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Heartless Marissa Meyer Books

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Heartless Marissa Meyer Books

She would be queen, and queens … queens did not open bakeries with their best friends. Queens did not gossip with half-invisible cats. Queens did not have dreams of yellow-eyed boys and wake up with lemon trees over their beds.

###

The Fox folded her hands and recited,
One to be a murderer, the other to be martyred,
One to be a monarch, the other to go mad.

###

Was he mad already? She couldn’t help inspecting him, newly speculative and curious. He didn’t seem mad. No more mad than anyone else she knew. No more mad than she was herself. They were all a little mad, if one was to be forthright.

###

Lady Catherine Pinkerton is in love … with baked goods.

The kitchen is her sanctuary: a refuge from a hyper-critical, socially ambitious mother; a meek father; and all the expectations that come with her social status – learning embroidery, attending balls, hanging out with the haughty best friend she can hardly stand. There’s nothing she enjoys more than dusting powdered sugar on a recently cooled lemon tart, or kneading bread dough until she’s ready to drop. She loves eating sweets, and sharing them with others: what quicker way to a stranger’s heart than through her stomach?

Cath dreams of opening a bakery with her best friend/family servant (one of several), Mary Anne. Mr. Caterpillar the cobbler is set to retire, leaving his storefront vacant, and its busy location would make the perfect home for SWEETS AND TARTS: THE MOST WONDROUS BAKERY IN ALL OF HEARTS.

Though her dream is almost adorable in its simplicity, the obstacles that stand in Cath’s way are anything but. As the only daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove, Cath is its sole heir. Baking is considered unladylike – at least for ladies belonging to the royal class – and besides, she’s expected to marry and have children. In fact, her scheming mother has one particularly illustrious suitor in mind: the King of Hearts. He’s a nice enough guy, but fifteen years Cath’s senior, rather silly and daft – and baby-crazy, to boot.

The arrival of the King’s new Joker – on the night he’s set to propose to Cath, nonetheless – only complicates matters further. A mysterious man who makes the impossible possible, with eyes the “color of sunflowers and butterscotch and lemons hanging heavy on their boughs” and dark, curly hair, Jest is the man of Cath’s dreams. Literally: she was chasing him the night her dreams grew a lemon tree over her bed. The very same tree that bore the lemons she used to make the tarts she baked for her King/future husband. (Maybe.) Oh, what a fantastic mess!

And then there’s the Jabberwock that seemingly crawled right out of myth and rumor to wreak havoc on the Kingdom of Hearts. The spineless King won’t do anything to stop the creature, which only makes Cath dislike him more. Can she slay the dragon, deny the King, run away with the boy, have her cake and eat it too – all with her reputation and head (or is that heart?) intact?

I’ll be honest: I was a little nervous to read HEARTLESS. Marissa Meyer made a total fangirl out of me with THE LUNAR CHRONICLES series, and this should have been a no-brainer. But I’m partial to scifi over fantasy, and my knowledge of ALICE IN WONDERLAND is mostly limited to the animated 1951 film by Disney, which I enjoyed as a child. I wasn’t sure I knew/remembered enough about the books to fully appreciate an origin story for the Queen of Hearts.

And perhaps this is true, but I loved it just the same. Meyer’s writing is brimming with humor and whimsy, but with a hint of pathos and tragedy that takes quite the turn near the story’s end. You can almost imagine her channeling the spirit of Lewis Carroll; the setting, dialogue, and magic of the source material are all present and accounted for. She even borrows from a second author: the raven from Edgar Allen Poe’s “Nevermore.” It’s hard to choose just a few favorite elements; there are so many wonderful and unexpected touches. But I have a soft spot for the Raven, who speaks in rhyme – and wields an axe in his human(ish) form.

Other things I loved, in no particular order:

– Lady Catherine, who is sweet and kind and ambitious – yet also a little too eager to please her parents. She’s flawed and complicated and surprisingly relatable, considering the outlandish villain she’s fated to become.

– Jest, who’s hecka swoon-worthy. His magical jester’s hat and sidekick, Raven, are just the beginning: he’s dreamy and mysterious, clever like whoah, and nimble like an acrobat. Plus he can vanish in swirl of feathers, or tunnel through the earth. Talk about a man of many talents.

– Cath + Jest. The two have a textbook’s worth of chemistry, and you can’t help but root for their romance – even when we learn that Jest has An Agenda, and despite the fact that it’s doomed from the start.

– ALL THE FOOD TALK. From lemon tarts to rose macarons, freshly baked bread to treacle-bourbon-pecan pie, Heartless will have you salivating through the tears/despite your horror.

– I especially love that Catherine is a gal who enjoys food in every way – baking, feasting, inventing, sharing – even while Proper Society (as represented by her mother) admonishes her for her passions. The Marchioness constantly puts Catherine down: calling her an elephant or walrus, forcing her to fit into a gown several sizes too small for her, even restricting her food intake. Yet Jest rebukes this narrow image of femininity time and again. Likewise, baking is reaffirmed as Cath’s chief talent when she’s forced to perform at Hatta’s tea party – and it’s arguably the reason the King is drawn to her so. Three cheers for the lady’s appetites, okay?!

– Hatta’s Marvelous Millinery Fine Hats and Headdresses for Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. (“No longer does a hat complete an outfit—now it completes you.”) I think I’d quite fancy a macaron hat myself.

– Peter Peter pumpkin eater! ‘Nuff said, because spoilers.

– The ROXANNE-esque courtship of Cath by the King (with a little help from Jest).

– Household objects come to life (the hotheaded candle, the sleepy cuckoo clock); animals that are very weird literal interpretations of their names (construction-minded carpenter ants; racing seahorses); all the punny stuff (Sturgeons who are surgeons).

– The Sisters, who are creepy as all get out and could use a story of their own. Also I really want to know what they did with that heart.

– Lion. Poor, brave lion! (Yes, I cried a little. Okay a lot.)

– A woman dragonslayer, the only one worthy of the Vorpal Sword.

– The allusion to multiverses.

– The scenes when Cath loses it with Margaret and her parents at the end. Honestly? I cheered. It was a long time coming and thus deeply satisfying, even if it marked Cath’s descent into evil.

In summary, this is one weird and wonderful book. While reading, I was just overcome with the feeling that Meyer must have had a darn fun time writing it. It’s definitely a fun read, offset by the odd moments of worry and doom and inevitability. Meyer does a masterful job of humanizing a rather flamboyantly cruel villain, and imagining how she might have come to be this way.

HEARTLESS is a must read for ALICE IN WONDERLAND fans, Marissa Meyer fangirls, and anyone who enjoys the genre more broadly. All the hearts.

** Full disclosure: I received an electronic ARC for review through NetGalley. **


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Heartless Marissa Meyer Books Reviews

Anyone who even remotely knows me knows I am infatuated (maybe unhealthily) with all that is Wonderland. Picking up Heartless was a gimme, but finding the time to read it was becoming a challenge. I do happen to own a physical copy that I had originally pre-ordered. However, between my neverending TBR and constant bouts of vertigo, audio seemed to be the best solution.

“A heart, once stolen, can never be taken back.”

Heartless takes us back to a time before Alice tumbles down the rabbit hole into the infamous Wonderland. We are introduced to Catherine, a young girl with a passion for baking and a heart that desires true love. Courted by the King but longing only for the court joker Jest, Cath begins a forbidden affair that may have disastrous outcomes. This is the story of how a girl in love will rise to the throne and eventually become known as The Queen of Hearts.

Characters were a mixed bag for me in Heartless. This is a fast paced retelling that incorporates the familiar denizens of Wonderland to provide us with a prequel. We are given a rare opportunity to dive behind the scenes and take a look at the “ingredients” that lead up to the final cake, AKA the Queen of Hearts. Catherine is our protagonist. She is young and full of ambition, driven by her desires to open her very own bakery with her best friend and household servant Mary Ann. But when the King decides to court Cath, she soon finds herself facing an endless list of obstacles that will not only challenge her aspirations but her heart that belongs to Jest, the court Joker. I have to be honest, while I appreciated our heroine’s emotions and situation, there was a part of me that continued to feel a tinge of annoyance. She knew what she wanted, but I felt her voice and actions were weak at times. There was this ongoing attempt to approach matters logically that had me pulling hair at times. I did not dislike her, but I couldn’t help but feel she was her own worst enemy.

Additional characters included a customary entourage ranging from the Cheshire Cat to the Mad Hatter. We are even offered an extension into Wonderland’s occupants with the introduction of some new faces such as Jest and Raven. There is no shortage of bizarre and eccentric behavior that offers a bit of welcomed predictability.

The plot was straight forward, lacking some of the imagination I have come to expect from Meyers, but that is not to say it disappoints. This is the making of a Queen that will come to reign terror on Wonderland, and for all purposes that story has been accomplished. However, it is told with little emphasis on the actual world. World building or lack of is where I struggled the most with Heartless. As an avid fan of Alice in Wonderland, I have always held firm to the idea that this is a tale that has always relied on the whimsical world to succeed. After all, it was the time down the rabbit hole that added a real element of magic to Alice’s adventures. But that constant need to explore and uncover the oddities that we are accustomed to was absent. This may be a rare case of the author actually placing too much faith in the reader’s knowledge. Wonderland is meant to adventurous and immersive. This was more character driven and I missed that facet.

The story telling and writing is every bit reminiscent of what I have come to expect when reading Meyer. It flows with a steady narration that facilitates a fluid and fast paced experience with a few unexpected twists. It is fun and effortless. I appreciated that while there is a love story contained within our protagonist’s tale, it unfolds slowly with many elements that prove to be more realistic than the typical instalove you encounter in many retellings.

The audio narration took a few chapters to settle into, but eventually came into its own. It is my understanding that Rebecca Soler also narrated the Lunar Chronicles. I found her tone and pacing to be ideal in terms of the story, but struggled with some of the dialog. However, this is always my complaint with audio. I enter with this unrealistic expectation that each character should have a truly unique voice (i.e. like 20 narrators for one story). I do feel that Soler eventually achieved this individuality to an extent and gave a life to Wonderland’s inhabitants that ultimately provided an enjoyable listen.

While I was surprised with the lack of world construction and desired more of an imaginative approach to Cath’s story, it was still a solid one that managed to paint a history that fits well into the grand scheme of things. This is a must read for all fans of Wonderland and retellings that offers satisfying back story, and it successfully provides more depth to a beloved classic.
I loved this book. It gives you the famous quotes from Alice in wonderland like "How is a raven like a writing desk", "Off with its head", and "I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast" to name a few. But the entire story is completely different with just one small mention about Alice the rest of the story is about how the Queen of Hearts became who she is. And it is not a happy ending story. I don't think anyone is happy at the end of this story.

Marissa Meyer describes everything so well that I believe that I am in Hearts myself. Or that I just have watched the movie Heartless because it was so vivid in my imagination because she describes everything so well.

You also have all the normal characters of from Alice in Wonderland like the White Rabbit, The mad hatter, the Cheshire cat and the caterpillar. This story doesn't just so how the Queen of Hearts became the way she is but also how the Mad hatter became mad. There are scenes pulled out of Alice in Wonderland but are different to fit this book. Like the croquet with the hedgehogs and the flamingos.

At the end of the story, you feel bad for all the characters even the loopy King of Hearts. Even though I know how it is going to end. That Catherine will become the Queen of Hearts, I find myself hoping and hoping that the ending would end differently. That Catherine will get her happy ending. But this story is all about how Catherine became the Queen of Hearts, and it is not a happy story.
She would be queen, and queens … queens did not open bakeries with their best friends. Queens did not gossip with half-invisible cats. Queens did not have dreams of yellow-eyed boys and wake up with lemon trees over their beds.

###

The Fox folded her hands and recited,
One to be a murderer, the other to be martyred,
One to be a monarch, the other to go mad.

###

Was he mad already? She couldn’t help inspecting him, newly speculative and curious. He didn’t seem mad. No more mad than anyone else she knew. No more mad than she was herself. They were all a little mad, if one was to be forthright.

###

Lady Catherine Pinkerton is in love … with baked goods.

The kitchen is her sanctuary a refuge from a hyper-critical, socially ambitious mother; a meek father; and all the expectations that come with her social status – learning embroidery, attending balls, hanging out with the haughty best friend she can hardly stand. There’s nothing she enjoys more than dusting powdered sugar on a recently cooled lemon tart, or kneading bread dough until she’s ready to drop. She loves eating sweets, and sharing them with others what quicker way to a stranger’s heart than through her stomach?

Cath dreams of opening a bakery with her best friend/family servant (one of several), Mary Anne. Mr. Caterpillar the cobbler is set to retire, leaving his storefront vacant, and its busy location would make the perfect home for SWEETS AND TARTS THE MOST WONDROUS BAKERY IN ALL OF HEARTS.

Though her dream is almost adorable in its simplicity, the obstacles that stand in Cath’s way are anything but. As the only daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove, Cath is its sole heir. Baking is considered unladylike – at least for ladies belonging to the royal class – and besides, she’s expected to marry and have children. In fact, her scheming mother has one particularly illustrious suitor in mind the King of Hearts. He’s a nice enough guy, but fifteen years Cath’s senior, rather silly and daft – and baby-crazy, to boot.

The arrival of the King’s new Joker – on the night he’s set to propose to Cath, nonetheless – only complicates matters further. A mysterious man who makes the impossible possible, with eyes the “color of sunflowers and butterscotch and lemons hanging heavy on their boughs” and dark, curly hair, Jest is the man of Cath’s dreams. Literally she was chasing him the night her dreams grew a lemon tree over her bed. The very same tree that bore the lemons she used to make the tarts she baked for her King/future husband. (Maybe.) Oh, what a fantastic mess!

And then there’s the Jabberwock that seemingly crawled right out of myth and rumor to wreak havoc on the Kingdom of Hearts. The spineless King won’t do anything to stop the creature, which only makes Cath dislike him more. Can she slay the dragon, deny the King, run away with the boy, have her cake and eat it too – all with her reputation and head (or is that heart?) intact?

I’ll be honest I was a little nervous to read HEARTLESS. Marissa Meyer made a total fangirl out of me with THE LUNAR CHRONICLES series, and this should have been a no-brainer. But I’m partial to scifi over fantasy, and my knowledge of ALICE IN WONDERLAND is mostly limited to the animated 1951 film by Disney, which I enjoyed as a child. I wasn’t sure I knew/remembered enough about the books to fully appreciate an origin story for the Queen of Hearts.

And perhaps this is true, but I loved it just the same. Meyer’s writing is brimming with humor and whimsy, but with a hint of pathos and tragedy that takes quite the turn near the story’s end. You can almost imagine her channeling the spirit of Lewis Carroll; the setting, dialogue, and magic of the source material are all present and accounted for. She even borrows from a second author the raven from Edgar Allen Poe’s “Nevermore.” It’s hard to choose just a few favorite elements; there are so many wonderful and unexpected touches. But I have a soft spot for the Raven, who speaks in rhyme – and wields an axe in his human(ish) form.

Other things I loved, in no particular order

– Lady Catherine, who is sweet and kind and ambitious – yet also a little too eager to please her parents. She’s flawed and complicated and surprisingly relatable, considering the outlandish villain she’s fated to become.

– Jest, who’s hecka swoon-worthy. His magical jester’s hat and sidekick, Raven, are just the beginning he’s dreamy and mysterious, clever like whoah, and nimble like an acrobat. Plus he can vanish in swirl of feathers, or tunnel through the earth. Talk about a man of many talents.

– Cath + Jest. The two have a textbook’s worth of chemistry, and you can’t help but root for their romance – even when we learn that Jest has An Agenda, and despite the fact that it’s doomed from the start.

– ALL THE FOOD TALK. From lemon tarts to rose macarons, freshly baked bread to treacle-bourbon-pecan pie, Heartless will have you salivating through the tears/despite your horror.

– I especially love that Catherine is a gal who enjoys food in every way – baking, feasting, inventing, sharing – even while Proper Society (as represented by her mother) admonishes her for her passions. The Marchioness constantly puts Catherine down calling her an elephant or walrus, forcing her to fit into a gown several sizes too small for her, even restricting her food intake. Yet Jest rebukes this narrow image of femininity time and again. Likewise, baking is reaffirmed as Cath’s chief talent when she’s forced to perform at Hatta’s tea party – and it’s arguably the reason the King is drawn to her so. Three cheers for the lady’s appetites, okay?!

– Hatta’s Marvelous Millinery Fine Hats and Headdresses for Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen. (“No longer does a hat complete an outfit—now it completes you.”) I think I’d quite fancy a macaron hat myself.

– Peter Peter pumpkin eater! ‘Nuff said, because spoilers.

– The ROXANNE-esque courtship of Cath by the King (with a little help from Jest).

– Household objects come to life (the hotheaded candle, the sleepy cuckoo clock); animals that are very weird literal interpretations of their names (construction-minded carpenter ants; racing seahorses); all the punny stuff (Sturgeons who are surgeons).

– The Sisters, who are creepy as all get out and could use a story of their own. Also I really want to know what they did with that heart.

– Lion. Poor, brave lion! (Yes, I cried a little. Okay a lot.)

– A woman dragonslayer, the only one worthy of the Vorpal Sword.

– The allusion to multiverses.

– The scenes when Cath loses it with Margaret and her parents at the end. Honestly? I cheered. It was a long time coming and thus deeply satisfying, even if it marked Cath’s descent into evil.

In summary, this is one weird and wonderful book. While reading, I was just overcome with the feeling that Meyer must have had a darn fun time writing it. It’s definitely a fun read, offset by the odd moments of worry and doom and inevitability. Meyer does a masterful job of humanizing a rather flamboyantly cruel villain, and imagining how she might have come to be this way.

HEARTLESS is a must read for ALICE IN WONDERLAND fans, Marissa Meyer fangirls, and anyone who enjoys the genre more broadly. All the hearts.

** Full disclosure I received an electronic ARC for review through NetGalley. **