Yay or Nay?: Heartless (Novel)

This book is the equivalent of Joker. That's my starting line for this one. I loved this book, and I've been on sort of an Alice in Wonderland kick lately and I love creative origin stories that focus on why a legendary villain, like the Queen of Hearts, became the cruel monarch she did. And this I read off of Olga's shelf, she gave it to me to as she loves it, and thought I would, and she was right! And no spoilers, but it is literally the world of "Hearts" as it is called that creates it's own Queenly monster, and other than that, its an utterly tragic tale that you will get mad at the other characters in the story for, because they're just so stupid and restrictive to our main character you'll just get mad. But I won't waste another minute! Let me tell you all about this awesome story, this is my review of Heartless. 

The Story

Heartless tells the story of Lady Catherine (Cath) Pinkerton of Rock Turtle Cove, a noble in the land of Hearts who has the dream of opening the kingdom's best bakery with her maid, Mary Ann, despite the fact that she is the King of Heart's favourite, and rumoured to be the one he will propose to, to make his bride and queen. That is until Cath is introduced to the mysterious and new court joker, named Jest. At the risk of offending the King, her family, and the court, Cath enters into a secret and intense courtship, where she uncovers some of the mystery behind Jest. Determined to fall in love, fate has other plans for Cath however, as a prophecy could cost Cath her heart. 

My Thoughts

One of the best things I loved about this book is that it isn't the character of Cath that is the problem, as most stories will focus on a flawed character growing into something more. No, for this book, the world is the problem, and Cath is the one simply trying--and asking, to survive in it on her own terms. Constantly being told she's meant to be queen, that her goals of being a baker, or anything other than what a noble lady should strive for, she is told she can't. Even by those friends close to her, who end up betraying her. 

At a certain point, the world becomes the reason why Cath becomes the mad Queen of Hearts herself.  The characters are all very lively and sharp, they each have their own voice and own motives and that's also a strong point of the novel. You can tell different characters a part, and they seem to come right off the page. So that when the end of the story comes, you can certainly see the evolution, and in Cath's case, as well as her mother's, you see their flaws has also become a catalyst in the ending of this story. For that reason, primarily, as well as others I found the character's dynamic nature and strong personalities really was a main reason I was so entranced and pulled into the story from the beginning. 

Finally, Meyer seamlessly creates that "Wonderland" vibe. The characters sound half mad/ half sane. They sound and feel like characters Lewis Carroll would write into Alice in Wonderland. It's wonderfully done to the point that I don't think it could've been done any better than Carroll himself. Its ridiculously good, and you'll just have to read the book to see how well it was done, but my God, everything fits so well into Carroll's atmosphere and style that I can't complain about the world or writing, because this is the part of the book that shines here. It's this part most of all that makes it a beyond wonderful reimagining of Wonderland and it's iconic characters, which is rather difficult to do, but does flawlessly. 

My Rating 

So this is a short and sweet review, but I think I've covered everything I'd like to get to. Read this book, give it a buy or a borrow, find some way to get your hands on this book! You will not regret it! 

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

~Meghan