Heartless

1.75/5 stars “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?” It's a tragic thing, really, to hate a book you were so much anticipating. Especially by an author you love so much. Yet, here I am, typing up my feelings for this book that may-or-may-not deserve two stars. I wanted to love this book. Especially after [a:Marissa Meyer 4684322 Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357318852p2/4684322.jpg] gave us the gift that is [b:Winter 13206900 Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4) Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470057036s/13206900.jpg 18390887], aka one of the best pieces of writing I have personally ever read. I went into this book expecting to devour it, shower it with praises, and give it five stars without even blinking an eye. I mean it's Alice in Wonderland (who doesn't love Alice?) and it's [a:Marissa Meyer 4684322 Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1357318852p2/4684322.jpg] and it was given one of the most gorgeous covers I've ever laid eyes on. Perhaps my feelings towards this book was entirely my fault, I hyped it up so much in my brain that is was simply impossible to meet my expectations. Now, I just want to make it clear that even though I have negative feelings towards this book, I can totally understand why so many people love it. Heartless just isn't for me. It may be for you though. It may become your favorite book of all time. So you probably just want to ignore my entire review and create an opinion of your own. This book was going so good at first. I loved the beginning, and how the book jumped into the plot so quickly. When the love interest, Jest, was introduced, he came in with a bang and I instantly loved him (however, I eventually fell out of love...) Mary Ann seemed so sweet, I quickly took a liking to her, maybe too quickly. Even the Cheshire Cat seemed so on point to the original version of the story, that I was certain that other characters would be too. (Spoiler alert: they weren't.) The first 100 or so pages of this book was so good, and I was just so excited to be back into Marissa's imagination that I was trying my hardest to ignore all the things that I wasn't liking. But eventually came the point where I put the book down and had no desire to ever pick it up again. The first thing that didn't work for me is probably the most unpopular opinion of them all: the food. I'm probably that only person, ever, who doesn't like food. Food and I just don't get along. So the constant descriptions of what Cath bakes got old very quickly. It was as if every chapter was like, “Cath made this” or “Cath wanted to bake that” And I was just wanted it to stop. The overly described food was straight out of a cheesy fanfiction and added absolutely nothing to the plot. Then the writing. The writing was the second thing to annoy me. I understand that this is an Alice retelling, so quirky writing is practically a must, but (with no hatred to you, Marissa, as I still love your previous works with all my heart) it felt as if it was trying way too hard. The writing didn't flow smoothly like a published novel should have, but instead was as choppy as a kitchen knife. It felt like the entire manuscript should have been revised two or three more times. Then, when you didn't think it could get any worse, random [a:Lewis Carroll 8164 Lewis Carroll https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1192735053p2/8164.jpg] or [a:Edgar Allan Poe 4624490 Edgar Allan Poe https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1454522972p2/4624490.jpg] quotes would be thrown in at the most inconvenient times. It didn't work. Also, the entire book was so dragged out. This book might have been the greatest test of my perseverance yet. While attempting to read the middle 300 pages, I felt like my eyes were going to fall out of my face and onto the page, the proceed roll away somewhere where they would never have to read anymore. It was pretty much Cath leading the King on, hanging out with Jest when she wasn't suppose to, and complaining that she might not be able to open up a bakery. So let's talk about protagonist Cath. Just, what a bitch. She may seem all nice and innocent, but she's almost as bad as Regina George. I don't remember the last time I hated a main character as much as I hate her. It's gonna be easier if I just list out why. 1. She's so spoiled. Just a classic case of a rich girl who has been given everything she has ever wanted her entire life, but when she doesn't get that one thing, it's the end of the world. And she doesn't even try to get that one thing. She asked her parents, they said no, and she practically just gave up. Oh she did enter that competition to get money, but there was a giant hurdle in the road and she just gave up. 2. She was so rude. The King did absolutely nothing wrong. He was a nice guy who showered Cath with compliments and wanted to make her happy. Except, we were expected to hate him because he wasn't Jest. Cath barely gave him a second glance. Which I understand, like he's not your type and you rather not be with him. I get that. But she doesn't tell him that! Instead of explaining nicely to him that she doesn't reciprocate his feelings, she leads him on. All she had to do was be honest to the king, “I appreciate all that you are doing for me, but I really don't feel the same way about you. I'm so sorry.”Instead, what she say is (well, a summary, as I'm too lazy to scan the book for the exact wording), “Oh, don't propose to me. How about we enter a courtship I have no desire to be in, in which you lust over me even more, and eventually I'm gonna turn you down and break your heart.” 3. Instalove. She literally fell in love with Jest in just a few days, and yet she barely knew anything about him. Yes, he is kinda funny and attractive, so you must be soulmates. 4. The word “no” was not in her vocabulary. This entire plot wouldn't have existed if she just told someone, anyone, no.Jest literally called her brave and I was just like: What??? Boy, you need to redefine your definition of brave??? 5. She also never realized that she could have this AND that One of the didn't want to marry the King because she wouldn't be able to bake anymore? Where is your logic Cath? Becoming a wife doesn't take away your ability to bake. Of course you will be able to cook all that food you overly-described throughout the entire book. Probably in a bigger kitchen too! Maybe you won't be able to run a bakery, but you could totally get away with a catering business or something. I don't want to talk about Cath anymore. I am done with her. Okay, something else about this book. It didn't feel like Wonderland. There was no whimsical feelings about the world or nostalgic memories about Carroll's original work. I'm not an Alice superfan, but I've read and seen many adaptations of Wonderland that made me feel as if I was in Wonderland. This one did not. Also, there was literally a part where they mentioned Alice and I was left so confused? I thought this was a prequel? So for like the eternity of this book, I was annoyed with the title. I like titles that actually deal with themes of the book or events that take place within the book. What I don't like with titles are adjectives that have nothing to do with the book. For example, this title. Actually, let me rephrase that. This title has absolutely nothing to do with anything in the book, and is actually quite misleading, up until the last two chapters, in which the title becomes a major spoiler. I am so proud that I actually finished this book, to be honest. I hate DNF books, and this one came so close so many times. But I finished it, and can add one more read to my challenge, and now focus on books that are worth my time and effort.

I have finally finished this book. It took me forever to read, but that was only because I decided to start it right before finals week. After I actually had time to read it I was able to fully immerse myself in the story and the characters and fly through the last 2/3 of the book.

Marissa Meyer is the queen of retellings. The Lunar Chronicles is an amazing blend of classic fairytales woven in with sci-fi and original ideas. Heartless was exactly the same if only a little more imaginative. Heartless tells the story of the Queen of Hearts before she was Queen. Instead we get to see why she ended up the way she did and what lead her to make those choices. There were so many vibrant characters in this book and I loved all the imagery and dialogue.

I can safely say that I was pleasantly surprised with how Meyer was able to tie in the original story into her retelling. I felt like I really knew the characters and why things went the way they did, it did not seemed forced in any way.

For me my favorite characters were definitely Jest and Hatta. They were the classic characters of Wonderland and brought that whimsical, madness to the story.

Thanks to Fierce Reads and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for review

“We are all mad here, don't you know?”

This book blew me away. It was the perfect Queen of Hearts retelling/sequel, that ended up making me cry, which very rarely happens when reading. I loved Cath, Jest, Hatta, and Raven with all of my heart and loved how their story unfolded right in front of me while still paying homage to the original Alice in Wonderland. Just know that because of this book, I will always support women's rights and women's wrongs...iykyk

A very interesting take on the Queen of Hearts before she turned into a ruthless ruler.
The audiobook was amazing, with just one narrator but no problems at all in telling apart all of the different characters (love Rebecca Soler).
I wasn't a fan of the insta-love and of the lack of tension between the main characters (except for the family members..there we had plenty of tension), in some points the narration was a bit dragged on and I hoped for a little bit more of Wonder in the story. On the other hand even if the main character isn't strong willed and does little to achieve her dreams, the overall feeling is that of an almost realistic prequel to Alice's adventures, adding so much more depth to some of the well-known characters.

I had high hopes for this because of how much I loved the Lunar Chronicles! I will say that I loved this...less. I like, but don't love, Alice in Wonderland so I suspect there were some references in here that went over my head, but also, these books had the opposite issue as the Lunar Chronicles for me–with those, I was like, “Ahh I know this is based on a fairy tale that has a happy ending but I just don't see how it's possibly going to get there!” But somehow those books were all really suspenseful to me! With this I was like “oh but...she ends up the queen, though...”

IDK there was a lot of hand-wringing basically. There were some unexpected twists in the ending that I appreciated, and I think fans of tragic love stories and/or Alice in Wonderland devotees will probably like this more than I did.

CW: a lot of food/body shaming from Cath (aka the future Queen of Hearts)'s mother...

Actually more like 2.5★ because as Catherine said herself towards the end, she was a fool. She was spineless and made really dumb decisions that cost her literally everything, then blamed everyone else for it. Granted, her situation was indeed terrible and her anger towards those around her is understandable.

Bumped to 3★ because Jest was cute, though I wish the book told more about him instead of dragging out Cath's plans to avoid marriage for like 300 pages.

~Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!~Heartless is, as everything I have read by Marissa Meyer, beautifully written. However, compared to the Lunar Chronicles, I felt it did start off very slow. I was at 44% (according to GoodReads) before I felt like there was a big, activating event and the story took off. Not that it was BORING, per se, but just...well, I felt like I was wondering around a very brightly colored and rather strange candyland-type world, petrified of what was going to jump out at me (because I was CONVINCED something horrible was going to happen any minute).I was extremely curious as to how Cath was going to go from our heroine and a sympathetic character, into the horrid Queen of Hearts. I had huge doubts – was pretty sure I would either not like the character at all if it was going to be believable. I WAS WRONG, OK. Because I thought Cath was really sweet (naive, but sweet), and I felt like she was my little sister and wanted to protect her. Her relationship with Jest was predictable but cute. And then as the story progresses and we see her start to unravel...I thought it was actually believable.The story actually explains very well how the Queen of Hearts came to be who she was, and it shows her in a COMPLETELY new light. In the end I really felt like she was justified, or at least could understand why she became the kind of queen she did. Overall I thought the story could have been a little darker – I was definitely EXPECTING a little more action and darkness and blood, but in the end it all worked really well together.OH. Let's not forget – THE CAKE. OMG THE CAKE. This book made me freaking HUNGRY on an ENTIRELY unacceptable level. I am not even sorry for the caps lock. But seriously...there is so much scrumptious sounding baking in this book. Pumpkin cake. Tarts. Cake. Scones. Did I mention PUMPKIN CAKE?!? I think it should have been mandatory to include SOME kind of recipe. Just saying. 😛Highly recommend if you like fairy tales and especially Alice in Wonderland (also cake). Just don't go in expecting a fast-paced story like the Lunar Chronicles. This is an entirely different story and style!Follow me on social media! Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+