Waiting on Wednesday (#25)

'Waiting on Wednesday' is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My decision for this week was easy. As it gets closer to January 1st, I literally cannot contain my excitement for Splintered by A.G.Howard.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

I am a mad fan of Alice in Wonderland, ask anyone - I love the two books, the films, the games, and I love it when authors take a fairytale concept and change it into something that is different and their own, and that captures the reader's imagination. Over the years there have been many different spins on Alice in Wonderland, the latest being Alice in Zombieland which has received many a good crtique - I think Splintered might one-up it, though.

I'm excited to see what Howard has done with Wonderland, changing the strange and amazing concept into something much darker - and I can't wait to see more of the Bandersnatch, as that and the Jabberwocky were never fully described in the actual books - or at least, not as much as I wanted them to be. I also want to see more of these supposedly gorgeous boys - if there's one thing YA readers love more than a sexy character, it's two of them!

So what are you waiting on this week? Don't forget to check out our New Year, New Books! international giveaway to win 1 of 15 amazing novels!