Alyssa Gardner has been down the rabbit hole and faced the bandersnatch. She saved the life of Jeb, the guy she loves, and escaped the machinations of the disturbingly seductive Morpheus and the vindictive Queen Red. Now all she has to do is graduate high school and make it through prom so she can attend the prestigious art school in London she’s always dreamed of.
That would be easier without her mother, freshly released from an asylum, acting overly protective and suspicious. And it would be much simpler if the mysterious Morpheus didn’t show up for school one day to tempt her with another dangerous quest in the dark, challenging Wonderland—where she (partly) belongs.
As prom and graduation creep closer, Alyssa juggles Morpheus’s unsettling presence in her real world with trying to tell Jeb the truth about a past he’s forgotten. Glimpses of Wonderland start to bleed through her art and into her world in very disturbing ways, and Morpheus warns that Queen Red won’t be far behind.
If Alyssa stays in the human realm, she could endanger Jeb, her parents, and everyone she loves. But if she steps through the rabbit hole again, she’ll face a deadly battle that could cost more than just her head.
Confession time: I didn’t enjoy Splintered as much as I originally should have. Am I going to link you to my review of it? No. Why? Because as a writer, I hate going back and seeing anything I’ve written more than a month ago because chances are I’m going to think it’s hideously absurd and the last thing I need is to make myself miserable over something silly I did over a year and a half ago. For whatever reason, I felt the characters were under-developed and blah, blah, blah, more whining. But, but, but, I do vaguely remember mentioning how I thought that the sequel would give readers a better chance to understand the characters and all their specific dynamics. And look at that, I predicted the future because Unhinged did not disappoint. Not one bit, nope. And this honestly makes me so happy because every single time I have a mean thing to say about a book a piece of my heart cracks off.
Unhinged picks up a year after Splintered left off, and I love this because I feel like it’s given all our characters a bit of a chance to mature and catch their bearings. Of course, this also meant a lot of time away from Morpheus and we all know that’s not a good thing. Yes, yes, that’s right, I like the moth boy. Stop looking at me funny. Something about Jeb hasn’t rubbed me right from the get-go and that may be because he reminds me too much of a high school boy or two but that’s up for debate. That’s not, naturally, to say that he hasn’t swept me off my feet once or twice, but haven’t they all? *sighs*
I don’t know, maybe I just have a thing for those darkly brooding types? Yes? Yes, I think that sounds about right. Also, Morpheus has a top hat, and who can say no to that? I sure as hell can’t. Sorry.
Scenery this time around was swapped out for the real world, and in any other situation, I might have not been okay with that, but considering that Howard brought in so many elements from Wonderland and dropped them in Texas was much more fun than it sounds like. The change of backdrop was fun and unique, but I am so looking forward to Al getting back to Wonderland in the final installment. Yes, I’m squealing, can’t you tell? I already used my gif of the month on Aaron Johnson with accompanying dreadlocks, so I’ll refrain from adding another one in this post. And in case you’re wondering, yes I do limit myself to one gif per month because if not I’d use them in all my posts. Wouldn’t you?
UPDATE: I couldn’t resist.
Is he squealing? No. But is he wearing that crown right? Oh, yes.
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He could be my Red King any day.
With old flames and new enticing discoveries, Unhinged is sure to ensnare your tickling mind.
I have got to stop with these jokes.
Rating:9/10
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