Splintered by A.G. Howard (Group Read June 2014)

[Gwennie]

[Gwennie]

Sorry for the delay, the group read is now open!

As usual, please, if you need to talk about any major plot points (minor story details don't need to be tagged), please use this code to put your text inside of a spoiler tag and make a note of whereabouts in the book you're talking about so people know if they've read far enough to be able to click on the tag :

[Yue]

The covers of all books are among the most beautiful I've seen so far. Too bad I disliked the first book so much.

[Angie]

I love love loved ! Definitely one of my favorites.

I also really enjoyed and . :D

[Dee]

I'm only 80pgs in but loving it so far - makes me want to read Alice the original - I don't know if I ever did growing up

[Gwennie]

Huh.... i was nervous about it but you're making me want to try.

[Hillary]

It really is fairly decent. The twists are fun.

[Kristie]

I really liked this book.

[Samantha]

I'm going to give this one a try. I haven't been able to do a group read in awhile. :( So far it's kind of different, but it seems to have potential. I'll read on to see what's going to develop.

[Dee]

i like how the characters we know and love from alice in wonderland are (view spoiler)[corrupted and mutated in this one - like the octorus - half walrus and half octopus (hide spoiler)]

[tinyfrogs]

Is it normal for kindle versions of books to not have page numbers? This one doesn't but I like the story so far.

[Hillary]

Some do, most don't.

[Samantha]

The author tries to point out several times that her characters don't go with the 'norm'. The heroine at the beginning says she's wearing a shirt with a heart wrapped in barbed wire and she compares it to her own heart. She has pet eels because some reason or another and she didn't want a dog or cat. She works in a vintage clothing store. I get that it's her aesthetic or style, but it feels too pushed to the front at times.

I love the author's descriptive language and I feel like she's really made Alice's story her own, but then the characters will do or say something that makes me cringe just a bit. At the halfway point it's a mixed bag for me.

[Brittney]

I went into this thinking I'd love it and came out of it so-so. It felt like I was actually going mad Lol. I was sooo frustrated with a lot of the things that happened. But I love the dark and scary wonderland...it appealed to me. I can't wait until some of you finish it so we can get a real discussion going!

[Dee]

i like the dark and scary, but I seriously think I need to be smoking something to enjoy it more...its weird

[Brittney]

hahaha that's a good way to put it :) I kind of feel the same! Some of it really was a little strange.

[Dee]

i'm finished this today and i'm conflicted for sure...I liked the beginning, but it kind of went downhill as the book progressed...I gave it 2.5 stars and rounded up to 3 for right now, but that may change

[Jillian]

Snoozefest!

[Dee]

has anyone read Alice in Wonderland recently? reading this kind of made me want to go back to the original - I don't remember when/if I ever read it - all I remember is the disney movie

[Angie]

I read the originals a couple of years ago and hated them. I much prefer this retelling and both Disney movies.

[Christie]

Dee wrote: "has anyone read Alice in Wonderland recently? reading this kind of made me want to go back to the original - I don't remember when/if I ever read it - all I remember is the disney movie"

I read the original a few years back but feel like I missed something. I didn't read Through The Looking Glass and from what I understand there's where most of the things we think about when we think about Alice in Wonderland actually come from. I feel bad admitting this but I found the original a tad boring and short.

[Christie]

Samantha wrote: "The author tries to point out several times that her characters don't go with the 'norm'. The heroine at the beginning says she's wearing a shirt with a heart wrapped in barbed wire and she compar..."

I also found the characters a little bit too out there to believe. I mean I usually love characters who are a bit eccentric and what have you, but this seemed a little excessive. I mean Alyssa is a skater, drives a 1970s Gremlin, wears a weird ensemble of clothes, paints with bugs AND has pet eels. Its a little much.

[Anna]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that the author took the classic characters and story and completely re-imagined them and acted as if the original was actually wrong. Some other retellings make me think of the scene in Fangirl where the professor tells her that she can't use another author's characters in her writing.

I could have done without Taylor. I feel as if there could have been enough tension between Alyssa and Jeb without Taylor's annoying rants and Alyssa's obsessive jealousy.

Beyond the basic retelling and standard plot line, I found the book dealt with the real issues of mental illness. How easy it is to get labeled "crazy," the stigma and hardship felt by the family members, the reality of the fact that the medications meant to help can actually hinder, and the fact that electric shock treatments are still done even though we never hear about it.

[Dee]

i remember seeing something about EST in a tv show recently...what's that USA one with the concierge doc in the hampton's...its still used quite frequently, especially with people who severe depression where other more conventional treatments haven't worked

[Christie]

Dee wrote: "i remember seeing something about EST in a tv show recently...what's that USA one with the concierge doc in the hampton's...its still used quite frequently, especially with people who severe depres..."

It was on Royal Pains (the USA show) and I think there was a Law and Order: SVU last season that also featured EST.

[Dee]

that's it royal pains...I kinda stopped watching it about they killed the russian guy off

[Kdbrand]

Just finished reading, and really enjoyed this one more than I expected to. The weird twists were creative and intriguing, albeit a bit dark at times. Having never read or watched Alice in Wonderland before, I guess there were no expectations on my part. I'm moving on to Moth in the Mirror tonight.

[tinyfrogs]

I finished reading Splintered a few days ago. I really liked it at first. There were times I thought all the descriptions of clothing were a bit too much though. I doubt I will read the rest of the series but overall it was interesting.

[Ashley Marie]

finished Splintered last night and my review's up if anyone's interested -- my overall feelings were that it was good but could've been much better. 3.5 stars. I'm excited to pick up Unhinged though, Morpheus on the cover is just gorgeous. and the novella sounds interesting as well.

[Ashley Marie]

sidenote, has anyone read The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor?

[Stacia (the 2010 club), groupaholic, YA-MA founder]

I didn't get a chance to read the book, so I'm unsure how to shelve this topic. I'm going to stick it in fantasy for now, unless someone thinks it better fits in paranormal.

[CBReader]

First, I am just reading this book...so I'm late to the party. For that reason, I haven't gone back to read the thread...just in case there were accidental spoilers.

Just curious for those who read this one..Did anyone hate Jeb? I'm hating him... I don't normally feel this way about a third wheel (which is how I see him). Ok...maybe that isn't accurate..I hated (LOATHED) Jacob in the Twilight series. Anyway, anyone else hate Jeb? Are my feelings justified or do I need to warm up to him? I'm about 60% through the book.

[Brittney]

Definitely justified...especially in the first book. Not that I can say he gets much better really in the following books. I mean I didn't hate the guy, but he is a jerk.

[Krystal]

haha you are so not the only one! I am currently doing a buddy read with a couple of girls on here on the Splintered series and I've never liked Jeb from the start and in the second book he seems to just get more annoying to me. I much prefer Morpheus haha