Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Fantasy. 453 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.
Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.
Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.
In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
My Review:
Well, let me preface this review by saying that I do not like Alice and Wonderland. I never have. However, I like checking out the retellings sometimes because that’s how Snow White grew on me. That said, I picked this up solely because I wanted to know if Marissa Meyer was worth putting on my favorites list or if it was just the Lunar Chronicles that I thoroughly enjoyed. As it turns out, Meyer is definitely a keeper!
Unfortunately, I paid as little heed to the Sister’s warning as did anyone else. I got whiplash from the ingenious twists that filled me with precious hope to the innumerable, sour reminders of just how false that hope was. That Meyer can toy with my emotions as much as she has here just proves what I knew to be true from reading the Lunar Chronicles–she is a master of the art and I am completely under her spell. Heartless was absolutely brilliant. It was cleverly written and tied so many things together that it just made me grin goofy. The characters were my absolute favorite!!! And she elaborated on the setting so beautifully. If this were what Wonderland felt like every time I opened the books, I’d go back every time…even though I knew how it would end from the beginning, I think I’d do it again…ough, so bittersweet, but ingeniously woven together!!!!
There is a little bit of violence and there are some dark themes. No graphic romance. I don’t recall any foul language, but it’s been a while since I read the book. There need to be more of these from Meyer!!!