YA Group Read (March 2015) - Splintered, by A. G. Howard

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

We have a tie! It's down to Splintered or I'll Give You the Sun. Tie-breaker poll will be open until Wednesday night (Feb 25th) - https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

And the winner is... Splintered, by A. G. Howard!

If anyone would like to set up a buddy read for I'll Give You the Sun, feel free to do so. :)

Reading and discussion commence on March 1. Please keep spoilers behind spoiler tags.

[Roseanne]

I love this book!

[Bella]

I'm planning to read it. Love Alice in Wonderland. Also, if anyone has a Nook, the ebook is almost $2 cheaper at Kobo books. (It's $9.99 at B&N and $8.09 at Kobo.)

[Tracey]

Nice! This has been sitting on my TBR list forever.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I'm excited about doing this as a group read. I think it will be a nice break from some of the other reading I have planned for the month.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I'm about 130 pages in, and I've gotta say... (view spoiler)[I get that Jeb is supposed to be the hunky hero of this book, but he's disturbingly handsy. I literally feel creeped out every time he touches this girl, and it happens on almost every page. *shudder* But I'm weird, so... (hide spoiler)]

I'm enjoying the actual story, though!

[Roseanne]

I love this book. Yep I am going to say it again.

(view spoiler)[ I did not like Jeb at all in the beginning of the book. I am totally a Morpheus kind of girl. But by the end of the book I didnt think he was so bad. (hide spoiler)]

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

So it's not just me, then! Thanks, Roseanne. :)

[Happy]

Forget Jeb or Morpheus. I'm in love with that cover. Is that gorgeous or what?!

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Happy wrote: "Forget Jeb or Morpheus. I'm in love with that cover. Is that gorgeous or what?!"

It really is!

[Cristal]

The story getting better the more I'm reading, to start with I struggled.

[Roseanne]

I love the cover!

[Cheryl]

Started this yesterday and I'm really enjoying. Not sure what I expected, but glad I trusted all y'all who said it was great.

[Cheryl]

ok, so I finished this yesterday and while I enjoyed it, I am not in love. I can't put my finger on the "why?", but in the end, I was just ready to be done with it. I'm surprised at this, because I really enjoyed it in the beginning. Beautiful world building, and I love the premise, but in the end, I didn't connect with the characters enough to move on to book 2. Give it a shot though...I do seem to be in the minority here :)

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I feel ya, Cheryl. I'm having a hard time with it, too. The main character is just so... forgive me for using a "fandom" term but... Mary-Sue-ish? I just can't get into the characters. It's coming across as author's-fantasy rather than just plain fantasy, and that's a major turn-off for me. But yeah, the premise and world building is so great, so it's a shame.

[megan]

Cute read while at Walt Disney World on vacation.

[megan]

I didn't like this book until I read The Moth In The Mirror novella (Splintered 1.5 - no link from app) It's parts of the book based on how Jed sees things and what happens to him while separated from Alyssa. The novella should have been included in the original, maybe switching back and forth between perspective or written in third person. Until I read The Moth In the Mirror, I had no real feeling for Jeb as a character and assumed his lack of depth was from being the average typical teenage player wanting everything.

[Tracey]

I really didn't care for Jeb at all. I actually would have just been much happier with the book if Jeb completely hadn't existed.

[Roseanne]

I didn't like Jeb either. I read Moth in the Mirror. The novella is totally meant for those of us who didnt like Jeb so much. I have also read the second and third book. I have to say by the end of the third book I love Jeb.

[megan]

So glad I read it then! Two and three are waiting in my Kindle.

[Cristal]

Megan wrote: "I didn't like this book until I read The Moth In The Mirror novella (Splintered 1.5 - no link from app) It's parts of the book based on how Jed sees things and what happens to him while separated f..."

Thanks for this information, I will read this before book 2:-)

[Becca]

I read Splintered and liked it. Jeb didn't bother me that much. I think he was a necessary part of the story.

[Sam]

I would like to read this but can't find a cheap version anywhere. I'll have to check the library.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I lucked out and got it for two bucks as a Kindle deal a little whole back. Check there; maybe it's still on sale.

[megan]

Just finished Unhinged (Splintered #2) and it's awesome to witness the author become a better writer as her series progresses.
The love triangle gets much stronger and she's doing a great job of pulling the reader back and forth between sides, as well as slowly pulling in minor characters with subtle hints in previous books.
All are quick reads. And cute. Reading them between breaks in the emotional turmoil of Atonement has saved me from some serious ugly crying.

[Sam]

I finished this today and I have to say I didn't like it at all! I couldn't connect with the characters and the plot just didn't flow for me.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Two chapters in and I like it so far. Loving the way the author is meshing the fantastical with both mundane teenage concerns and deeper psychological elements. I reread the original Lewis Carroll a few months ago; it will be interesting to see how much actually makes it into this book... And how much is inspired by Tim Burton/Johnny Depp.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Finished last night! I agree that there was something missing in the flow of the story. A kind of clunkiness. But I chalk that up to its being a first novel. And I liked Jeb... But then I tend to have little patience with "bad boys."Maybe I'm just exploring my inner voyeur! ;-)

[megan]

I read all three and you can definitely see how she progresses as a writer.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Good to know, Megan, thanks!