Heartless

4.5 Stars!
Heartless was an interesting prequel-like novel to Alice in Wonderland. It chronicles the early life of Cath and what led her to become the Queen of Hearts.
It was nice seeing some familiar faces like Cheshire, Mad Hater and more.
Heartless was definitely an intriguing read and I found Jest very entertaining!

"Heartless" is the origin story for the Queen of Hearts (of Alice in Wonderland fame). Catherine, destined to be the queen of hearts, is a young woman who dreams of being a baker and falling in love. As the Marquess's daughter, however, this is not practical. Like most noblewomen, she is expected to marry well and live in idle luxury. Despite this, she constantly dreams of making her own way as a common laborer and working with her best friend and maid, Mary Ann, who has a head for numbers and business. Catherine plans to feed the king her most magnificent creation yet and get his blessing as the best baker in Hearts, starting her business off on the right foot. However, her plans go awry when the King's thoughts are less about her pastries and more about her suitability as his queen.

Catherine's life is further complicated by the new court joker from Chess, Jest, who she first saw in a dream and who is handsomely devastating. He saves her from a tight corset at the ball where she was to be made queen. Although Catherine knows she should marry the king and give up her dreams, she can't help but wish for the life she wants, as a simple baker, married to Jest and working with Mary Ann. Fate does not agree with her.

The book is somewhat slow to get going, as this alternate world is built and characters (from Alice's adventures) are introduced throughout. Some of them seem to be included just for the connections, but I found most of them to be a little extraneous/unnecessary in this book, dragging out the story a bit too much. However, the last 25% was absolutely incredible and the way that the story is woven was unexpected and made so much sense that it was almost nonsensical (in the way only Wonderland can be). Everything comes together in such an unpredictable way that makes so much sense in the end. I was at the edge of my seat seeing it all happen.

The romance was pretty good between Catherine and Jest, but I wasn't over-the-moon about their relationship. I saw how she could get caught in him, but this was like most teenager/Romeo&Juliet style insta-love and passionate/overwhelming lust. The king really didn't seem so bad, but he represented everything that was keeping Catherine trapped, while Jest was everything she ever dreamed her life could hold. You have to be able to buy into Jest/Catherine a little more than I could while reading. That being said, it was easy to see why they became so passionate about the other and how this played out at the end.

Overall, it was an incredible villain origin story that ended so fantastically the meanderings along the way were (mostly) forgotten. The author says she was inspired by Gregory Maguire's books, and I could definitely see the influence. For fans of Maguire, this book will definitely be a win!

"One to be a murderer. One to be a Martyr. One to be a Monarch. One to go Mad." *and one to be crying in fetal position in her bed*

Marissa Meyer, one day I will find you and I will marry you! (cannot make it less threatening, sorry!) How she manages to transform the tiniest details of the tales she's retelling into greater stories is beyond me!

Now, I love Alice in Wonderland... no, I LOVE Alice in Wonderland. Ok, looks better. And when I LOVE something I end up being really picky, be a retelling or an alternative portrayal of the thing, I'll approach it being very skeptical and wary. I didn't know much about Heartless when I picked it up but when I recognized characters like Mary Ann, Haigha, Hatta and the Mock Turtle, I knew that dear Marissa Meyer had done well her research!

"Stuff and nonsense. Nonsense and stuff and much of a muchness and nonsense all over again. We are all mad here, don't you know?"

Now, Heartless. First of all, HOW DIDN'T I KNOW THIS WAS A PREQUEL? HOW??? EVERYBODY KNEW, EVERY REVIEW I READ IS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO KNEW, WHY DIDN'T I? I SIGNED MYSELF UP FOR TRAUMA FROM THE VERY START!!! But, first things first...

While I was reading it I thought it was a quirky combination of 2 Broke Girls and Once Upon a time. It starts with Catherine and Mary Ann, one gentry and the other one maid, just two girls dreaming about opening a bakery in their hometown, Hearts. Catherine, though, soon finds out that the King is thinking about proposing to her, thing that'll relegate her to a life of nobility, sure, but also unhappiness. And if she was already thinking about denying the King her hand, she became even more stubborn when she unexpectedly found herself slowly falling in love with the Court's jester, Jest. Jester, with his impossibility and charm and the name that weirdly resambles his very job and his cheekiness and tea parties and magic, how can a girl resist him? But Jest has a secret, a secret that might keep them both from totally giving into each other.

"But hoping," he said, "is how the impossible can be possible after all."

The world building felt natural, a thing difficult to achieve when the source material is basically a long stream of nonsense. The characters relatable and different from one another, each one with its quirks and flaws.

The overall story simple to follow yet difficult to let go, I couldn't spend more than two of my waking hours not reading it. It's been a tiresome week, I can assure you! Heartless has been dark and eerie, funny and light-hearted in equal measure. And if you have any familiarity with the classic story this will be the best Alice retelling you've ever read! (in case it won't be, to each their own I guess!) I had no idea this was going to be a prequel to "Alice in Wonderland and through the Looking-Glass" when I first picked it up so when everything wrapped up in the end I was a squealing mess!!

"When pleased, I beat like a drum. When sad, I break like glass. Once stolen, I can never be taken back. What am I?"

The ending was amazing! When each tile took its rightful place in this beautiful mosaic I was astounded! Heartbroken and crying... but astounded!

Finally I warn you, although having loved this book I must admit that plot wise there's not much, there's not adventure and few action scenes. The story relies mainly on Cath and her character's development so it might not be everyone's favourite. As for me it's my jam!!