Ink & Batter #2: Unhinged by A.G. Howard!!

This week we have our second edition of Ink & Batter!


Last week I had cupcakes inspired by Splintered by A.G. Howard, and this week I have the ones inspired by book two: Unhinged! I actually made them at the same time, green tea cupcakes with cream cheese icing and with purple cupcake liners to match the cover of the book!

This week Ink & Batter is even more special cause I'm teaming with Becca from Pivot Book Reviews! She's been one of the biggest cheerleaders for Ink & Batter to be a regular feature in the blog, and she does this amazing feature in hers on Thursdays called Cover Puppies (where she recreates the cover of a book with her adorable puppies!) so we decided that we HAD to synch our features! So this week you have Unhinged cupcakes here and she has recreated Unhinged's cover for her Cover Puppies of the week!

We're gonna try synching both features as often as possible, and if she's already done cover puppies for that book before, I will be linking to it here too! Go check out her Unhinged Cover Puppies NOW!

As always all the decorations are partly traditional Alice and partly uniquely Unhinged! I used two colours for the icing, to reflect the colours of the cover. And then I made a yes-I-know-it's-a-butterfly-but-let's-pretend-it's-a-moth for Morpheus, some more bugs and flowers cause Wonderland still has them, a top hat cause we know how Morpheus loves his hats, more tea cups, Rabid the skinned skeletal rabbit that was a challenge head and I'm still not sure what he looks like... All in all, I had an absolute blast making these! Hope you'll like them!

Stay tuned for more inspired cupcakes coming next week!

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!




View all my reviews

Waiting On Wednesday #19!!

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!

This week the book I'm biting-my-nails-while-waiting-for-release-day is Unhinged by A.G. Howard!

Goodreads summary:

"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."


Why am I eagerly awaiting Unhinged? Well, aside from the obvious cover lust, I absolutely loved Splintered as a creepy and stunning retelling of Alice In Wonderland and I was beyond delighted when I heard that there was more to the story! I just can't wait to read more about Alyssa, Jeb & Morpheus... and even more after reading The Moth & The Mirror!

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