Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

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I really wanted to love this book. I'm a huge fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as well as the movies and I've been branching out to retellings. Sadly though, I couldn't find the energy to see Queen of Hearts to the end, as it failed the 100 pages challenge (If you are not enjoying a book by the first 100 pages, then it probably isn't the book for you). There were a few things I would like to discuss about this book. We follow the main character Dinah, the Duchess of Wonderland, as a teenage girl. I didn't overly like Dinah, even though her personality was difficult to distinguish. She has a lot of jealousy and limited knowledge to her.
 
Her father is the King of Wonderland which was something that made my face look like I ate something sour. It was definitely a change having a (mean) male character in control of Wonderland, but one of my favourite aspects of Wonderland is that only women can rule. I grew quite fond of this detail growing up with The Queen of Hearts being one of my all time favourite villains.
 
When reading a book about Wonderland, I want to experience Wonderland. One of my favourite parts about reading a retelling from another author is seeing how they create the world I've already fallen in love with, it's like experiencing it over again with new perspective. From what I read, Dinah is sheltered to palace life and I didn't really feel the Wonderland magic I was hoping for.
 
Last, the names. You probably recognized that Dinah was the name of Alice's cat. This was interesting, but I also kind of liked it. When talking this point over to my friend and coworker, messybookshelf, she had an awesome idea that maybe the Queen of Hearts is Alice's cat, in the human world.  
Cheshire is also introduced early on as a Card, a member of the King's court. Dinah mentioned she heard rumours of him transforming into a cat, which I hope for the story is true. Cheshire as a man to me seemed weird. He's a beloved character of Wonderland. One of the many reasons of what makes this place so amazing is the crazy characters!
 
I really need to express how much I adore this cover. It's amazing, everything about it is beautiful. I hope the rest of this saga has similar, matching covers!

I wish I could have finished this, maybe I will go back to it when I have more time. This book is the first of a series so it definitely has the potential to grow. But unfortunately, this Wonderland retelling just wasn't for me.
 
I have very high expectations of Alice retellings because Lewis Carroll's book has been my favourite book since I was a child. Just because this book didn't satisfy me does not in anyway make it a terrible book. There are no terrible books, just different styles of taste.
 
The Queen of Hearts Saga:
Book 2: Blood of Wonderland
Book 3: War of the Cards
 
I will update the above information about this saga as it becomes available.
 
My Rating: DNF

 

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