Review--Untamed by A.G. Howard

A post-Ensnared collection of three stories—available in both print and e-versions.

Alyssa Gardner went down the rabbit hole and took control of her destiny. She survived the battle for Wonderland and the battle for her heart. In this collection of three novellas, join Alyssa and her family as they look back at their memories of Wonderland.

In Six Impossible Things, Alyssa recalls the most precious moments of her life after Ensnared, and the role magic plays in preserving the happiness of those she loves. Alyssa’s mother reminisces about her own time in Wonderland and rescuing the man who would become her husband in The Boy in the Web. And Morpheus delves into Jeb’s memories of the events of Splintered in The Moth in the Mirror, available in print for the first time.

This collection expands upon Ensnared's epilogue, and includes some deleted scenes to provide a “director’s cut” glimpse into the past and futures of our favorite Splintered characters. 

Untamed is a collection of A.G. Howard’s novellas in the Splintered trilogy. Granted, The Moth in the Mirror was previously published as an e-novella only, but we still have two brand new stories in this one, The Boy in the Web and Six Impossible Things.

The Boy in the Web was basically the story of how Alyssa’s parents met. Alison was going through similar changes that we saw Alyssa go through. She talked to bugs, and a strange moth man visited her in her dreams. He was shaping her up to be the future queen. While this story was part Alison remembering her time with Morpheus, it also became a trip down memory lane via the train where you can see memories, with her husband Thomas.

We learn who Thomas was before, a young boy named David destined for great things that were somewhat Wonderland related. And then he becomes a prisoner in Sister Two’s (or was it One?) graveyard. It wasn’t until Alison rescued him that everything changed, including him.

It was a bit of a slow story, perhaps I’ve spent too much time away from this particular Wonderland. But while I liked seeing how Alyssa’s parents met, it really wasn’t all that memorable of a story.

Since I previously read The Moth in the Mirror, I skipped a re-read and went straight to Six Impossible Things. I always struggled to enjoy the romantic aspect of the Splintered trilogy. Because as we all know, Alyssa never really made her “choice”. She wanted it all, so she had both boys. She lived with Jeb as a human in the human world and when he died, she readied herself to return to Wonderland and take on her sixteen year old’s self and body again, to be with Morpheus.

I hated this. I hated that she basically chose them both. I think I could’ve liked the story better if she chose one boy or the other at the end of Entwined. But nope. That wasn’t her way. Alyssa has three memories that she recalls as an old woman, readying herself to return to Wonderland. This was basically her time with Jeb. But yet, it wasn’t really the highlights. There’s a memory of her returning to her old world, their wedding, and Jeb’s death. What life was that really?

The latter half of the story is her returning to Morpheus and this is basically the now of things. Then we return to memory lane, again, but this time with her memories of Morpheus. One was from her childhood time with him in her dreams, and the latter two were of when she spent her time with him before returning with Jeb and her parents to her human world.

I think the Team Morpheus fans will definitely enjoy this story more. While I never found a team for myself, I might have leaned more towards Jeb because there were a few things I didn’t like that Morpheus did to Alyssa. I almost feel like Alyssa should’ve just chosen Morpheus and forget the whole human life with Jeb, because that’s basically what kind of happens in some sense. While that human life did shape her in some ways, I feel like none of it mattered in the long run because she chose an eternity with Morpheus. She loved them both, but in the end, really, Morpheus was her true choice.

And I would’ve dealt with that all fine and dandy had she never chosen Jeb as well. And now the latter half of this review has turned into a rant regarding Alyssa’s choices! My apologies.

I did like this story a little more than the first one. I still felt heartsick over Jeb and wondered what kind of life he and Alyssa had, because it wasn’t really mentioned but for her carefree, momentary flashbacks as he died. Though I do think it would be interesting to see what kind of life she and Morpheus have in Wonderland. And there’s quite the surprise at the end as well. If only Alyssa would’ve chosen Morpheus at the series end, I think I would’ve enjoyed this one much more than I did.

Overall Rating 3/5 stars