Ensnared {A Review}

Title: Ensnared
Author: AG Howard
Series: Splintered #3
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Source/Format: Own/Hardcover
Rating: 5 freaking stars

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?

 

I finished this series with a heavy heart. I have immensely enjoyed my stay in this world that AG Howard has created and was very sad to know that it was ending.

Starting the end of a series that I love is always so emotional for me. It's going to either make or break the love for me, as far as my undying love and devotion goes. But I usually trust the author to do what feels right, to have to story end true to the characters, to the plot. And this one? AG Howard succeeded... far beyond any expectations I could possibly have. I had no inkling which of many routes her characters would choose to make her take. But I was not disappointed.

I want to tell you all everything I loved about this book. But to do so would be to ruin some of it for you if you haven't read it. So here's what I can say (which mostly applies to the series as a whole):

1. The imagery. Howard gave herself the task of creating vastly different worlds. And that's not like moving a setting in a story from Paris to the United States. We're talking going from the human realm, with which we are all familiar, to Wonderland, and then to Any Elsewhere. And each world had its own feel to it. They were characters in and of themselves. I could see them, I could feel them, I could touch them. I was there.
2. The characters. They were 100% real... realistic. They could my brother, sister, parents, friends. I wanted them to be those things. I wanted them all to be happy, to be loved, to find themselves, to discover their own abilities, to cherish each other and what they had with one another.
3. Chemistry. I have read very few authors who can write a scene so sizzling hot yet entail very little detail (for lack of a better word at this moment). Where a touch in the book can send shivers down my spine. A mere kiss being shared can make my own lips tingle.
4. I'm not sure of a "heading" for this one, but everything that happened felt true to the story, to the characters. There were times I felt my heart ripping in two. There were times I cried. Times I laughed out loud (making the hubs look at me strangely, per usual). A few times I wanted to reach through the pages and strangle people, hug them, slap them, love them. 

Needless to say, I will be reading anything AG Howard decides to write. Going on blind faith... I'll just buy them without a care as to what they're even about. Even if it turns out to be her own take on the alphabet or dictionary, I won't care. She's that awesome. ;)

To keep it completely and utterly spoiler free, that's all I shall say. Other than if you haven't read this series, WHAT IN ALL THE WORLDS ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!