26th

Nightly Reading - Liz Coley

Pandora's Books - Kelly A. Barson

September 27th

Forever 17 Books - Amie Kaufman

My Bookopolis - Jamie Blair

September 28th

Nick's Book Blog - Jennifer McGowan

Curling Up with a Good Book - Leila Howland

September 29th

Ex Libris - Mindy Raf

Adventures in YA Publishing - Carly Ann West

September 30th

YaReads - J.J. Howard

Fiction Freak - Kate Karyus Quinn

Waiting on Wednesday: Unhinged (Splintered #2) by A.G. Howard

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  I wasn't sure what I was going to pick this week until I remembered a recent cover reveal that reminded me of a book I read at the end of last year that I just loved, Splintered.  Now the sequel, Unhinged, won't be released until January of 2014, but still, it is definitely one that I'm very eager for, and maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get another e-galley or ARC of it to enjoy before then!  And so, here is the blurb from Goodreads.com:

Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she's always dreamed of.

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.

As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.

If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she'll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.
Now, if  you haven't read the first one yet, you need to get it.  It was such a new, unique story that I have been recommending it left and right, and really, I've not ever been a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland. But this book made me interested in the whole story behind the author and the person it was supposedly written about. 
 So, what book or books are you waiting on this week?

Splintered by A.G. Howard

The first thing I HAVE to say about this book is that I LOVED it!!!!  Such a creative, engrossing, awesome story!  I'm not the biggest Alice in Wonderland fan, and don't hate me, but I'm not really that big of a Tim Burton fan, so I never saw the new movie.  I read the book, a long time ago, and have seen the cartoons, and other things about it, so it's not an unknown story.  But it was just not one I really ever got into.  As I got into it though, and the story included some "facts" about the author and the little girl that he kind of based the story on, I got interested enough to do some internet research.  And for some reason I felt I'd seen a movie about the true story. But then when I couldn't find a movie like that, I realized that it was actually a movie about the author of Peter Pan.  I wish they would make a movie now about Lewis Carroll.  

Okay, here's my brief synopsis of Splintered:  Our main character is Alyssa, who is a distant relative of THE Alice that the story was based on.  Her mother is in an asylum, as she seems to believe that she has been to Wonderland, and even hurt her daughter one time because of what she heard the insects saying.  And actually, Alyssa has been hearing the insects and plants talk to her for awhile.  But she's tried really hard not to let anyone know, and to ignore it.  In fact, to help deal with it, she took up collecting insects, and using them in art.  Which of course required them to be killed, which meant silence for Alyssa.  She does decide to admit something to her mother about it, when the things going on with the insects begin to grow strangely predictive.  But telling her mother about it leads to her mother having a bit of a breakdown. To the point where her father decides that electric shock therapy may be the only choice left.  But Alyssa has learned of the curse on her family, and now wants nothing more to get to London, and in turn into Wonderland, to fix the original Alice's mistakes and save her family.  She figures out how to get there from clues both off the internet as well as from her mother.  Unfortunately when she gets the "looking glass" to work for her with the keys her mother left hidden for her, Jeb, her next door neighbor, best-friend, and secret crush, gets sucked in after her when he tries to save her.  But of course, once they get to Wonderland, they have to deal with all the familiar things in the story, the shrinking with drinking the "drink me" and then growing back with the "eat me" cake.  And, as with any good story, what Alyssa believes she is there to do, is not actually what she's going to be doing, or why she'll do it.  Not to mention the fact that Alyssa herself isn't who or what she's always believed she was.  Such a good story, with twists and turns to keep you on your feet and making it hard to put the book down, even if you have to work!!

Okay, now, things I loved, that all the women in the line of the family were named a version of the name Alice.  Any story that makes me want to research into a true story is a great story in my opinion.  While there is a bit of a love triangle, and I do get tired of those, the way it works, well, it just works, and isn't as much of a triangle as could be.  And, I am not a fan of comic books really, or graphic novels, but I must admit how much I wanted to see each of the outfits that Alyssa wore in the book.  The author described them so colorfully I could almost see them in my head. But I'd love to see a graphic novel, or illustrations within just a regular novel of them.  And I want her to look just like the cover, no cartoony-ness or manga-ish, anime-ish, etc.  And this would be a colorful, wonderful movie, one I'd be there at midnight to see, even though I've said no more midnight premieres unless they are in the summer, because I'm too old for that during the school year when I have to teach all day.  I love, love, love this book!  If you like fairy tale retellings, or other story retellings, then you have to read this.  What are you waiting for?  Oh yeah, it won't be published till January.  But put it on your TBR list, you'll want to read it!