Ensnared by A.G. Howard - A finale that did justice

Series: Splintered #3
Genres: YA | Fantasy | Romance | Retelling
Published: January 6th 2015
Publisher: Amulet Books
My rating: 

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?

Basically, this is the section you can skip

I have no idea where to begin. I don't even know why  I'm trying to get this review done when I'm obviously going through what can only be defined as the last book syndrome.

My feelings are all over the place.

“Wonderland is violent and bizarre, but charming in its way. AnyElsewhere is a whole new level of cruelty.”

I'M HAPPY because this is a fantastic ending to an equally fantastic series. Things ended with an unexpected turn, and I know a lot of people didn't like it. But me? I think it couldn't have been any better.

I'M SAD because this is the end, (don't like the sound of that at all) and I'll miss Morpheus, Alyssa, Jeb, the twisted Wonderland with all of its beings - from the wicked to the good. So yes, it's not the least bit easy to bid farewell to what I've come to know as the best retelling of one of the best tales ever.

No, NO I'M NOT FINE OKAY?

ANOTHER WARNING. If you haven't read book one and two, I think you ought to stop reading at this point since mild spoilers for Splintered #1 and #2 might make some appearances.

Seriously though, you've been warned.

The characters were better than ever (AND I JUST? WHY IS THIS THE END?!)

"I am wind.

I am fury.

I am pandemonium."

At the beginning of this journey, Alyssa was a bit of a damsel in distress, always jumping into the arms of her knights. She wasn't the wittiest of characters and did a lot of stupid things. Here, she gained a lot of good attributes, and her flaws could be overlooked for what they are, which is, well, flaws. I can safely say that I could see a Queen in her.

But, the fact is, Morpheus stole the spotlight. I SWEAR HE GETS BETTER WITH EACH BOOK.

He could switch from adorable to enigmatic, delicious to humorous and from creepy to wonderfully romantic and I would gladly eat it all up BECAUSE IT'S MORPHEUS and let's get it out there: we're all too much in love with him to do much about it. He is probably the only character who can say "luv" and not make it sound awkward. Am I right?

If Morpheus was pizza I'd limit my diet strictly to pizza (and possibly die to due to over-consumption of pizza) BUT YOU GET MY POINT which is ultimately that Morpheus is perfect. 

DON'T YOU THINK HE WOULD MAKE THE PERFECT
MORPHEUS? TOTALLY FANNING MYSELF.

Talk about swoons.

Then we have Jeb - the guy no one really liked in the previous books -  who is fantastically portrayed here. My respect for him grew by each second, and being honest? I think I have a little crush on him too.

As for the other characters, their presence kind of didn't matter that much to me, mostly because I was too engrossed in the main trio. We have Alyssa's Dad who was pretty supportive, the bad guys who were despicable (as always), the lovable ones like Chessie and the set of weirdos because HELLO, Wonderland.

I thought the love triangle was carried out nicely

TWO AMAZING GUYS - HOW DOES ONE DECIDE?

The answer seems very obvious, doesn't it? The conclusion didn't work for some people, but I rolled along with it just fine.

I DON'T KNOW how to talk about the romance without letting out spoilers so I'll end it here. Just prepare to face A LOT OF MORPHEUS, JEBBY WEBBY STUFF, AND FEELS.

I ship Morpheus and Alyssa (if you haven't noticed already). The THING is that I kind of shipped Morpheus and Jeb too.

Don't give me the look. Have you seen the banter between the two? Adorable. Mostly.

A stellar writing (that we all expected) 

A.G. Howard has this way with words that made this a beautiful, vivid read.

"We will wreak such beautiful havoc together."

 The theme is also darker in comparison to that of the predecessors, it being set in AnyElsewhere.

The mad, twisted nature of the story was done extremely well, and the writing with its details and seamless flow made it better tenfold.

All in all

DID I LOVE IT? UM, DUH. YES.

AM I SAD? EXTREMELY.

DO I REGRET ANY OF IT? NO.

MORPHEUS?

MORPHEUS.

"And there, in the midst of blinding orange, yellow, and white flames, our forever begins."

Have you read this?
Do you want to? (HOW CAN YOU NOT).

OH and what is your main ship?