JackyKa wrote:this book is called Unhinged i cant remember who wrote it but its not very good. ( this is my opinion and i might have overlooked some things) This is rlly long sorry it just bothers me so much
I've read a lot of books and this definetly isnt one of the best FYI I havent finished it and i dont really want to but i read around in the end and it doesnt seem like it got any better. The cover is beautiful, its one of my favorites. But,the protagonist Alyssa is very edgy i guess. Not cool edgy Ive read books with goth/'emo' main characters and LOVED them but its a little over the top. Alyssa uses her own blood in her mosaics, I love the idea its real cool but the author makes it seem so 'rebel' i guess you could say. "Look at my sad character she cut her finger and put it on her art oh my god so unheard of and rebellious" Plus Alyssa's mother is/was in an asylum at some point near when the book takes place and 1 it wasnt explained too well ( from what i read ) so it just seems a little pointless and 2 how did Alyssa support herself when her mother was gone? Did she stay with somebody bc it wasnt really mentioned. And the antagonist. He shows up pretty early theres nothing wrong with that but it kindof seemed like he just showed up so early to tell the reader about the plot and he sounded kindof ridiculous doing it, I hated how it was worded. Theres a lot more i want to say but i dont want to end up writing an essay on why i dont like Unhinged haha
Okay, I like scoured this entire forum to find another post about the Splintered series and then I found this basically at the end of where I had to search. Oh my goodness.
SPOILERS FOR THE SPLINTERED SERIES BY AG HOWARD
It's the Splintered series or Return to Wonderland series by AG Howard, who is currently working on a Phantom of the Opera themed book that I'll probably end up reading because I love her cringy writing for some reason.
Also, this is gonna be a giant essay because I absolutely hate but also love this series for really specific reasons.
First problem I had with it: Alyssa is so edgy it hurts. She's basically the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope but put in a way that makes her somewhat relatable to (white, straight) teenaged girls. She wears black tu-tus and skirts, leggings, and I'm pretty sure gloves, but I would space out whenever I read about her outfits. Honestly, every description was like the first paragraph of My Immortal, but worse. She has a mom in an asylum and, she doesn't even ever do the whole "I hope my mom's okay blah blah blah" thing that normal people would do, but basically loathes her and makes the whole "my mom was deemed mentally incompetent to go on in society so she was put in a mental hospital" all about her and how she gets bullied for it. Beyond this, she makes art where she strings dead insects on clear thread and then frames it. She's basically the summation of the girl every mid-2000s, MySpace emo girl who used "rawr" unironically wanted to be, but has a comfortable life with a loving father, a hot next door neighbor who makes me cry because of how horribly he was mishandled, and blonde hair to top it all off. Then she starts using her own blood to make mosaics and getting more annoying.
Next: The next door neighbor, Jeb, is simulataneously Alyssa's best friend's brother, Alyssa's crush, and Alyssa's bully's boyfriend at the start of the series. If that's not enough, they end up getting into a relationship with each other right after an entire book of relationship building that he magically forgets when Alyssa agrees to a deal with some fairy that possessed a cardboard cutout of Brandon Lee in the Crow and he breaks up with his girlfriend. Apparently, "he had feelings for her, but didn't know how to express them," so he started dating the girl who likely caused Alyssa to develop an acute mental disorder due to her constant teasing about her family, with her great great grandmother or whatever being "Alice." Honestly, this reads like a bad self insert fan fic. They get together, they nearly drown to death in a sewer pipe in a cave in the second book, he gets commisioned by some lady from Wonderland unknowingly, and is one of two love interests. I hate love triangles but here we go. He's also an overbearing person who should probably fight his own demons of past abuse at the hands of his father before getting into a relationship, as he's harmful to her, their relationship, and himself CONSTANTLY. It can also be noted that Jennara, his little sister and Alyssa's best friend suffered 0 abuse at the hands of their father. Odd.
Next: Morpheus, the fairy that possessed a Brandon Lee cutout and JackyKa thought was the antagonist, is a seductive being that can change through any ages he likes due to living in Wonderland, played with Alyssa in her dreams as a child, fell in love with Alyssa, and is the sworn enemy of Jeb just because he apparently isn't educated on the subject of polyamory despite the fact that Wonderland is intended to be wild and otherwise unconventional, as it is. He screams "bad boy archetype" and is always saying something suggestive, however these comments are often misplaced, creepy, and just.. forward, at the least. He nearly lets the main character get taken over by the actual antagonist at the end of book 1, steals a mortal's body and shoves him into Wonderland just to mess with Alyssa about her commitments in book 2, and saves Jeb in book 3. What character growth. In all actuality, he's the least insufferable of the 3 mains, but he's written in a way where it's difficult to empathize or relate to him because it's difficult to do that with any character in the series. He's so integral, however, that he's basically the person that's talked to the entire bloodline of Alice, Alison, Alyssas, and all other A names to try to get them to run Wonderland.
Next: The source material was rampant with ableism, but this was just HORRIBLE. Alison, Alyssa's mother, lied about being mentally ill to protect Alyssa after nearly cutting Alyssa's hands off and severely injuring her due to Morpheus in moth form flying near little Alyssa. Then, when Alyssa returns to real life at the end of book 1, she jumps through a mirror, subdues the nearby nurse with a NEEDLE WITH SEDATIVE THAT WAS CONVIENTLY IN THE NURSE'S POCKET, and runs to her mom. Nurses never have open needles in their pockets due to the fact that it is likely to be exposed to something harmful before being plunged into some patient's arm, and also because the people they are caring for are deemed a danger to themselves and/or others. Her mom is let go, she's constantly called "crazy" and "mad" and "insane" by people all around her in book 2, is admitted to the psychiatric ward for a moment in book 3, and, I believe, is just let off the hook once the end of the final book comes around and she's in the real world. Honestly, this section just explains itself and I'm sure there's more, but revisiting this series at midnight is enough.
Next: The love triangle sucks and she ends up spending her life with her human lover then reuniting with her magical boyfriend once the other one is dead and she's old and done with life on Earth. Somehow, she's allowed to turn back time and become young again so she can rule Wonderland with Morpheus. Honestly, what even. This is all symbolized by a necklace with the key that unlocked the mirror you can swim through and one that Jeb gave her constantly entwining which I would think was nice if it was more subtle and the whole "i spend one life with you, you die, and I get with this guy in the next one" didn't sound like it was plagiarized from a certain plagiarist's book series set in the 1800s that I'm still salty about.
Next: Because Alyssa's younger than Jeb and
... younger but also older but also the exact same age as Morpheus... younger than how Morpheus presents himself, she's constantly treated like a baby, which is annoying considering she ends up being the ruler of some weird universe with floating cats.
Next: The character designs of Wonderland creatures are actually really good. Yeah, they become more gruesome than that of their child friendly counterparts in order to add to the edginess, but they help visualization quite a lot, unlike most other scenes in the book.
Finally, before I go ranting on until my dog who's a stand in for my alarm sees that the sun has risen and drags me away from the laptop as I type furiously, I'm gonna end with the lack of diversity. For a book set in Texas that largely revolves around the punk subculture which was largely started by Jewish people that can describe creatures whose heads fight each other and a rabbit that wears a fur coat but was skinned and has antlers, there's not one person of color, one LGBTQIA+ person, one person with a physical or mental disability (remember than mental disabilities are different from mental illnesses), etc. in that entire book series. Honestly, if they made this book series a movie, it would have to be set in Portland because it's so white. There are only straight couples (though Morpheous has to patch Jeb up in a scene in the 3rd book which sort of turns Alyssa on. On top of being ALMOST as boring as Tris Prior, she fetishizes gay males, too,) only white people, or maybe a token POC so AG Howard can scream "Representation!", people that have mental illnesses but basically nothing else, people that are middle class at least or don't have to worry about mortal money, and are otherwise a sea of bland.
To sum this up, this book series is literally so horrible and annoying that I would vow to never complain about V. Roth, J. Dashner, C. Clare, or any other YA author ever again to get this book expunged from Earth, my memories, and my bookshelf.
Please, do not read this book series. I wish I hadn't.
by Nitro Indigo » Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:35 am 
!
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
