Unhinged

December 1, 2013
Alyssa has returned from Wonderland, but her adventures are far from over in this convoluted sequel to Splintered (2013). After defeating Queen Red and rescuing her artist boyfriend, Jeb, Alyssa hopes for a semi-normal finish to her high school career. With her mother back from the mental hospital after 11 years, prom and graduation on the horizon, and Jeb's burgeoning art career ahead, Alyssa works hard to forget about Wonderland and her netherling powers. Though jealous of Jeb's rich, young female patrons and worried about his memory loss, Alyssa believes they have a future together, even as Morpheus, her childhood tutor and creepy suitor, demands that she love him and fight Queen Red. But when Alyssa won't come to Wonderland, it comes to her, in a perverted medley of Carroll's creations. Howard excels in sensory and sensuous descriptions but prizes details over plot. Readers who appreciate a Gothic love triangle, body modification, eerie art and brooding-artist types will enjoy this colorful but creepy offering and await the next installment. Anyone seeking Alice will have to look elsewhere. A world of weirdness that, sadly, necessitates a sequel. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

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February 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-The sequel to Splintered (Abrams, 2013) continues the adventures of Alyssa Gardner, a descendent of Alice Liddell, Lewis Caroll's inspiration for Alice and Wonderland, who has inherited her ancestor's connection to Wonderland, and her madness. Alyssa is back up from the rabbit hole but still not safe. Having made the decision to renounce her title as Queen of Wonderland to live in the human world with her boyfriend, Jeb, she is still enticed by the mysterious netherling Morpheus to return to the magical realm, or otherwise it will be destroyed. Much to Alyssa's horror, Morpheus manages to come to the human world and even enroll in her school. Fans will be pleased that Morpheus plays a more prominent role in this book, since he is more intriguing as a romantic figure than Jeb. Alyssa's mother, newly released from a mental institution, is also given a larger role, and the teen's relationship with both parents is fleshed out. Like Alyssa's half-mad, half-sane world, this installment feels unbalanced at times, but stays entertaining. The cliff-hanger ending will leave readers eager for the next entry in the series.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2013
Grades 8-12 When Morpheus shows up at Alyssa's high school as a glamorous goth rocker, she is furious; he has invaded her real world. Things become tense when he threatens to harm those she loves if she doesn't return to Wonderland to fight the Red Queen. Once again, Howard expands the Alice in Wonderland fairy tales to imagine a terrifying backstory full of sinister toys, talking flowers and insects, and a Jeb/Morpheus/Alyssa love trianglemade more interesting with the addition of wealthy Ivy Raven. The Wonderland magic and perverse violence is nicely juxtaposed with a typical high-school senior year. Eventually, Alyssa enters battle with the Red Queen, which will hopefully be resolved in the third volume.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
Alyssa left Wonderland (in Splintered) a year ago, but now her dreams foreshadow new trouble there. When Wonderland's inhabitants enter the human realm, Alyssa's two worlds collide. Though a romantic triangle and Alyssa's identity struggle bog down this second installment, fans will be intrigued by the cliffhanger ending, which hints at future trips to Wonderland--and to "the looking-glass world, AnyElsewhere."

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)