Heartless

I love the concept of humanizing the Queen of Hearts and the tragic story that led to her insanity and cruelty. It's a sobering read that ends in a depressing way, but is so worth it. I almost threw the book across the room by the end, lol.

In a world where the impossible is possible; this story keeps the impossible, impossible.

Marissa Meyer has a way of telling the story so you can't just walk away. Even when you think you have it figured out the truth is you don't.

Heartless gives you a new look into the Queen of Hearts. It makes her seem more himan. It makes you realize why she is such a true villain to the Land of Hearts. It shows you why she prefers decapitations. It brings her story to another level.

The characters we meet along the way are some we know and some we don't. Those that we know from Wonderland are in their younger forms. Some have less worries. Some seem to have more. The land changes and now we know how.

If you loved the Lunar Chronicles, you will love this. If you adore fairy tale retellings this is the story for you. If you love a good villain origin story this will not let you down.

*****4.5*****

“A heart, once stolen, can never be taken back.”

It was one of my “dream-reads”. I was always imagining myself holding this book and reading it, can anyone feel that way! I didn’t have any inkling about the story except that it should be read on the context of Alice’s Wonderland.

I didn’t like the way the story started, it seemed slow or maybe a bit of “nonsense and stuff”. But I was wrong, the starting chapters are a little dreamy or “nonsense and stuff” because they are building an image of our heroine Catherine. Cath is the only daughter of a Marquess, dreams of opening a bakery in the kingdom of hearts. (yes! The same one from Wonderland) But she is most desired lady in the kingdom and the king himself has set his heart on her (or on her culinary expertise). So now Cath is not so much in favor on that matter and she falls in love with a fool. Royal fool, no not the king but his court joker!

What happens next is drama with twists and turns which kept me awake till I finished it. And when I finished it, I took few moments to digest the flow of the story. The ending was not at all surprising, if you have read “Alice in Wonderland”, where it’s the beginning! But the transformation of our cute baker lady Catherine to a queen so heartless was overwhelming and dark. The title fits perfectly when you reach the last page and you will have a sinking feeling in your gut.

Must read, if you love fantasy and dark tales!

Happy “Off with his head” !!!

A 3.5 star rating -

I really like Marissa Meyer's writing style! I thought that the wonderland she portrayed was nice.

I'm not sure if I like how sudden Cath turned into the Queen of Hearts, it was very strange and jarring. It was death and then sudden turn and was not smoothed into.

I had a strong bloodlust before reading this book for a lot of deaths just because of the whole off with your head shtick and the most we got was three? Yet it was tied up really neatly, but I do agree with others that the first half was more interesting than the latter half.

I did like Jest and Cath's romance though - it could be interpreted as insta love, but I thought the circular time and "it all happened in a dream" was a cute thing. Or maybe I'm just hung up of how time was circular in the raven boys and miss that idea.

I loved Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles series, so when I heard about this other book she wrote, I was eager to get my hands on it. Once I did, I could hardly put it down. Funny story: I actually didn’t realize right away that the main character Cath was supposed to be the future Queen of Hearts. Basically, the book provides a backstory on the Queen of Hearts in the infamous book “Alice In Wonderland”. I loved the story that Meyer came up with. It’s absolute perfection, and I especially recommend it for those who love the Alice In Wonderland book/movie. Even if you are not too familiar with that story, readers will absolutely love this one.