Book Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Title: Heartless
Author: Marissa Meyer
Rating: 5/5 lemon tarts
Release date: November 8th 2016
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
Review:
One thing I can definitely say about this book is that it's clever. So very clever. Clever as in everything from the beginning until the end was obviously very carefully planned and thought out. And to add to that it was tragic, intense, dramatic and, of course, being a retelling of Alice in Wonderland/Queen of Hearts, absolutely whimsical.
Not surprisingly the characters stood out the most to me in this story. Just like Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series (fAVE <3 ), she never fails to bring the characters to life. They are all so different from one another - Cath, Jest, Hatta, Haigha, yet they form the most unlikeliest bond together. Furthermore, they are also characters you can relate to, which is hard for me to do sometimes because you just don't get to know them very well, but not with this book. I love how detailed and unique each one of them were. It was such a delight to get to know the quirks of the Heartless gang. Truly brings out the Alice in wonderland essence.
Now, onto the writing. I'm not new to Meyer's writing style (and really, it's not that hard to get into) so delving into the story was a piece of (spiced pumpkin) cake, and I say this all the time - but Meyer is truly brilliant with retellings. She never fails to write a story of her own with a clever (fairytale) twist to it. Her books are always so creative, different, nostalgic and memorable. Not to mention how much wit and elegance she writes her books with. Marissa Meyer is hands down one of my favorite author to date. Retellings to me are always either a complete hit or miss. This author truly has a way with words. She always, always hits the bullseye.
One last thing I want to point out - Heartless is a very character-driven novel, no doubt, and it makes sense since it is a re-imagining of the Queen of Hearts' life before she was reigned queen, but it wasn't like a biography or any other character driven books i've ever read before. This one actually has a plot. Emotions, action and angst all come into play in this book and oh how well it all flows together.
I wish there was a sequel to this book, but then again it speaks so much more for itself as a standalone.. so I'm pretty torn basically. I did love it though. Messed up with my feels and shattered my heart into pieces but I love it. I'll definitely recommend this book to anyone I know. It's probably going to be in my top books of 2017 too, and we're only eleven days into January xD
if you're interested in buying Heartless, you can click here to shop the book at Book Depository - i receive a small commission if you use the link! :)