Heartless By Marissa Meyer

Synopsis/Summary:

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.

---

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Does anyone like villains as much as I do? They. are. so. interesting. No one was born evil, but made. There’s just so much to dig into. Absolute guilty pressure.

I cannot stop watching TikToks about this author and her “ridiculously awesome books” as everyone says. Marissa Meyer seems to have the whole book community spell-binded. So I decided it was time for me to give her novels a try and judge them by myself— beginning with the famous Heartless.

Heartless is a standalone novel that snatches your heart out of your chest and leaves you completely empty (yes, the hyperbole is absolutely accurate and necessary) It is a retelling of the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’s legendary Queen of Hearts before she became that awful queen that beheads everyone who disobeys her. Before what happened in the alluded hypotext, Catherine, the protagonist of Heartless, was just a simple girl whose strongest desire was to open a bakery and fall in love. But that wish is taken away from her when the actual King demands to wed her. Catherine has found a boy for whom she feels pure attraction, though who unfortunately is not the King. Because of the risk of humiliating the King and disappointing her parents, she will enter into a secret courtship with her beloved one. She has to keep in mind that she lives in Hearts: a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters.

This book is a must for everyone who passionately enjoys the angst, the suffering, the intensity of power and love. If you like love stories that are capable of destroying the humanity inside you, (I know for a fact a lot of you do) an ending that blows your mind, a well-executed retelling that makes sense, is original but does not go over the roof, then read this book. NOW.

I bought this novel on Book Depository, an online bookseller with worldwide free shipping, and the 27 days of waiting were worth it all. Heartless was unbelievable. You may assume that as it is merely a retelling of the story of Queen of Hearts, that you are going to dive into a biography or a boring book that centers only on the main character. But no. Heartless has a plot. And boy what a plot! You will encounter twists and turns, magic, nightmares, dreams, anger, love. It was like a rollercoaster to me, with the only exception that in the end I did not want to throw up, but cry. As I read on I found some connection with Alice’s adventures in Wonderland and I could not stop myself from thinking “so this what why it is like that” or “now everything makes sense”. A clear example is Cheshire. Every time he appeared I was like “I know you, and I like you even more because I know you” Marissa Meyer and her ideas, her explanations for things that I thought I did not need until I read them and everything clicked.

I understood Catherine. And I feel anger for what fate brought her. She just wanted to open a bakery with her best friend, to make a living for herself, not just tie the knot with the first man who appears with money. She wanted to be with a person she loves, with a boy who deserves her... She had the right to make a decision, but maybe there are no rights in the land of Hearts. Find out for yourself. He he.

Furthermore, there is Jest. AAAAAAA. Unavoidable topic. Cannot go on writing this without giving him the attention he deserves. First of all, he is dark-haired and sometimes sarcastic (Will Herondale vibes) He is sooo perfect and kindhearted. I, Dolores, love him so much. You will too, trust me.

As I said before, It was the first time I dived into one of Marissa Meyer’s books, therefore her writing style was new to me. All I have to say is that I pretty much love it. Her way of hooking me until I forced myself to stop blinking in order to not miss one second of the story. The way she made me grip the plot and characters and never let go of them. This retelling is brilliant and so very clever. You believe that you are prepared for the ending because you know she will end up being the malevolent Queen, but you are not. You believe that you know what is going to happen to Catherine, but you don't. If you are dismissing the idea of reading this book because you feel that you know, then you are very very wrong. Don’t judge a book by its cover. That is the first thing you need to learn when you become a reader ;) good luck (you will need it)