Heartless by Marissa Meyer
"Even the blackest heart once beat red".
"I pictured to myself the Queen of Hearts as a sort of embodiment of ungovernable passion- a blind and aimless fury."
- Lewis Carroll
"I pictured to myself the Queen of Hearts as a sort of embodiment of ungovernable passion- a blind and aimless fury."
- Lewis Carroll
February17 book for Avalon Muggles Book Club
Instagram: @avalonmuggles
"Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.
At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. 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 a secret courtship.
Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans." (goodreads)
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: The Queen is referred to as a card from a pack of playing cards by Alice, yet somehow she is able to talk and is the ruler of the lands in the story, alongside the King of Hearts. She is often confused with the Red Queen from the sequel (Through the Looking Glass), although the two are different. (Wikipedia)
Heartless: Seventeen- year- old Catherine Pinkerton, a prodigy baker, falls in love with the Court Joker, Jest, all while expected to fulfill her parents expectations of marrying the King of Hearts, becoming the next Queen.
At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. 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 a secret courtship.
Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans." (goodreads)
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: The Queen is referred to as a card from a pack of playing cards by Alice, yet somehow she is able to talk and is the ruler of the lands in the story, alongside the King of Hearts. She is often confused with the Red Queen from the sequel (Through the Looking Glass), although the two are different. (Wikipedia)
Heartless: Seventeen- year- old Catherine Pinkerton, a prodigy baker, falls in love with the Court Joker, Jest, all while expected to fulfill her parents expectations of marrying the King of Hearts, becoming the next Queen.
Alice in Wonderland was my favorite Disney movie growing up, and still is. A lot of the villains in Disney movies scared me, but the Queen of Hearts didn't. Her ability to go from scary nice, if that's what you call it, to enraged so quickly was always a little funny to me. She was extreme and so dramatic that I would often forget she's the evil one in the movie, to oh so innocent Alice. As I got older and would revisit the book or movie I would often wonder about the Queen of Hearts, questions most fans I think would have. Why is she so angry? Why does she hate white roses so much? Why does she want to cut everyone's head off? And mainly, how did she ever end of with the King of Heart? Marissa's Meyer origin story answers all of that in this amazingly perfect prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
What impressed me most about Heartless was the true effort Meyer went to into researching the Queen of Hearts. She took everything Lewis Carroll gave us about her, even how she looked like a Walrus in size (SORRY CATH) and used the exact character outline for Lady Catherine Pinkerton. In the author's note, Meyer also explained how Raven was inspired from Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven. Even though it hasn't be mentioned, I feel the three sisters as a reference to the Three Witches in Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
I love what she did with Wonderland. Wonderland is the name Alice called it, although it has also been referred to as Underland. In Heartless, Catherine lives in Hearts. Which duh, makes perfect sense since the official royal titles are the King and Queen of Hearts. As smitten as that made me, Meyer topped it. On the other side of the Looking Glass was Chess. In Carroll's sequel, Through the Looking Glass, the White and Red Queen rule and are also chess pieces. The White Queen is one of the first characters Alice meets here, who is looking for her daughter (a pawn). I thought this was such a clever touch. I also loved how perfect the characters lined up to the original story. I have read some reviews that were upset that the Tweedles were only mentioned in Heartless and did not have bigger roles. However, I understand the importance that Tweedledee and Tweedledum actually do not make an appearance in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where she is in the land of the ruling Queen of Hearts. The Tweedles are actually in Through the Looking Glass, in the land ruled by the White and Red queen. The Mad Hatter (Hatter), The March Hare (Haigha), The Mock Turtle, The Caterpillar, and the White Rabbit also all make appearance and are from the right sides of The Looking Glass. The characters are all so perfectly well done.
I was really nervous about reading Heartless, I wanted so much to like the Queen of Hearts origin story that I wondered if anything could live up to the expectation, it did. I absolutely loved Heartless, and I highly recommend it even if you aren't an Alice in Wonderland fan. Since it is a prequel, I feel anyone could pick this up and be able to follow along, although I can't imagine someone not knowing ANYTHING about Wonderland. I knew I was in love with the story when I felt so happy for Catherine, until the realization came back that she would eventually become the Queen of Hearts and against my better judgment wished her fate would not end that way.
What impressed me most about Heartless was the true effort Meyer went to into researching the Queen of Hearts. She took everything Lewis Carroll gave us about her, even how she looked like a Walrus in size (SORRY CATH) and used the exact character outline for Lady Catherine Pinkerton. In the author's note, Meyer also explained how Raven was inspired from Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven. Even though it hasn't be mentioned, I feel the three sisters as a reference to the Three Witches in Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
I love what she did with Wonderland. Wonderland is the name Alice called it, although it has also been referred to as Underland. In Heartless, Catherine lives in Hearts. Which duh, makes perfect sense since the official royal titles are the King and Queen of Hearts. As smitten as that made me, Meyer topped it. On the other side of the Looking Glass was Chess. In Carroll's sequel, Through the Looking Glass, the White and Red Queen rule and are also chess pieces. The White Queen is one of the first characters Alice meets here, who is looking for her daughter (a pawn). I thought this was such a clever touch. I also loved how perfect the characters lined up to the original story. I have read some reviews that were upset that the Tweedles were only mentioned in Heartless and did not have bigger roles. However, I understand the importance that Tweedledee and Tweedledum actually do not make an appearance in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where she is in the land of the ruling Queen of Hearts. The Tweedles are actually in Through the Looking Glass, in the land ruled by the White and Red queen. The Mad Hatter (Hatter), The March Hare (Haigha), The Mock Turtle, The Caterpillar, and the White Rabbit also all make appearance and are from the right sides of The Looking Glass. The characters are all so perfectly well done.
I was really nervous about reading Heartless, I wanted so much to like the Queen of Hearts origin story that I wondered if anything could live up to the expectation, it did. I absolutely loved Heartless, and I highly recommend it even if you aren't an Alice in Wonderland fan. Since it is a prequel, I feel anyone could pick this up and be able to follow along, although I can't imagine someone not knowing ANYTHING about Wonderland. I knew I was in love with the story when I felt so happy for Catherine, until the realization came back that she would eventually become the Queen of Hearts and against my better judgment wished her fate would not end that way.
If you are a fan of any book or movie version of Alice in Wonderland, looking for a heart breaking romance, interested in fantasy, retellings, fairy tales, villain origin stories or like YA novels in general, I highly recommend Heartless by Marissa Meyer.
My Rating: 5/5 Stars
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