Confessions of a Literary Addict

This review is spoiler-free!

Ensnared by A.G. Howard
Series: Splintered #3
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retelling
Release Date: January 6th 2015 by Amulet books
Format: Paperback, 416 pages
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Find it here: Goodreads || Book Depository

For how little I enjoyed the series thus far, I’m genuinely surprised at how disappointed I am after finishing Ensnared.

I guess I kept hoping this would be a story about a girl and her connection to Wonderland, but it only ever ended up really being about a girl and her constant desire to be with two guys who honestly both sucked, in my humble opinion, and that’s exactly what I personally didn’t want out of the story. There ended up being a reason for her wanting both guys (is that a spoiler? Sorry if it is), which somehow justifies her actions with the whole emotionally fucking each of them over as she waffles between them (think Jeb in the first book, even though we apparently now know he only ever had feelings for Alyssa, which is still gross of him to date someone else like that anyway, but I digress) and makes absolutely jack shit all sense to me. I don’t know. I’m particularly peeved by how that whole love triangle was handled, and I hated all three prongs of it anyway.

(Possibly spoilery? But that resolution was very bootleg Clockwork Princess. Like, cut-and-paste. And I hated it in that book, too, so. Extra points taken off there.)

We got a lot of hints at the potential along the way, especially in the last few scenes where the climax is rolling in and wrecking shit everywhere, but, even at the very end, it just wasn’t what I desperately hoped it would be. That one is on me, and I’m the one who kept reading it, but, what can I say. I try to give the benefit of the doubt until the very end.

(And that line is HILARIOUS to me because I’m writing these in advance for the new year and as of right now it’s November 27th, and Supernatural just ended a few weeks ago with one of the most disappointing finales I’ve seen in my life. I’m a Cas person, and I held out hope to the bitter end, and, well. If you know what I mean, it’s a literal garbage fire happening right now. But, man, I waited until the last second for what I knew deep down wasn’t coming, and I do that more than I probably should with a multitude of things. It’s a personality defect.)

(If you don’t know what I mean, don’t worry about it. November 2020 was a wild ride, and I hope future me has some answers.)

(And, god DAMN it all, it better not be from poor Misha.)

ANYWAY.

All in all. NOT a fan. So, so much potential, but not the series for me. I will be reading the novellas if only because I want the series totally done, but I can’t promise I’ll feel any differently about them than I did the main three books. Stay tuned for that review if you’re interested!

Thanks for reading!