Book Review: Splintered

"Splintered" by A.G. Howard(Splintered #1)

Publication Date-February 18, 2014

Genre-Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings, Romance

Paperback Edition-371 Pages

Rating-5/5 Lily Pads

No Spoilers!!

Favorite Quotes:

"Now, you listen, Alyssa Victoria Gardner. Normal is subjective. Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not normal. Because you are to me. And my opinion is all that matters. Got it?"-Page 7

"A friend doesn't try to run your life. That's what Dad's are for."-Page 30

"Yet here I am, all of those things. Both light and dark, at the same time. If I were to give in to one side of me, would that mean I'd have to give up the other? My heart aches at the possibility. Somehow I feel like I need both to be complete."-Page 273

"It was to be so perfect!" Morpheus all but cries the words, concentrating solely on me. "Your mortal suitor has already forgotten this journey. But you and I, we share memories of a childhood that I will never forget. You are the lady of my heart. My match in every way. I would've stayed at your side once we banished Queen Red, never left you to rule alone. We could've danced every night in the stars above your kingdom. For you, I would've given up my solitary life...been your loyal footman and cherished you eternally."-Page 340

"I would give up all my powers to have you in my arms. Your love is the only magic I need."-Page 341

"I've always believed in your power. For the Queen I saw in you even as a child...for the woman you could never see in yourself. My faith is as unchanging as my age."-Page 344

"Things suck for you sometimes-I get it. But you can't use that as an excuse to treat people any way you want." My cheeks burn hot at the purging of emotions I've suppressed for too many years. "Tearing down the rest of the world won't make you happy. Look inside yourself. Because finding who you were meant to be? What you were put into this world to do? That's what fills the emptiness. It's the only thing that can".-Page 368

Hey guys. I am here to talk about the best book of 2017 so far and that is "Splintered" by A.G. Howard. This book was so amazing and incredible! It is the most unique book I've read in a long time. Let's get on with the review!

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.

The Plot-5/5

First of all, I absolutely loved the plot of this book. As you can tell from the synopsis, this book is a retelling of "Alice in Wonderland". I love the original story and I've never read a retelling of it so I thought this book was so unique. The author took her own spin and made Wonderland her own but she also kept things from the original story too. I just loved the plot of this book. I love that Alyssa had to go to Wonderland and undo everything Alice did to break the curse in her family. 

The Writing-5/5

I'm not very observant when it comes to noticing author's writing styles. I can't tell you if their writing is amazing or not. But for A.G. Howard, her writing is something special. It really stood out to me. She just has a very unique way of writing. It's kind of hard to explain. She just has a way with words. The way she describes everything is so amazing. She's very vivid and her imagery is incredible. She described Wonderland so well it was really easy for me to picture everything, especially the characters. She's descriptive but not too much like other author's. I just love her style and can't wait to see her writing in her other books. 

The Pacing-5/5

I had no issues with the pacing in this book. The first half was very interesting, I wasn't bored at all. I loved learning about Alyssa's mortal life. I liked learning about her family and her friends. The whole journey with her and Jeb going down the rabbit hole was so fun to read about. That was pretty much the first half of the book. Once you get to the second half, you learn more about Wonderland since she's there until the end of the book. The second half was amazing too, it was even better than the first half. I got to learn a lot and Morpheus was in it more so of course I liked that. There was also a lot action so I was satisfied.  The pacing was perfect, that's why I gave it a perfect rating.  

The Cover-5/5

How can you not love the cover? I mean just look at it! It's so gorgeous and it describes the book pretty well. I love the covers for the other books too. My favorite one is probably "Unhinged" since it's purple which is my favorite color. 

The World-5/5

I loved the world so much! It was very dark and creepy but that made it cool to read about. I felt like I was watching the Alice films but with a more darker twist. I can't wait to go back into this amazing world that she created. 

The Characters-5/5

I wish I could give the characters more than five Lily Pads, they were so amazing! I love books that are character driven, they are the most important parts of books for me. I have to love the characters to enjoy the book and this book delivered it so well. First of all, let's talk about our main character Alyssa. I really liked her. She is a very likable character. She acts like a normal teenage girl and she's not really confident which I liked. She had her insecurities. She is a very nice girl with a good attitude in life. She was really trying to find herself in this book. Overall, I loved her and don't have too much to say about Alyssa. 

I loved reading about her family. I loved her mom and dad. I loved her best friend Jenara. She's such a nice girl and I love that she's Jeb's sister. It makes me love her even more. She's a great friend to Alyssa. I wasn't a big fan of Taelor. I know she's not supposed to be a likable character but she wasn't really in the book enough for me to like her anyway. 

Next, let's talk about Jeb. From the reviews I read, a lot of people hate him. I personally really loved him. He never got on my nerves. I think the reason I like him is because I always love the best guy friend and the good guy so I was immediately drawn to him. They've been friends for six years and their relationship was just cute. You can tell he really loves and cared about Alyssa. He sacrificed so much for her so she could live. A lot of people said he's overprotective. I agree with that but it didn't bother me, I like guys that are like that. He really wanted to protect her and help her, what's wrong with that? It shows that he's a good guy. I absolutely loved the romance between them. One of the reasons why I found this book so unique is because in YA books, usually the main character will be best friends with a guy for years and the guy is usually in love with her but she never likes him that way. I loved that Alyssa actually has feelings for Jeb. She wants more than friendship and she's crushed on him for years. I thought that was very unique, how often do you see that in YA books? Very rarely, especially in Fantasy novels. I'm also a huge fan of the friends to lovers trope so that's also why I loved their relationship. 

This book does have a love triangle in it, and it's very hard for me because I love both guys. The second guy is Morpheus. He is like the complete opposite of Jeb. He's not really a good guy. He's very dark and mysterious and is very manipulative. You can't really trust him. I just found myself drawn to him. I love the bad, mysterious guys too. His personality is very different, I've never read a character like him before. You don't know if he's good or not. He does have a soft spot and he has good intentions but he will turn on your back at times. I really loved his relationship with Alyssa. They had a history, they were childhood friends. Their relationship is complicated because Morpheus obviously loves her, but she doesn't really feel the same way, maybe she likes him a little bit. She's also bitter towards him for reasons I'm not going to mention because I don't wanna spoil you. So she sort of has a love-hate relationship with Morpheus. She loves him because he was her childhood friend, but at the same time she doesn't like him because he sort of ruined her life. I loved their flirty, witty banter conversations. Even though Morpheus is a jerk, he is always very sweet to Alyssa and that's one of the reasons why I love him. I also like him because he really believes in her and encourages Alyssa to be her true self, the real her that wants to come out. 

So as for the love triangle, I'm rooting for both guys. I love Alyssa and Jeb together, they make a great couple. But I also love her and Morpheus, they have a lot in common and he understands her more than Jeb does. I don't know, I think I'm leaning more towards her and Morpheus. In the first half of the book I was team Jeb all the way but after I finished the book, I sort of changed to team Morpheus. I love them both so it's hard! I'm so curious to see who she ends up with. I'm pretty sure I know who she picks but I could be wrong so I'll have to just wait and see. It takes talent for an author to make you love both guys just like with Ash and Puck from the "Iron Fey" series and Will and Jem from the "Infernal Devices". Overall, the characters were very well developed so I had to give them a perfect rating. They are the reason why I loved this book so much. 

Enjoyment-5/5

Lastly, let's talk about the enjoyment level of this book. I had so much fun reading this book. It's been on my TBR for years so I'm so glad I finally read it! This book was just a really fun quick read. When I wasn't reading "Splintered" I couldn't stop thinking about it and I had a hard time putting it down. So obviously I enjoyed this book very much :)

Since I gave all the categories a five, the overall rating of "Splintered" is 5/5 Lily Pads. I loved this book so much! It's one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's my favorite book of 2017 so far but I think ACOWAR will definitely beat it. I just wanna finish this review so I can go on and read the novella "The Moth in the Mirror" next. After that I'm planning on diving into the second book "Unhinged". If you love fairy tale retellings and Alice in Wonderland, definitely read this book. I highly recommend it. Also if your looking for a really unique book to read, please read this book. This series is underrated and needs more love. These books are definitely worth a buy and I will have a review up for "Unhinged" soon so stay tuned for it. Thank you so much for reading this very long review. Have a great day and happy reading!:) 

Book Review: The End of Oz

"The End of Oz" by Danielle Paige(Dorothy Must Die #4)

Publication Date- March 14, 2017

Hardcover Edition-278 pages

Genre-Young Adult, Fantasy, Retellings

Would I Recommend It? If you loved the other books, you'll love this one

Rating-5/5 Lily Pads

No Spoilers!!

Favorite Quote:

"None of us are entirely Wicked or entirely Good. Or entirely evil, for that matter. We are made of what shapes us."


Hey guys, I'm back with another review. I just finished a really quick read called "The End of Oz." This is the final book in the "Dorothy Must Die" series. I really enjoyed this series. Let's get on with the review.

Like with all of my sequels I'm not going to describe the plot because I don't wanna spoil the book. Let's just get on with my thoughts.

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favorite in the series but it was still good. My favorite book is still "Yellow Brick War". 

I decided to try out a new rating system, I hope you like it.

Plot-5/5 

The Plot for this book was great. I already knew what was going to happen in this book since it's the last book so I'm giving it a high rating. 

Writing-5/5
I love her writing style as always so I had to give it a high rating. 

Pacing-5/5
The Pacing in this book was perfect. The book is less than 300 pages so I can't really complain about the pacing. It was never slow or boring. The first half was just as amazing as the second half even though the last half had more action. 

Cover-5/5
I'm not very good at judging book covers but I really like all of the covers in this series. The cover doesn't really describe what happens in the book but at least it stays true to the plot of the series. That's why I gave it a perfect rating. 

Characters-5/5
The characters in this series are awesome. I love all the characters. Amy is such a great protagonist. She's strong, kind and very selfless. I loved reading about her and found her relatable at times. I really like Nox, he's a great guy and I loved his relationship with Amy. I loved Madison and her character development was great. I loved that she went from being a typical High School snob to being a really kind person. I really liked all the side characters too. I'm not going to name all of them because there's way too many. I liked Dorothy's character even though she's evil. What can I say, I love evil character's in books, they make the stories more interesting. I loved that we got her pov in this book, that was a nice treat. So yeah, I liked all the main characters. 

Enjoyment-5/5
I really enjoyed reading this book just like the other 3. This series was fun to read. I'm a huge "Wizard of Oz" fan so this series was awesome. I had a great time reading these books and I have nothing bad to say about them. 

My overall rating for this book is 5/5 Lily Pads since I loved everything about it. The ending was a great conclusion and I'm sad that this series is over. It ended really well but I would be happy if there were more books. I haven't read any of the novellas yet, but I want to someday. I'm not sure when I'll get to them though. This series was really good. If you love retellings, I highly recommend this series. These books are definitely worth a buy. That was my review. Thank you so much for reading! I'll have more posts soon so stay tuned. Have a great day and happy reading!:)

Book Review: If You Were Mine

"If You Were Mine" by Melanie Harlow

Publication Date-February 28, 2017

Genre-Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Kindle Edition-311 Pages

Rating-5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes

No Spoilers!!

Warning for lots of sexual content in this book. This isn't a typical New Adult book because the characters are in their thirties.

Also, I didn't know this was a companion series until after I finished this book. There are two books before this one about Claire's best friends, Margot and Jaime. The books are called "Man Candy" which I believe is the first book and "After We Fall" is the second book so this one is the third and final book. I wish I knew that because I like to read series in order and now I got spoiled but that's okay. I was so happy when I found out there were more books because I loved Margot and Jaime. So yeah I recommend reading those books first before reading this one, unless you don't mind being spoiled. This book can be read as a stand-alone though. I wasn't confused at all, and it wasn't hard for me to connect to the characters. 

Favorite Quotes:

"Did they know how hard it was to look at myself and wonder what was wrong with me that I was thirty and had never been in love?"

"You know, I think for so long I felt like there was something innate about me that wasn't good enough, exciting enough, resilient enough, talented enough to put myself out there. I talked myself out of so many things because I looked at them as opportunities to fail, not as opportunities to succeed. I was so afraid to fall that I never let myself fly."

"Being with Theo had taught me that I liked the way I felt about myself when I stepped outside my comfort zone. Faced my fears. Put on the red lipstick. And watching him let his fear ruin us had forced me to think about all the ways I still let fear hold me back. "I've wanted to visit the museums in Paris since I was a little girl. Yes, I'm scared of flying, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let anxiety keep me from making that dream a reality. I can't go through life being afraid and careful all the time. At some point, I have to go for what I really want and trust in fate. What's meant to be will be". 

"Love is real and it's powerful enough to conquer any odds". 

Hey guys. So I just finished reading "If You Were Mine" and I really enjoyed it. I've been wanting to read this book and I read it now because it's the April book of the month pick for the New Adult book club I'm in on goodreads. Here's the link to the group if you wanna join.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/210028-new-adulting-central

The Plot

Theo MacLeod wasn’t supposed to be the one.
Tall, dark and handsome suits me just fine, but the cocky grin, know-it-all attitude, and mammoth ego? No thanks. I only hired him so I wouldn’t have to sit at the singles table again. It was just pretend.
He wasn’t supposed to kiss me. 
My heart wasn’t supposed to pound. 
We weren’t supposed to spend the night together—the hottest night of my life. 
One night turns into a snowed-in weekend away, and even the blizzard of the century can’t cool the fire between us. I can’t get enough—of his smile, of his body, of the way he makes me feel.
We’re nothing alike. He’s a daredevil, and I’m a nervous Nellie. He’s a drifter, and I want to put down roots. He’s an opportunist with a checkered past, and I’m a Girl Scout volunteer.
But none of it matters when I’m in his arms.
I know he’s made mistakes. I know his wounds are deep, and he doesn’t trust easily. I know he doesn’t believe he could ever be enough to make me happy, but he could. 
All he has to do is stay.

My Opinion

I really liked this book. I love my New Adult Romance books and this one didn't disappoint. It wasn't my favorite NA book but it was good. 

Let's talk about the writing: I really like Melanie's writing style. This was my first book from her and it definitely won't be my last. I like the way she writes. I love that this book is in multiple pov's. I got to see inside of Claire and Theo's heads. I love when romance books are also in the guy's point of view. Overall, I just really like her writing style, I'm not picky with writing anyway :)

I absolutely loved the plot for this book! This book has one of my favorite tropes which is the fake dating trope! I just love reading about fake dating, so that's why I was drawn to this book. If you love fake dating like me you have to read "The Fill-In Boyfriend" by Kasie West. That book was amazing!

As for the pacing, it was fine. I have to say though that I liked the first half of the book a lot more than the second half. I thought the first part was funny and fun to read about. The second half wasn't boring at all but it started to get darker and it wasn't as light and fluffy as the first half. I considered knocking off a star since the second half wasn't as enjoyable, but then it got better and the end of the book  made me so happy so I decided to just keep my original rating. 

Finally let's talk about the characters.

I really liked the main protagonist, Claire. She's a very nice, good girl. She doesn't take risks and she's thirty years old and still single. I could relate to her a lot because I'm also single and I know what it's like to be surrounded by couples a lot. It makes me feel dumb that I don't have a boyfriend. I'm also a hopeless romantic like Claire and she loves the Hallmark romance movies. I also have a fear of flying like her. I just loved her because she's such a good person and she's very sweet and caring. 

As for the love interest, Theo I liked him. He's not in my top book boyfriend's list but I still really liked Theo. He's your typical bad boy with the tragic past. Some people said they found him frustrating, but I didn't. I could totally understand why he acted the way he did. I'm not going to say what he does in the book because I don't wanna spoil you. Yes, his actions were wrong and he made bad choices but I loved that the author made him so realistic. He's not the typical perfect guy in romance books. He has a lot of issues emotionally and mentally. He's scarred from something that happened in the past and he has major trust issues. So yeah, he had a reason to act the way he did. I just love that the author give him lots of flaws, it's very realistic. 

As for the romance, I think they are a great couple. They were perfect for each other. I'll admit that I thought their relationship was a little insta-lovey in the beginning of the book, but because of events that happen in the book it didn't bother me in the end.

I really really loved Claire's two best friends, Jaime and Margot. They were such great friends and yay for a good female friendship in this book! There was no drama, and no backstabbing. Claire's friends were always there for her, they were so nice and just good people in general. I also loved their boyfriends too. I can't wait to read the other two books about Jaime and Margot. I loved them so much and now I get to read their stories! I wish I knew about those books sooner before reading this one.  I loved Theo's brother, Aaron and Josie and their daughters. They were great people. Overall, I loved all the characters in this book. The character development was just so amazing in this book. 

Overall, "If You Were Mine" was such a good book. I'm so glad this was the April pick for the book club. I was so excited to read it and the book didn't disappoint me at all. I can't wait to read "Man Candy" and "After We Fall" by her. If your looking for a good romance with characters in their thirties, I highly recommend this book. This book is definitely worth a buy and I obviously gave this book 5/5 Lily Pads. So that was my review. Thank you so much for reading, have a great day and happy reading! :)

Series Review: The Mortal Instruments

Hey there! I know it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I haven't been writing because I haven't finished a book since "Wait For You". I've been reading "City of Heavenly Fire" for a month and I finally finished it today. Since I'm finally done with the series, I'm going to do a full series review because I read most of the books years ago and I never wrote reviews for them. This whole review is spoiler free by the way.  So here you go, here is my opinion for the "Mortal Instruments" series by Cassandra Clare. 

"City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare

Genre-Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Hardcover Edition-485 pages

Rating: 5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend it? Yes!



When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

I read "City of Bones" my senior year of High School. I remember I heard about it and it was a popular series at the time. I decided to borrow it from the library because I wanted to give this book a try and I'm so glad I did. I really loved this book! Since I read this book in 2012, right when I first discovered booktube I don't remember much about it. I don't remember how I felt about this book. I just remember loving it and really liking the characters. I guess I loved it enough to pick up the second book.

"City of Ashes" by Cassandra Clare

Paperback Edition-453 pages

Rating: 5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes! This book and the first one are definitely my favorites in the series. If you liked "City of Bones" you'll love this one, it's even better. 



After reading the first book I eventually continued on. I remember really enjoying this book too. I loved the first book but I thought this book was even better, it was a great sequel. 

"City of Glass" by Cassandra Clare

Paperback Edition-541 pages

Rating-4/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes






So after reading the second book I decided to dive into the third book. Unfortunately I didn't love this one as much as the other two. I still liked it but I remember I was bored at times and the plot dragged a lot in my opinion. That's why I rated it a 4 instead of 5. I feel like if I reread this book now I would like it better because I didn't read much Fantasy back then. 

"City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare

Paperback Edition-424 pages

Rating-4/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? I would still recommend it even though this was the weakest book in the series



After a while I finally picked up this book. I don't really remember much about this book. I remember this book was a struggle to get through. I just found this book so boring and the plot was really slow. I made myself finish it and I'm so glad I did. This one is definitely my least favorite in the series. 

"City of Lost Souls" by Cassandra Clare

Hardcover Edition-535 pages

Rating: 5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes!





Even though I didn't love the fourth book, I'm so glad I continued on with the series. I read this book pretty recently and I loved it! It was so much better than  "City of Fallen Angels". I thought this book was amazing and I really like Sebastian's character. 

"City of Heavenly Fire" by Cassandra Clare

Hardcover Edition-725 pages

Rating: 5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend it? Yes! This book was an amazing conclusion.




Okay, now we're down to the very last book in this series. It honestly breaks my heart that this series is over. This series really means a lot to me because I've been reading this series for five years. And now that's it's finally over, it just makes me feel bittersweet. I'm really going to miss these characters. Thank God for the TV show. I really love the show, it's amazing so far! This book was just so amazing. It took me a month to read this book, but it was worth it and I loved the journey and adventure it took me on. The pacing was great, I was never bored and the book never dragged. This book gave me lots of feels. It made me happy but it also made me cry at times. I loved that my favorite characters from the "Infernal Devices" made an appearance in this book. That was such a treat.  But I'm not ready to leave this amazing world yet. I loved the new characters that were introduced. Emma and Julian were amazing! I already love them and can't wait to read their story in the "Dark Artifices" trilogy. I loved Julian's family too. I can't wait to read "The Bane Chronicles", "Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy" and then finally "Lady Midnight". Stay tuned for reviews for those books. I'm not sure when I'll be reading them, hopefully some time this year in 2017. Before I leave you and end this review, here are some of my favorite quotes from the book.

"But she has the Blackthorns. She doesn't have anyone else, no aunts or uncles, no one to take her in, but the Blackthorns will. So she'll have to learn what you did: that family isn't blood. It's the people who love you. The people who have your back. Like the Lightwoods did for you"-Page 111

"And she wept for herself and the changes that had been wrought in her, because sometimes even changes for the better felt like a little death" -Page 651

"When Julian looked at her like that, like she was brilliant and amazing, it made the missing-her-parents ache in her heart a little less. There was something about having someone care about you like that that made you feel like you could never be totally alone"-Page 652

"Yes," Magnus said. "Clary was born special. Simon here had specialness thrust upon him. He adapted. Because the world isn't divided into the special and the ordinary. Everyone has the potential to be extraordinary. As long as you have a soul and free will, you can be anything, do anything, choose anything. Simon should get to choose"-Page 691

"There will always be those who want to tell you who you are based on your name or the blood in your veins. Do not let other people decide who you are. Decide for yourself. That freedom is not a gift; it is a birthright."-Page 717

So yeah, that was my full series review for this amazing series. Thank you so much for reading this long review. If you haven't picked up this series yet, what are you waiting for? I highly recommend this series to everyone, it's so wonderful and incredible. I would definitely reread this series in the future, it's one of my favorites. Hopefully i'll have more posts coming up soon so stay tuned. Thanks again for reading, have a great day and happy reading! :)