Dazzled by Books

The conclusion to “Splintered” by A.G. Howard was everything I wanted and didn’t want. I feel like “Ensnared” was gorgeous and terrible. A.G. Howard has taken her readers on an incredible ride in Wonderland. As many people know. I have always been a fan of “Alice in Wonderland” and Howard’s series has blown me away.

The reader picks up where we were left in book two “Unhinged.” Alyssa and her father are off to AnyElsewhere in order to save Alison, Jeb, and Morpheus. The first thing on the list is to get Alyssa’s father’s memories back. Off to the memory train it is. The trip to AnyElsewhere has changed everyone. Jeb and Morpheus are not the same as when Alyssa last saw them. Now Alyssa feels like her heart is ripping in two because she loves each of these men.

The entire story is Alyssa trying to figure out who she wants to be with. She feels like she could be with Jeb now and Morpheus later in life but then Morpheus wants to be with her now too. She has to figure out what she wants and she isn’t sure what that is.

Alyssa’s life has been turned upside down since she first found out who she really was and that her mother wasn’t truly crazy. I feel like Alyssa started to grow up in “Unhinged” and truly recognize that she needed to be a queen and she needed to save her people, even though all she wants to do is live her life in the mortal world. Then in “Ensnared,” I feel like Alyssa took several steps back in the growing up process. She is willing to do what she needs to do as queen yet; she doesn’t want to choose who to be with. I think it would have been better just for her to choose and make that choice.

This series is so madly wonderful. Howard transports her readers into a Wonderland that is not sweet and magical but really creepy and sinister and I just love it. I can’t help but just eat every little bit of it up. Howard has definitely become an author on my radar with this series. I am looking forward to seeing what she has for us next.

Last but not least, Rebecca Gibel is the most fabulous narrator on the planet. I love her narrations so much. I feel like Gibel just brings the story to life when she reads. I very much enjoy the few hours a day that I would spend listening to "Ensnared." I think Gibel should get a lot of kuddos for her great reading aloud skills.