Heartless
Marissa Meyer
Rating: 3.5/5
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.
Marissa Meyer has recently become one of my honoured auto-buy authors. I read Cinder about a year and half ago, not really expecting much, and surprised myself by obsessing and devouring the rest of the Lunar Chronicles Books in record time.
I read Alice in Wonderland ten years ago and the Disney movie was one of my favourites when I was little. So, given that Heartless is an origin story for the Queen of Hearts written by Queen Marissa Meyer, no surprises that this was pretty much the most anticipated read.
Within just the first few chapters, I found myself constantly hungry due to the delicious food descriptions. Makes me wonder if Marissa Meyer is a great dessert chef herself!
“Why is a raven like a writing-desk?”
Cath was a wonderful character, complex and torn with emotions, going from a kind and innocent girl to the harsh queen we know so well.
The Cath/Jest romance could be categorized as instalove, but I do feel under the circumstances it worked. They meshed wonderfully and I was rooting for them from their very first meeting.
All of this is set to the wonderful world of Hearts, a quirky world, and a delight to immerse myself in the weirdness!
While I enjoyed Heartless, I didn’t love it. It was not as magical as the Lunar Chronicles. In Cinder, I was sucked in just by the first few chapters. With Heartless, I didn’t have the desperate need to keep reading. I read it over the course of a few weeks (I read Cinder in pretty much one go).
“How different everything could have been if you had thought to ask me that before.”
However, the last fifty pages were heartbreaking and perfect.
Marissa is a wonderfully witty author. Her style has become more pronounced in Heartless and I cannot wait for her upcoming book, Renegades.
Thank you so much MyKindaBook for sending over a copy! (Book Depository / Amazon US / Amazon Canada / Amazon UK)
“Off with his head.”