Heartless By Marissa Meyer

Heartless is the tale of how the Queen of Hearts came to be the way she is in Alice and Wonderland.
The Goodreads description is: 
Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. 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 a secret courtship.
Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

If you've read the Lunar Chronicles, you'll know that Marissa is the QUEEN of fairytale retellings. Heartless shows she's not just the queen of fairytale retellings but all retellings. 
You 100% need to read Heartless. 

I've never been a big fan of Alice in Wonderland - the reason I picked up Heartless because I've loved Marissa's previous novels and I'm so SOO glad I did. Even if you hate Alice and Wonderland, you can still fall in love with Heartless. You don't need a huge amount of knowledge about Lewis Carroll's works to understand and enjoy the novel.

Starting Heartless, the same thing that happened when I started Cinder happened again. When I started Cinder, I was a little wary because the world was so different and I didn't know whether Marissa would be able to make it all work and pull me in. Both times I ended up asking myself 'WHY ON EARTH DID YOU EVER THINK THAT?! THIS IS AMAZING.' 

We've all heard of the Queen of Hearts, so a novel about her teenage years is probably not going to end well. BUT WE CAN ALL DREAM. 


Marissa is so brilliant at taking an already established story or a world and making it her own. She gives it her own touches, her own twists and it becomes hers. We've all seen loads of interpretations of the Mad Hatter and Hatter in Heartless is by far my favourite.

The main character, Catherine will have you cheering her on and wanting to be best friends with her (even if its just so she can make you delicious treats).
Jest will make you swoon and fall in love with someone who wear one of those strange jester hats. Never thought I'd have such strong feelings for a jester.

Heartless is full of wonder and delight but it's also dark  and creepy in places. It makes it a wholly unique experience to read.


I will reread this one forever.

4.5 stars!!


I was lucky enough to receive an arc of Heartless from Macmillan for review, so thank you Macmillan!

October Reads!

Here's (a late) what I read in October and what I hope to read this month!

Goldenhand by Garth Nix
Goldenhand is a new installment to Nix's Old Kingdom series, a very lonnnggg awaited new installment. I didn't read the series when it first came out because I was only 6 when Abhorsen came out, but even I feel like I've been waiting forever to rejoin Lirael, Sabriel, Touchstone, Nick, Sam.... I've missed these guys!
Goldenhand is another great addition, it just oozes Nix's unique storytelling. Even after so long away, it was so easy to slip back in with these characters and this world.
The only thing that bothered me about Goldenhand was I thought part of ending was a little convenient. A bit of an anticlimax.
4 stars!

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

This one was a bit of a surprise to me. I wasn't expecting to like it so much. I have no idea why. I think from my first impressions I thought the story would be cliched, that I would be able to guess what would happen. But I was pleasantly surprised! The Victorian setting was great and the ideas for the monsters were so unique!
I'm actually really looking forward to the next book! 3.5 stars!

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu 
I think I need a full reread of this series. The story was well told and different to any others I've read. Adelina is probably my favourite main character who is technically the antagonist of the series. The Midnight Star was a good and solid ending to the series but I just didn't feel much reading it. I didn't care as much as I wanted to about the characters. It felt like a light fantasy, maybe good for people just starting out in fantasy whereas I enjoy dense and detailed fantasy. I found myself wanting more from the writing. 3.5 stars!

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
I flew through this book. I've never read a story told in the way the Illuminae Files are. The mix of chats, security footage recordings etc make it so interesting, although honestly I think i'd enjoy it more if it was written as a normal novel as I feel disconnected through this storytelling. However, if they had written it any other way than the way it was, it wouldn't be as unique as it is.
 I don't read much sci-fi, but I'm glad I read this series. Amie and Jay are so brutal with my heart! They make it soar and then they crush it and I love it!
4 stars!