Alright guys. I've decided not to write a review for Ensnared because I wouldn't even where to begin, but I couldn't NOT address it. So here we are, my first ever spoiler chat. Obviously there will be spoilers.
I didn't quite like Ensnared. The love triangle was the main focus of this one, with Alyssa going between Morpheus and Jeb and each character either building up their character or putting their own foot in their mouth. Given how Howard handled Team Jeb vs Team Morpheus in the previous two books, I expected her to approach this last installment a bit differently, aka not go down the traditional YA love triangle route.
My annoyance wasn't limited to the Jeb and Morpheus, but the pacing felt all kinds of off. I was excited that Alyssa's dad had some back story, but it didn't feel fleshed out enough. For me, all of Ensnared was jumping from point A to point B to point C without anytime for the reader/listener to process the information. Although this COULD be because I honestly I don't remember a GOD DAMN THING from Unhinged (I probably REALLY should've reread Unhinged). The pacing was either "omg are they even talking about anything?" to "wait, how did we get here?" Until finally, I just stopped caring and was counting down the chapters until I was done.
There was ONE scene that really got to me. As a strictly Team Morpheus girl, the conversation between Morpheus and Alyssa as chess pieces almost broke my heart. And made me want to look up Morpheus fanfiction ASAP. If you know any, point me in that direction!
Finally, the ending. The reason the love triangle annoyed me was because Alyssa truly loved both Jeb and Morpheus, and it seemed equally. This is probably my own beliefs keeping me from enjoying the love triangle, but I don't believe that one person can love two people in the exact same way. It would have made sense if Jeb were a childhood crush and Morpheus were a more mature love interest (or even vice verse since Morpheus knew Alyssa as a child), but she separated the type of love that she felt for each of them.
The ending, while creative and mostly satisfying for all parties, felt cheap to me. Alyssa wasn't forced to make a choice, instead she just had to wait until everyone she loved died and got to live happily ever after as a sixteen year old in Wonderland. I would have rather she not choose either one of them.
Also something bothered me about the epilogue. If her kids just so happened to fall through the rabbit hole and found her mom as a sixteen year old....how would Alyssa explain her situation? Especially if she already bore the Netherling prince? Awkward.
So in short, I was pretty dissatisfied with the conclusion to the Splintered series. Luckily, the beautiful thing about readers is that not everyone has the same reaction to a book, so I want to know what you thought about Ensnared.
1. Did you like Ensnared?
2. Team Jeb or Team Morpheus?
3. Were you satisfied with the ending?
4. What did you want more of in Ensnared?
5. What did you want less of in Ensnared?
Fairytale Retelling Reading Challenge Entry
Labels: 2 stars, A.G Howard, discussion, ensnared, fairytale retellings reading challenge, spoiler chat
