Friday, March 13, 2015

Time to Talkback: Review on Unhinged by A.G. Howard

The Authors had their time to talk now it's Time to Talkback. This gives me the chance to review the book or books I have been reading. Now I'm all for a honest review and at times I can be a bit harsh with some of the judgements I voice, as far as book go. But it has nothing to do with the author(s) for without them what would my imagination be (goodness help us all). It is just my own opinion, constructive criticism (I say) and I just want to state it as so many of us sometimes do. Good or Bad, I am always thankful for the books I read and the author(s) who wrote them. So, welcome to Talkback and here to a honest review.

Title:Unhinged
Author: A. G. Howard
Series: Splintered #2
Author Info: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre Type: Fantasy, Re-telling Wonderland
Publication date: January 7th 2014
Publisher: Amulet Books
Format: Paperback
Pages:  387 pages
Source: Books-a-Millions, Bought
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With the sequel of A.G. Howard’s debut, Splintered, Unhinged is a marvelous addition to the retelling of Alice in Wonderland. The madness of Howard’s writing is captaining and awe-inspiring. Even though it's a much darker version of the known story, it still holds the spirit of the childhood tale. The characters, the dialogue, even the actions while in Wonderland or in this case, not in Wonderland, feels unique and fresh. Every character has their own way of speaking, their own personality, and it's so easy to be immersed within the elegantly described world. Much like her debut, Unhinged’s artwork is unbelievably beautiful and getting lost in it is easy. With Morpheus’ face on the cover you find your imagined impression of him coming to life, sharping under that fine details of each stroke of color.

It’s been a year since Alyssa’s first adventure to Wonderland with Jeb. A year since she’s been back, gotten her mother out of the prison of the asylum and a year since she and Jeb began dating. Things are nice, normal even. But Wonderland is still on her mind, if distantly, coming to life through her artwork still. She still hears the chattering of bugs and plants, though she no longer uses them in her art mosaics. She’s now finishing up her senior year at school and has plans to go to London for college and live with Jeb in a flat somewhere. But then the unexpected happens. It is like bits of Wonderland are finding their ways into her normal world, more so than the usual oddness she dealt with on a daily basis. And Morpheus is soon to follow, bearing bad news, hidden in a dozen riddles as usually. Red, the evil ex-queen, is on the loose and wreaking havoc, wanting Alyssa back in Wonderland so she can use her body to rule her once kingdom. Alyssa must again face the enemy, but how do you find your enemy when she has no body. Madness.

Still Alyssa is dealing with a love triangle that seems to be more on her mind than dealing with the problems at hand. However, seeing Alyssa’s mother back in the story more and taking a more pivotal role is quite enjoyable. Seeing parents in a YA novel is refreshing and even more so when not just in the background as though their children do not have some kind of guidance and structure. Howard paints vivid details on the world and the story that it is involved in, giving a bit more of the background of Alyssa’s family and Wonderland.

Though both her debut and sequel Howard gives us different telling with in the same story. In Splintered we were presented with the dark side classic world of Wonderland and it even more disturbing characters, and in Unhinged we are given more fodder and adventure of the characters, even without being in Wonderland itself. The thought of how Ensanred the third book that follows this amazing rendition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, has my nerves elated with excitement. I cannot wait to see where the story takes Alyssa, the world of Wonderland, and the rest of the character to.



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