How many of you remember the story of Alice in Wonderland? Most of you can probably remember the Walt Disney Studios’ animated classic that was released in 1951 from childhood along with, maybe, Walt Disney Studios and Tim Burton’s live action film that was released in 2010. Some of you have probably even read Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the story Disney, and the other film companies that have released film adaptions, based their films on.
I, personally, have always had a thing for Alice in Wonderland, but in the teen fiction novel, Splintered, the author A.G. Howard’s take on Wonderland threw me for a loop, because she makes it out to be that Carroll got the world of Wonderland very, extremely wrong.
The book recounts the story of Alyssa Gardner, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Alice Liddell. For those of you who don’t know who Alice Liddell is, she is the young girl who Lewis Carroll based his tale off of. It is said in the book that Alice Liddell really fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, and her actions while down there have produced a curse placed on her family’s females that ends them up in the insane asylum for their adulthood.
The story, though, begins by explaining that Alyssa collects bugs and uses them in mosaics that she creates so she can shut them up. That meaning, she can hear the thoughts of every creepy-crawly out there, along with the flowers whether they be rooted in the ground or dug up and placed in a vase. Shortly into the story it is revealed that her mother is in the local insane asylum with the same ability that Alyssa has, and it’s needless to say, Alyssa fears being put there herself.
On a visit to her mother in the asylum, a frenzy of strange happenings reveal that Alyssa has to follow in her great-great-great-grandmother’s footsteps and fall down the rabbit hole to save her mother from the electroshock treatments her father has signed her up for and the rest of her family of having to deal with the curse that’s on them. And once Alyssa does fall down the rabbit hole, followed by her friend and longtime crush Jeb, it is explained why Carroll got the story wrong.
As Alyssa and Jeb travel through Wonderland, Howard slowly shows you that Alice’s innocent mind of childhood addled her comprehension of the dark creatures that truly inhabited Wonderland. But, Alyssa being a junior in high school, her brain sees Wonderland for what it truly is, with every dark twist and turn of the adventure, you find out more and more about the dark creatures Alice actually encountered.
Howard tells that the inhabitants of Wonderland are netherlings. She explains netherlings as creatures they can appear to be in forms that resemble flowers, animals, or humans. In example, the caterpillar smoking a hookah is truly one of those who have taken on a humanoid form, and he goes by the name of Morpheus. During Alice’s stay in Wonderland he buried himself in a cocoon and that’s why she made him out to be a caterpillar. By the time Alyssa arrives in Wonderland he is a humanoid form with large wings that he received during his metamorphosis in his cocoon, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.
Alyssa’s accompany of Jeb and Morpheus throughout her journey through Wonderland posed the stereotypical storyline of both main male characters fighting for the affections of the main female.
Morpheus was described as having large, gauzy black wings that were smooth and warm to the touch. He was said to be ethereally beautiful with his dark hair and dark eyes. He has a quirky obsession with hats, but he attains a sleek, regal air about him that contrasts with Jeb’s normal, teenage boy aura.
Jeb is described as having been a protector of sorts to Alyssa ever since he moved in next door when she was younger. Alyssa believes that he protects her too much which is why she trusts and is intrigued by Morpheus because he believes that she can take care of herself in most situations. Although, she still finds Jeb attractive and has feelings for him that she doesn’t truly entertain because in their world he is dating the girl that attempts to make her life miserable every chance she gets.
Jeb and Morpheus are constantly butting heads throughout the book, and Morpheus is constantly trying to send Jeb away while Jeb is constantly trying to convince Alyssa that Morpheus’ true intentions are strictly for his own gain. While Alyssa won’t let either of them get rid of each other, she has her doubts about both of them and can’t tell whether either of their intentions are truly for her well-being.
But, despite being stereotypical, the both of them having feelings for her ties into the story well by playing a big part in the way Alyssa learns the story of her great-great-great-grandmother’s adventures, making up partially for that drama being overdone.
Like I mentioned before, I’ve always had a thing for Alice in Wonderland. The world of nonsense Carroll created has always fascinated me, and Splintered made it all that more intriguing by showing you what Wonderland could be like once Alice’s mind matured. A.G. Howard does a good job with this, and her quirky wording of the story helps add to the magical nonsense that is wonderland.
Although the story’s love-interest subplot is overdone, this book had me on the edge of my seat and my heart wrenching when something spelled the end for the main characters happened, and therefore I highly recommend the read.