Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Title: Heartless

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: YA, fantasy, retelling

Publication date: November 2016

Published by: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Purchased paperback

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Synopsis: Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. 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 an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

My rating: ★★★★★

Heartless? More like heartbroken because I was a mess by the end of this book.

This is an Alice in Wonderland prequel that focuses on the Queen of Hearts and how she became the ruthless queen we see in Alice in Wonderland. I was expecting things to not go well for the queen, but damn was I not prepared!

Especially because of how much I ended up loving Cath, the future Queen of Hearts! She was so precious and sweet and all she wanted to do was be the Tarte Baker of the kingdom. She didn’t want to be Queen at all! But she was destined to be the Queen of Hearts, and I knew that something terrible needed to happen to make her the way she is in Alice in Wonderland.

But onto more pleasant things: the romance. The romance was SO freaking cute!

There was flirty banter between Cath and Jest right from the start and I loved it! Their interactions were just so cute! And I loved Jest! He was just so fun and thoughtful!

...Cath was standing on the surf, staring out into the sea, and realizing with sudden certainty that she was losing her heart to this fool.

So at the end when Jest freaking DIES, I was a mess right along with Cath! Remember when I said that something terrible needed to happen to make the Queen of Hearts the way she is? Well, this is it! And I was not okay! Those last 50 pages of the book were torture! I was expecting a horrible ending, but the book had given me hope that maybe things would turn out well for Cath and Jest, that it would somehow work out, and then it took the hope away and I could not stop crying! Reading the interview with Marissa Meyer at the end of the book, she said that this story could only end in two ways: either Jest dies or he betrays Cath. But Jest is not the betraying type, so you’re only left with one option. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t like books that don’t have a happily ever after... usually. But this book? I get it! This was the only way! It was heartbreaking, but I understood why the author made the choices she did.

I also really loved the world! I think Wonderland is just such an interesting, wacky, and fun world, and I enjoyed exploring Marissa Meyer’s take on it. Marissa Meyer just writes the best retellings! And the story she wove for the Queen of Hearts in this book was amazing! Heartbreaking, yes, but also very fun. The characters were wacky and interesting, the tea party was chaotic and fun (I expected nothing less lol), and the thing with the attacking Jabberwock was very intriguing! There was a plot twist there that was very surprising! I liked it!

Even though this book made me bawl my eyes out, I loved it! It was such a fun read with great characters, and I enjoyed following Cath on her journey as she navigated her predetermined destiny of becoming the Queen of Hearts. I highly recommend it!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊