Heartless

I loved this book. It gives you the famous quotes from Alice in wonderland like "How is a raven like a writing desk", "Off with its head", and "I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast" to name a few. But the entire story is completely different with just one small mention about Alice the rest of the story is about how the Queen of Hearts became who she is. And it is not a happy ending story. I don't think anyone is happy at the end of this story.Marissa Meyer describes everything so well that I believe that I am in Hearts myself. Or that I just have watched the movie Heartless because it was so vivid in my imagination because she describes everything so well.You also have all the normal characters of from Alice in Wonderland like the White Rabbit, The mad hatter, the Cheshire cat and the caterpillar. This story doesn't just so how the Queen of Hearts became the way she is but also how the Mad hatter became mad. There are scenes pulled out of Alice in Wonderland but are different to fit this book. Like the croquet with the hedgehogs and the flamingos.At the end of the story, you feel bad for all the characters even the loopy King of Hearts. Even though I know how it is going to end. That Catherine will become the Queen of Hearts, I find myself hoping and hoping that the ending would end differently. That Catherine will get her happy ending. But this story is all about how Catherine became the Queen of Hearts, and it is not a happy story.

Oh this book took me on such an emotional roller coaster. I fell in love with these characters and the story and my heart broke as theirs did. It's a beautifully written story in a familiar, whimsical land. I could hardly put the book down and found myself torn between needing to finish it and wanting it to go on longer.Even though you know that this is an origin story for the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland and you know how she ends up, you can't help but hope and want so much more for her. Marissa Meyer definitely captured the magic and whimsy of Wonderland while still putting her own spin on it.If you are a fan of Alice in Wonderland, or enjoyed The Lunar Chronicles then this book is definitely for you. It'll spin a magical tale for you that will leave you in a puddle of emotions by the end.A must read.

3.5/5To preface, I am not a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland. I dunno, I just watch that movie and feel like I should be smokin' whatever the Caterpillar is smoking, or something. It is just a weird freaking movie and it has never spurned me to read the actual book.That being said, I really did enjoy this story, and of course, Meyer's superb writing. The story starts out much stronger than it ends, both in prose and plot; and that is why I knocked the rating down. In the beginning, I was feeling the Jane Austen meets Lewis Caroll writing, but that just slowly went away as the story continued. In addition, the pacing was off. When I'm very into a story, I can't put it down - and I had no issues putting this book down. Sure, each time I picked it up, I enjoyed it - but that rush-to-finish wasn't here. It was fast, then slow, then fast, then slow... you get the idea.However, I overall enjoyed Heartless and liked all the little bits that Meyer incorporated into the story (a Poe'esque Raven, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, etc.)You like YA and Fantasy and... Alice in Wonderland? This is probably a must read for you!

I really enjoyed the author's Lunar Chronicles series and suggest everyone read them. However, this book which I had high hopes for, really left me with a bad taste in my mouth at the end. I think if I went in knowing how closely the book followed the tale then I wouldn't have been so disappointed. But after reading the previous series and the adaptions done on the classic tales, I was optimistic until the very end.I really really enjoyed the book until the last part which is why I'm giving it a 4/5. The ending felt forced and the characters did a complete 180 personality wise. The actions that led up to the ending did not warrant the kind of reaction the main character gave.It will be interesting to see if she diverts from the main typical story in the future books and does an adaption of it like in the Lunar Chronicles. Otherwise I do not think I'll read this series.

I love a good retelling and this one has been on my TBR pile for a while. I read Melissa's Lunar Chronicles series last year and I LOVED it! So when I saw this was on audio I just had to grab it.This book is set before Alice in Wonderland and tells the story of how Catherine became the Queen of Hearts. I liked this different take on a retelling by telling the villains story. This has happened a few times recently in a few Disney films and it's something I really like. I feel like people most of the time there is a reason people have turned evil.Catherine is young and full of dreams. She is an avid baker and dreams of opening her own bakery. She loves the way her treats make people happy. Catherine was such an endearing character that you really struggle to see how she can become the Queen of Hearts. Marissa does such a good job of making Catherine likeable. I kept hoping that somewhere something would go right for her and things wouldn't turn out so terrible.I'm not a die-hard Alice in Wonderland fan but it did make me want to read the book (or maybe watch the film!) I loved that some of the characters like The Mad Hatter were in the book. It really made the story feel real.I'd love this to become a series as I feel there is more that could come from these characters but I equally understand why it's a standalone. If you love a retelling with a twist then I would highly recommend this story. Especially the audio version. Rebecca has such a great voice I could listen to her read to me all day. She does such an excellent job of portraying the story and differentiating the voices.

I would give this 3.5 stars. I did enjoy reading it and I really liked the story and the characters. There are a few twists and turns on the way even though it all leads you to the ending that you know is coming. All the way through you are hoping that it doesn’t happen but it was always clear what the fate of these characters would be and no matter how hard the characters try they can’t run from or escape it. I thought it was an interesting take on how the Queen of Hearts came to be with a lot of the original storyline brought in e.g. the off with their head, the hatred of white roses, the croquet, etc. I just found it quite frustrating how weak Catherine was. How if she had just stood up for herself and stopped worrying about what everyone else thinks then she could have been happy and avoided her fate. I didn’t feel like she was fighting hard enough to avoid the king and his courtship/ proposal when she so adamantly didn’t want it. She knew what the future held not just for her but for Jest, Raven and Hatter and yet she jeopardised all of it with her decisions subjecting her friends to horrific fates.The entire thing was like watching a car crash in slow motion and you know what is going to happen but you are powerless to stop it. I think knowing what the end of the story was going to be and knowing that it wouldn’t be a happy ending stopped my complete enjoyment of the novel (especially the last 25%) as it all just seemed like such an unhappy ending for all of the characters involved and it could have all been so easily avoided. I feel like although it was fated For Catherine to be queen I felt like it was always her decisions that led her down that path and sometimes I didn’t really understand the decisions or it seemed like the easy option. I guess I would have liked to see her try harder, to fight more for what she wanted instead of always submitting and to be forced into making a really difficult choice instead of it all being very accidental. There were also some aspects I would have liked further detail on such as Catherine’s dreams or the trees growing around her that were never actually explained. I did enjoy it, but it’s not a book I think I will read again.

Before Alice, before the trial, before the roses were painted red, before all of that, Catherine was a young, beautiful girl dreaming of owning a bakery and falling in love for the first time. All her love, concentration and hope are in this bakery and the handsome man who suddenly appears into her life and the last thing she wants, and everyone seems to be pushing her to be, is to sit on the throne and become the Queen of Hearts.Throughout the book there is an ever present doom - you know how the story is going to end before it even begins, which makes for a unique experience. Marissa Meyer, I felt, was able to create a different but familiar Wonderland, that still held that cheeky, goofy and absurd nature that Lewis Carrol invented back in the 1800's. I've read Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, so when a character from the book is show, I had to stop for a moment and appreciate how Meyer inserted them into her work. Her writing is also one that I really admire and one that really gives you the scope of the world while also feeling personal. Now, I won't deny it, the pacing is rather slow. There's not a lot of action - if any at all - and that wasn't a problem for me. There is instant-love in the plot, but it is a stand-alone novel, so that was to be expected. Parts of the plot were a little repetitive and it felt rather like the story was just stuck in this loop for about three times. However, I liked the conflict slowly building in the background and Cath's reaction to it all. Or maybe I was just in the mood for that kind of book. Catherine herself is a very sympathetic character, filled with hopes and dreams, who is trapped in a very upper-class Victorian problem. We see the whole story from her point of view and her strong attitude makes her entertaining and somewhat likeable. She does have a bit of development, but the more you wonder about how this nice, caring girl who wants to open a bakery became the Queen Of Hearts, the more you can see little bits of her attitude and personality that will inflate when she is confronted with a situation. I would go into more detail, but I went into this book not knowing a lot about it, and I have a feeling that would be the best way to go into this book.Overall, it was an inspiring and interesting take on Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, one that I think Wonderland lovers will enjoy. The pace is a little slow and there are times where it gets repetitive; there is an romance that comes and goes very quickly, but if you can get past all of that and take in the writing style, the characters and the interesting and heart-breaking take on the classic novel, pick this book up and you will never look at the vicious Queen Of Hearts the same way again.

This book is a slow-burner but it is definately worth sticking with. It tells the story of the Queen of Hearts and how she came to be as she was. If you are a fan of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland stories, then there are few suprises in this book - it follows the Alice stories very well (although it is dealing with events before these books) and captures the essence of Wonderland without changing too much of the world created by Lewis Carroll. There is at least on twist, that I wouldn't have seen coming (although I knew it was because I had accidently read a spoiler for this book) and that adds an element of suprise to the tale.The characters are well-written but the majority are annoying and each one seems to have at least one trait to dislike. Catherine drove me mad with her indecisiveness (especially as you know how its going to end), Jest was cruel and manipulative at times and the King was a charicature who would be a pain to live with. Lesser characters are also well-written and you can recognise who some of them will become. Minor events and characters are mentioned and these had me smiling as I realised where they fitted into the original canon.My only criticism is that this book took a long time to get anywhere, but the final third is excellent - face-paced with drama, excitement and sorrow - and makes me glad I stuck with the book through the slower beginning. All-in-all, a good book that is worth reading if you are a fan of Wonderland (or alternative fairy tales).

Nice little fairy tale. A what-if story. A twisted take on a well known L. Carroll Alice-story.If you like fantasy, a bit of playfulness, if you allow your mind wander a bit and don't take everything too seriously then there's a chance you'll like this book. I enjoyed it a lot!Yes, it's a bit loose, a bit illogical, a bit under-developed but these are partly the reasons why I liked it. It's a mind-game, but because you know that and won't get sucked in and it's not gonna ruin *your* mind. You see through the threads, you'll be able to see the reality, as well as "the other, the real story" through loosely knitted fabric of this text. It's not tight by any means, it allows you to daydream while you read it with a smirk on your face and a piece of cake on your plate next to the book. Yup. It's gonna make you eat some serious cake.