UNHINGED by A.G. Howard

Rating: B+
Synopsis:
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.

My thoughts on the book:
When I met A.G. Howard at a book signing last year, I told her that I was team Morpheus. To that, she said that she'd be interested to see which team I fell on after this installment. Well, I'm still team Morpheus. In fact, this novel made me dislike Jeb. Before I liked Jeb okay, but I just liked Morpheus better. Now I"m firmly in the Morpheus column and I hope that Alyssa soon sees that Jeb is not the one for her. This book wasn't as good as the first, but it was still enchanting. 

The pacing is a bit slow at first, but as soon as I got into the story, I couldn't put the novel down. Howard's world-building is top-notch again, and I could picture Wonderland without a problem. I feel that Alyssa is better suited to Wonderland than the "real world," but I'm interested to see if she grows into the normal universe. 

I was a bit annoyed by the love triangle in this book. I felt like Alyssa was unfair to Morpheus many times and that she could have treated him better. He may be conniving and selfish, but he's a creature of Wonderland, what does she expect? She's no angel herself. Jeb just bores me. There's nothing that special about him. I may change my name after the third novel, but for now, I don't like him very much. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book (and series) to anyone who loves Alice in Wonderland retellings. You won't be disappointed. 

Buy Unhinged today!