Friday Reads: Ensnared by A. G. Howard!!!

Hello there!

Friday is once again here, and I'm having a weekend of zombieness, because I'm working today and Sunday night shift, which means I'm hoping for quiet shifts for some reading time! And then I'll spend Saturday and Monday like a zombie!

Today I have one of my most awaited books of the year up for review for this week's Saturday Page! And it also counts towards my 105 Challenge for my 2015 release category!

Ensnared by A.G. Howard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ensnared was one of my most awaited books of this year, the conclusion to one of my fave trilogies as of late, the Splintered series! A creepy and visual reimagining of the Alice in Wonderland story with Burtonian touches!

After that cruel cliffhanger of an ending that Unhinged left us with, I was dying to get my hands on Ensnared and although it was shipped early, I had to wait over a week and a half till it finally arrived!

The book starts pretty much where Unhinged left us. With Alyssa dragging her dad into an adventure that he doesn't even know he's part of, with magic shrinking mushrooms and a toy train where to recover his lost memories.

Everything got bigger and creepier and the plot twists got even twistier! Alyssa's dad past was something I wouldn't have expected but so very fitting! And then going to AnyElsewhere was like Wonderland with an extra dose of darkness and creepiness, and meeting the Queen of Hearts was even creepier than the Red Queen, except for when you realize that the Red Queen has plots within plots and you're not sure how Alyssa and the rest will manage to stay afloat!

The character development, the plot, the descriptions, the brilliant and visual writing would guarantee a 5 stars from me for this book, but emotionally this book was very tough for me to read... not by any fault of the book, but my own emotional state. I was too anguished and I ended up having to distance myself from the romance and the story a bit, so when the ending came I was left with a very odd feeling. Uneasy I think it's how I'd describe it, so I'm gonna end up giving the book 4 stars. Not because I don't think the ending is not appropriate or the book isn't amazing, but the romance gave me such a bittersweet feeling...

So 4 stars it is for this one, a wonderful conclusion to this amazing series and I cannot wait to see what Anita has coming next!



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Waiting On Wednesday #71!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

What book am I dying to get my hands on this week, you might be wondering? Well, this week is all about the final and MORE than highly awaited final book of the Splintered series: Ensnared by A.G. Howard!!

Goodreads Summary:

"After surviving a disastrous battle at prom, Alyssa has embraced her madness and gained perspective. She's determined to rescue her two worlds and the people and netherlings she loves. Even if it means challenging Queen Red to a final battle of wills and wiles . . . and even if the only way to Wonderland, now that the rabbit hole is closed, is through the looking-glass world--a parallel dimension filled with mutated and violent netherling outcasts. In the final installment of the wildly popular Splintered trilogy, Alyssa and her dad journey into the heart of magic and mayhem in search of her mom and to set right all that's gone wrong. Together with Jeb and Morpheus, they must salvage Wonderland from the decay and destruction that has ensnared it. But if they succeed and come out alive, can everyone truly have their happily ever after?"
 

Why am I eagerly awaiting Ensnared? Well, it IS the final book in what can be my very favourite retelling series, and after how the second book, Unhinged, ended... How can I not?!? January won't arrive here fast enough!!

What are you all (im)patiently awaiting this week?

Ink & Batter #9: Ensnared by A.G. Howard!!!

Well, well, well! Finally Ink & Batter is BACK!!

After a loooong hiatus, longer than I had planned at first, I must admit, my beloved feature with book inspired decorated cupcakes is BACK!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to manage weekly posts from now on, but I'm gonna try my best for sure to return to the weekly Ink & Batter posts from now on, since I can bake without melting and the fondant doesn't get sticky easily any more!

I have quite a few recipes & books & notes for decorations in my lil notebook, but it was quite coincidence the way I chose the cupcakes I'd first bake for this return. I planned to bake some cupcakes to take to work at the request of one of my co-workers and I wanted to try this recipe and then I realized it was the recipe I had planned for when I made the Ensnared cupcakes... so one thing lead to another and I ended up making Ensnared cupcakes!

Ensnared by A.G. Howard is the third and final book in the Splintered trilogy and it's a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland! It's a pretty inspiring series because I also made Ink & Batter cupcakes for the other two books in the series: Splintered and Unhinged!

Since I still haven't read the book because it doesn't release till Jan and I haven't got an ARC, I used the cover as inspiration and all the clues about it that A.G. Howard gave during the reveal of the cover.

The red liners were a must, give the colour of the cover, and then I used red, orange & yellow colours to dye the whipped cream of the grasshopper cupcakes, that seemed the more fitting recipe for the series (even Anita chose that recipe when I asked her on Twitter!). Hearts & monarch butterflies are the most important things in the book accoring to my friend La La that has read the ARC, but somehow I also had lobsters in my notes so I made one of those too!

I'm dying to get my hands on the book so I can see the relevance of all the little details I picked from my notes! Btw, in case you are wondering, what's on the cupcake with the lobsters is a bad attempt at a red bat! ;)

If you haven't read the first books in the series, do it now! so you can be ready to read Ensnared when it releases!

What do you guys think? Happy to have Ink & Batter back? I know I am!

Stay tuned for more book inspired cupcakes in the next edition of Ink & Batter coming soon! (next week, hopefully!

Mark This Book Monday: Unhinged by A.G. Howard!!!

For the first edition of Mark This Book Monday of the year, I'm sharing a review of one of those books in the very much awaited list! My favourite retelling or reimagining of an absolute favourite of mine as is Alice In Wonderland!



Unhinged: Bk. 2 by A.G. Howard

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After Splintered that was one of my favourite debuts from last year when I found out that Anita was planning to write a sequel, I was very excited and very intrigued about how was she planning to continue the story!

I preordered Unhinged quite ahead of time and for once, The Book Depository shipped it quite in advance, so much that it arrived well ahead of release date (Jan 7th), it could have been a Xmas present even, because it arrived on Dec 26th!

As usual I will be trying to keep the review spoiler free, cause I wouldn't want to spoil any of the shocks for you! But be warned since there will be spoilers for Splintered.

Unhinged was what any good sequel should be about. Full of twists, shocking revelations, unexpected information and constant surprises. The stakes are getting higher with every turn of the page.

Alyssa chose to leave Wonderland behind and return to her normal life with Jeb and her parents, to try and save her mother from the curse of the Liddells. But Red is still on the loose and Morpheus is not giving up one his claim on her.

Unhinged focuses in Alyssa's fight with who she is. Her human half and her netherling half. She doesn't realize her strenght and seems to be scared of accepting who she is. She keeps on fighter Wonderland and herself and despite understandably not trusting Morpheus, she keeps on venting her frustrations on him.

Wonderland keeps on creeping into Alyssa's "normal" life cause quite a lot of trouble for her. And she keeps on finding out that most of what she thought she knew isn't right, and she has to face loads of revelations about Morpheous, Wonderland, her mum and her parents.

Sometimes I must say I wanted to shake Alyssa when she kept asking Morpheus for help and then treating him like vermin. I agree that he deserves quite a smack here and there and eye rolling more often than not, but you can't just automatically blame him for everything! But you cannot fault Alyssa for not trying her best to protect those she love from harm, even at the cost of her own sanity or appearance of it.

Alison, Alyssa's mum was quite a surprise. I had no idea of her side of the story and I'm so glad that we get to know about it and she and Alyssa finally have an honest talk! The lack of trust and truth is one of the main obstacles here in Wonderland, too many secrets leave Alyssa and the other vulnerable to Red and other enemies.

Anita Howard's writing is immensely visual, she brings to life every scene in my head in a way very few books can, and her Wonderland has what I call a Burtonian Wonderland quality: vivid, extra creepy and full of madness! And if you add to it a creepy clown toy, wood that can eat you and a zombie prom... Sometimes I fear to think what else she can concoct!

For all of you, yes, there is a love triangle, Alyssa is getting torn between her two natures and Jeb and Morpheus, but for once I was not feeling aggravated about it! I don't find Morpheus so irritating at all, but so far, I remain Team Jeb.

The ending... well that ending was freaking cruel and heartbreaking with a proper evil cliffhanger. But Anita redeemed herself with the final pages of Alyssa taking charge of her future, embracing herself as she is, human & netherling! I just cannot wait to read the next book NOW!!

More than well deserved 5 stars!




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