"Alice left disturbances in our world that only you can repair"
Alice in Wonderland it's a very adapted work, we've already had animations, games and movies based on it. AGHoward had the idea of not adapting but writing a reinterpretation of Alice with a dark tone and that's how the series came about Splintered.
The Darkest Side, first volume, introduces us Alyssa, descendant of Alice Lindell. Yes, she is Alice's great-great-grandmother from the original story of Lewis Carroll. Alyssa's bloodline is unusual, the women in her family are hit by a curse that makes them hear insects and plants and see things no one else sees on mirrored surfaces. Your mother, Alison, just like her grandmother before her, she went crazy and is now hospitalized in a clinic, that's why Alyssa lives in fear of her gifts, because she is afraid of going crazy too
Every teenager needs a faithful and beautiful friend, Alyssa has her neighbor Jeb. Jeb and Alyssa had a childhood very united by their misfortunes, as the girl had to leave her mother at the age of five and be raised only by her father and the boy was living with problems at home because of his alcoholic father. This all built a very close friendship between the two and, of course, Alyssa is in love with him.
Alyssa's life completely changes the day she is dragged by Morpheus to Wonderland. Only then does she remember an entire childhood that she spent with him, through his dreams, and everything that the sexy rogue intraterranean taught him. Now, Alyssa needs to save the kingdom by cleaning up the mess Alice left while trying to understand her relationship with Morpheus and her love for Jeb.
"To free your family and reopen the portals that lead home, you must repair all the damage that caused the Red Queen to go into exile and lose her crown: dry the sea, take gloves and fan back to the Duchess, make peace with seafood and afternoon tea guests. Only you can break Red's magical bonds. ”
Howard was genius in his writing. Using references and original elements from Lewis, the author wrote a continuation of the story in a version focused on horror, where everything is dark and ghastly. The narrative takes us to navigate through two worlds, the real and the fantasy, and with that we have ambiguities throughout the book, from the realistic explanation for what happened with Alice to the differentiated relationship of Alyssa with Morpheus and Jeb.
The endearing characters were the key to the success of The Darkest Side. Reinforcing the ambiguity Howard proposed, Jeb is the caring guy who goes out of his way to protect Alyssa and is constantly concerned about her safety. Morpheus is the typical Bad boy who we all love, with a thick British accent and a lot of wiles, he cares a lot about Alyssa, but uses more drastic ways to help and isn't afraid to manipulate those in need to get what he wants. You can see that we're going to stay until the end of the series without being able to decide which of the two is better, right?
Finally, it is noteworthy that the book is beautiful. In addition to this super detailed cover, the layout is really cute.
In this first volume alone, Howard delivered many twists. Therefore, the anxiety for the sequels is great. For those who want to venture into a new and interesting version of Wonderland, The Darkest Side it's a full plate.
- See the review of the second volume, Behind the Mirror and the review of the third volume, Anywhere else
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