Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Il mio splendido migliore amico

I truly loved this book. It was super cute and very unique. I find it hard to define this book or describe it in a way that does it justice. It was odd but cute, unique but felt classic, twisted and sinister yet somehow still a comforting read. I love the premise and setting. I adored the twisted changes to wonderland and all the little punk details. I really liked Alyssa as a main character. Both Jeb and Morpheus felt a little forced to me, but I still enjoyed their characters. I can definitely see myself reading this book again.

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ana24gs's review against another edition

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challenging medium-paced

2.0

Ok, I honestly don't know what I just read. At first, I thought it was just an easy book to read, and the first third of the book was easy to read. A silly book for young people with corny dialogue and silly fights, but with a cute romance. But then it became the worst of the genre.

First, the characters. Alyssa is fine, at the beginning I was on her side wanting her to achieve everything she set her mind to. Then we got to the second third of the book and I don't understand why the author decided that she was not going to make Alyssa smart, I don't understand the level of unconsciousness that girl has. First, every time it seemed that she had managed to solve something, one, everyone already knew the answer and they are waiting for Alyssa to figure it out, or two, someone else solves it just as easily as she does. When she discovered the biggest revelation in the book, she also did not discover it on her own. And the options of men she has are depressing. Jeb is a fool and if it weren't for him protecting her in Wonderland, I would say that he is one of the worst friends in existence. I don't understand his logic in dating the girl who bullies his best friend. And then there is Morpheus, abusive, manipulative, weird as hell, and just wtf with this man. The worst thing is that they want me to believe that he and Alyssa have a past when they barely show it to us and he always behaves in the ugliest way possible. Honestly, I wasn't liking Jeb and without meeting Morpheus I preferred him with Alyssa until I met Morpheus and said, "Jeb is looking really good now."

My bad experience with the characters was so awful that I couldn't focus on the main plot, it was confusing for me, I can say that I was so disconnected that when there was a highly relevant plot twist I could only react with a "lol, I didn't saw that coming".

The relationship between Alyssa and Jeb seemed very co-dependent to me, and I couldn't enjoy it because Jeb cheats on his girlfriend emotionally the entire book. And I honestly do not understand why he started dating her in the first place, his logic to do it made no sense. And the relationship Alyssa had with Morpheus is even worse, this man is much older than her, the worst thing is that he says "I have no age", EMMMM, is it a way of saying that you are definitely much older than her? And you have lived a lifetime harassing a little girl? I do not understand why it is so difficult for the authors to make a relationship where there is not such a worrying age difference.
I add that this book does not touch on topics as I would like, I do not know whether or not it is disrespectful towards people suffering from schizophrenia so I will not comment on that. But if I will comment on how Alyssa's virginity is unnecessarily repeated as if it were something vital to her character, virgin or non-virgin, no one should bother you, and you should not feel superior for being or not being one. Each one lives their sexuality as they please.

I liked the end of the book more than I expected, but I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone. Nor did I comment on the issue of how Wonderland was represented because I do not know about that.

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_roctopus_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

My feelings about this are... conflicted to say the least.
I absolutely love the world and the story

and the twist that Alyssa is a descendant of the Red Queen (or Queen Red) and not Alice like she originally believed

. I love the creepier side of Wonderland and the adventure Alyssa went on. These parts of the book made me want to give this 4 or 5 stars.

That being said, I hate the love triangle with every fiber of my being. Especially Jeb. I hate him.
minor to medium spoilers detailing why:

He is very controlling of Alyssa always trying to protect her even when she doesn't need to be. This isn't cute in this case because he holds her back from what she is trying to accomplish, sometimes literally. And what's even worse is that she views this as good and romantic, she calls him her knight in shining armor which (ignoring how cringy that is) is disgusting. Alyssa knows more of what to do in this world, but Jeb acts like she is a weak girl in need of protection that only he can provide. The most infuriating part is that SHE LETS HIM and thinks of him as her savior. Her biggest character development is when he is not there and she finally thinks and acts all by herself realizing she can save herself. But even then she is still constantly wishing he was there and I just *screams*. Now I'm not saying Morpheus is a great option and honestly Alyssa should ditch them both, but he is by far the better option because he actually believes she can take care of herself.

I can live with a love triangle (heck my one of my favorite types of books are YA dystopian novels so I'm used to love triangles), but I cannot deal with this Jeb crap. It's honestly so toxic and Morpheus even sometimes points it out and Alyssa still doesn't care. Needless to say, I will not be continuing with the series because I cannot deal with this nonsense even if the adventure and world are amazing.

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nickoliver's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book made me feel very conflicted. I picked it up because Howard's short story in "Slasher Girls & Monster Boys" by April Genevieve Tucholke (ed.) was hands down my absolute favourite of the entire anthology, and so I really wanted to read more by her. And "Splintered" had been on my TBR (a general one, not my physical one) for literally years, and while I didn't hear the most amazing things about it, I was still very much excited about reading it. Unfortunately, I struggled a lot and ended up not knowing how to rate it for the longest time.

The book did have a few things that I enjoyed! It is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, and I enjoyed the twists that Howard put on that story. Basically, it is a lot darker and grittier than the original - for example, the March Hare looks like a skinned rabbit. Many of the creatures in this Wonderland try to eat Alyssa or look like they're straight out of your own nightmares, and I loved that! The whole book just had this dark, creepy atmosphere (or aesthetic, or however you want to call it) that is right up my alley nowadays.

Plus, the plot was entertaining throughout most of the book. It's definitely a more fast-paced story and therefore theoretically a quick read. (I say "theoretically" because my issues with the book made me put the book down a lot and it took me longer than I wanted to finish it, but none of that had to do with the plot itself.) Though admittedly, the plot did get a bit ridiculous towards the end. To me, it felt like Alyssa, the main character, went to Wonderland with one goal in mind, and her actions in the latter half of the book were made with complete disregard to it. I definitely reached a point where I just wanted to be done with the book and barely enjoyed anything anymore. It was almost torture.

My main issue was most definitely with the characters, especially with the male ones. Alyssa wasn't all that bad, though she was very much a damsel in distress who constantly relied on the men in her life to take action, which was very frustrating to read. She also worshipped the ground the main love interest Jeb was walking on, and I hated it. SO MUCH. Because honestly, Jeb is undoubtedly the absolute worst thing about the book.

It's obvious that Howard was aiming to make him seem like the "good guy" of the love triangle, but that did not work for me at all - or anyone, for that matter, since most reviews I've seen seem to mutually agree that he is just a pain in the ass. First of all, he is extremely controlling. He constantly makes decisions for Alyssa instead of letting her speak her mind, and if she doesn't agree, he gets angry. For example, if she wants to go one way and he doesn't want to, he would simply drag her away in whatever direction he deems best. And while he does that, he pretends he's doing it "for her own good", because clearly, he only has her best interest at heart!

Secondly, he is violent to a degree that feels like a big red flag to me. There's barely a single scene of him and Morpheus in the same room where he isn't either threatening to hurt him in some way or actually hitting him or punching him. He's said to have had anger issues in the past and even ended up in a youth detention center for a year because he almost killed a guy. Supposedly, he learnt to contain his anger, but just by looking at the way he acts throughout this entire book ... I call bullshit.

Jeb also has a lot of audacity. He's jealous of guys Alyssa talks to and gets angry at the mere idea of her losing her virginity to a stranger, like he has any say in the matter. And he acts that way all the time, even before he starts dating her. Something the book really likes to gloss over, too, is the fact that Jeb actually has a girlfriend at the beginning of the story - and he's not just dating any girl, but a girl who has been relentlessly bullying Alyssa almost her entire life. Later in the book, he confesses he only dated her because he couldn't handle his feelings for Alyssa, like that's not fucked up. And Howard makes it seem like that's actually a good thing, because hey, Jeb does have feelings for Alyssa! And Taelor is a bitch, so she deserves to be treated that way!

What's infuriating about Jeb's character was just that all his shitty actions always get excused. It always boils down to something like this:

Morpheus: "Your boyfriend has some real trust issues. "
Alyssa: "Shut up. He had a rough childhood."

Girl, I hate to break it to ya, but that's not not an excuse to behave like a fucking homicidal, possessive Neanderthal.

Like I mentioned above, there is a love triangle in this book. The second love interest is a guy named Morpheus, who actually lives in Wonderland. He's clearly intended to be the "bad guy", but he doesn't really feel that way? Of course, he's not perfect. He uses Alyssa for his own personal gain and also says some things that feel, um, rape-y, to be honest. Some things where he clearly ignores the importance of consent in terms of physical contact.

I also had an issue with the age difference, because theoretically, Morpheus is a lot older than Alyssa (by which I mean he literally knew Alice personally, who is Alyssa's great-great-great-grandmother). Morpheus does explain that by saying, "I am ageless. I can use magic to mimic any age I wish. Using this power affects netherlings mentally, physically, emotionally. We become the age in every way." But to me, this just felt like an excuse, and I was still left a bit uncomfortable.

However, the history he shares with Alyssa is a lot more clearer than the one she shares with Jeb; the fact that she grew up with Jeb is something you're told more than you're shown, and I could never really buy into it.

In all honesty, I didn't feel the romance with either of the boys. It felt too dramatic, and the more lovey-dovey scenes just made me want to laugh or cringe. I didn't enjoy them one bit. This is definitely one of these cases where having absolutely no romance would have made the story a lot more enjoyable for me. Also because the physical descriptions of the boys just cracked me up all the time. Jeb has apparently bangs that go lower than his nose, which bears the question how he even sees. And Morpheus has blue hair and likes to wear a black velvet cowboy hat . A black. Velvet. Cowboy hat. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ROOT FOR SOMEONE WHO WEARS THAT UNIRONICALLY?

(Since I'm already talking about physical descriptions, Alyssa also wears blue (I think?) dreadlocks for a few scenes. She's white.)

Apart from the romance, I also really didn't like the mental health rep in this book. At the beginning of the book, it is revealed that Alyssa's mom, Alison, is in an asylum because she is "crazy" (she talks to bugs and flowers and only eats out of a teacup, for example). She basically spends all her time pumped full of drugs. Firstly, I really did not like the way that taking medication is only seen as a negative thing, as if the only thing the meds are doing is dehumanising Alison. As if medication could never help anyone. And secondly, the way the storyline around Alison ends made no sense to me?

She gets out of the asylum that she has been living at for years because they figured her hallucinations and everything came from being "overmedicated", but like ... she obviously wasn't when she was first admitted? Did they all just conveniently forget the reason why she was even admitted in the first place and figured, 'Meh, it'll be fine"? I just don't see how that's possible.

Lastly, I'd also like to mention the sheer RIDICULOUSNESS of all of their names. Jeb's full name is JEBEDIAH, like that's not the most ridiculous name in existence (especially for a love interest!). His sister's name is JENARA. His ex-girlfriend is named TAELOR (because clearly, naming her "Taylor" would have been too basic). Plus, every woman in Alyssa's family has a name that starts with A, which sometimes made it hard to keep them apart in my head.

Overall, while I adored the atmosphere of the story and most of the plot was fun to read, I just couldn't quite enjoy this book as much as I wanted to because FUCKING JEB, MAN. Honestly, he should have just been eaten at some point.

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