Heartless by Marissa Meyer: A Book Review

Heartless
Author: Marissa Meyer
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: 2016
Pages: 464
Source: My State Public Library
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.

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, 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: Heartless tells the story of the Queen of Hearts. Catherine Pinkerton dreams of owning her own bakery with her maidservant and best friend, Mary Ann. However because she is the daughter of a marquess, she knows that her dream may not come true because of her station in life. Her dream becomes more impossible when the King of Hearts has his eye solely on Catherine and vows to make her his queen. Repulsed by the King of Hearts, and slowly falling in love with the mysterious Joker, Catherine is willing to do whatever it takes to make the impossible become possible. She will find a way to reject the king, be with the Joker, and have her bakery.

I really liked Catherine’s slow transformation from a bright, optimistic girl to the Queen of Hearts we all know today. It was no easy feat to pull off, yet the author accomplished it with what seems like relative ease. Catherine’s change is slow and gradual. She is hopeful and determined to fulfill her dream. However, she is pressured by all of Hearts to give up her dream and marry the king. She finds that she has no allies who want to help her. There were some moments where Catherine is weak. She doesn't say no to her parents or the King until the end. Still, even though she is weak during those times, each setback changes her into a villain. Her heart gradually turns to ice. Thus, readers will feel sadness when Catherine becomes the infamous Queen of Hearts and wishes that Catherine's fate was different.

Overall, this was a wonderful origin story of the Queen of Hearts. All the characters are faithfully depicted from Lewis Carroll. Wonderland was a great setting. The author was faithful to the setting of a world full of nonsense. The kingdom of Hearts was inspired by Victorian England, and it is very reminiscent of the era. Some things that I didn't like about the novel were that it was slow moving, and wished that there was more of relationship development between the Joker and Catherine. Heartless is definitely a must read for people who want to read backstories on literature’s most notorious villains. I recommend this to fans of Wicked, The Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and I am Mordred.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Here is the book trailer for Heartless:

This is a video of Marissa Meyer about her novel, Heartless:

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki: A Book Review

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post Author: Allison Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Release Date: February 15, 2022 Pages: 381 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweath

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: A Book Review

The Rose Code Author: Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2021 Pages: 635 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: 1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. 1947, London. Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the royal wedding between Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, disaster threatens. Osla, Mab and Beth are estranged,

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) by Lucinda Riley: A Book Review

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) Author: Lucinda Riley Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Atria Release Date: 2015 Pages: 463 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings. Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

Search This Blog