I had high hopes with this after reading, and loving, Cinder, Scarlet and Fairest, all books and novella within her Lunar Chronicles series.

But this is a different animal. While the writing is beautiful, everything about this book is slow. Slow paced, slow romance, just slow.

Maybe this is more for truly devoted Wonderland fans, but, for me, this had such potential, but its pacing let’s it down.

Though, I would like to try again in the future as see if my thoughts/opinions change…

This was a good retelling but not amazing. I have loved the lunar chronicles series and although I feel I am probably too old for these books now and not the target audience I just wanted to read this one. I’m glad I did as it was an enjoyable read but no wow factor for me.

Loved every minute of it. Thank you for sending a copy through. Loved the characters, the story arc and the worldbuilding.

I really enjoyed Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series, I think she's great at writing fairytale retellings, so I was excited to see how this Queen of Hearts origin story fared. As Alice in Wonderland inspired the name of this blog, it's safe to say that I am a massive fan of the classic, and while normally I'm wary of these stories being adapted by modern authors, I really liked this one. I found myself not wanting to leave the world that Meyer built, full of baked goods and the royal court, and the way in which classic characters like the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire cat were introduced in this story felt very respectful to the original tale. The romance between Cath and Jest honestly propelled me through the story, and I kept wanting to read more just to find out what happened to them! The main twist in the story did actually take me by surprise, which is always refreshing, and I have to say this is another great work from Meyer.

I received this ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!!

Ive posted a full review on Goodreads and I look forward to reading more from this author!

This was agreat misadventure back to the world of Wonderland and a convincing backstory to the feared Queen of Hearts however I felt that the story dragged on a bit in places.

Heartless is an Alice in Wonderland prequel following the Queen of Hearts before she became royalty.

Lady Catherine Pinkerton, daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove, wants nothing more than to open a bakery. She bakes as much as she is able, despite her parents’ disapproval, and secretly creates a business plan with her maid Mary Ann that will enable them to open a profitable bakery… If she can get her parents to agree for her to spend her dowry on the rent and supplies to get her started.

However, her parents have bigger plans for Catherine. They want her to marry the King of Hearts and become Queen of Hearts, and they don’t care how unwilling she is. Becoming Queen is what is best for her, and that’s final.

Catherine is begrudgingly swept up in her parents’ plan, until she meets the new court joker, Jest. She’s drawn to Jest in a way that she’s never felt towards the King, and she knows that she can’t marry the King if she might be falling in love with someone else.

However, we all know how Catherine’s story ends, we just don’t know what happens along the way…

I wasn’t convinced by Heartless at the start. This is a novel set in Wonderland, but it didn’t feel whimsical enough to live up to Lewis Carroll’s source material. One aspect I did love was Raven, who speaks as though he’s flown straight out of an Edgar Allan Poe poem, and really incapsulates the magic of Wonderland.

However, by the time I’d read the first quarter of the novel the whimsical aspects were ramping up. In this version of Wonderland, Catherine lives in Hearts and there’s another world called Chess, which you can only travel to Through The Looking-Glass. This twist on the Alice in Wonderland tale fleshed out Marissa Meyer’s vision of Wonderland wonderfully, and made it much more interesting to read. That was the point where I started to enjoy the story a lot more, and from there on out I was struggling to put it down.

Catherine’s turmoil is something that a lot of people will be able to relate to (not quite to the same extent, obviously!). Parental expectations and not wanting to disappoint your family are worries that most young people encounter at some point in their lives. Although Cath wants to follow her dreams she knows that she would never realistically go against her parents’ wishes, and I appreciated the realistic way that Marissa Meyer told Cath’s story. It’s all well and good writing a heroine who decides to go her own way and strike out on her own, but all too often people will prioritise their parents’ hopes and dreams.

The story wrapped up a bit too quickly for my liking, which is one of the reasons that I dropped my rating down to four stars. The start of the story could have been trimmed and tightened more, which might have helped the pacing at the end feel less rushed. A pivotal event occurs and as soon as that’s out of the way everything progresses at a breakneck speed to get the story done, but it might have felt less speedy if the world and the characters hadn’t been crafted so deliciously slowly at the beginning. However, I would have been equally annoyed if events had been unnecessarily dragged out once the big event had occurred, which makes things tricky!

However, the main reason that I dropped my rating down to four stars was because of the way Catherine’s mother talks about Catherine’s weight and eating habits. She warns her that she will end up looking like a walrus, forces the maids to take away dessert and treats Catherine disgustingly. None of it is necessary, none of it adds to the story, so none of the comments serve a purpose. The reader already dislikes Catherine’s mother enough for dismissing Catherine’s dreams, without adding fat shaming into the mix.

That being said, there was still enough good in this book for me to rate it four stars, and I’m looking forward to reading more of Marissa Meyer’s novels in the future. The romance between Cath and Jest was a particular highlight – the yearning glances rivalled a Jane Austen novel! – and if the relationships featured in the Lunar Chronicles are crafted this beautifully then they’re sure to be catapulting to the top of my favourite ships list.

I was so excited when I got my ARC of this, but unfortunately I did not enjoy it as much as hoped. I read the entire Lunar Chronicles this summer and it blew me away, bumping Marissa Meyer up as one of my favourite authors. The premise of Heartless seemed interesting enough- an origin story of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. I'm not a huge Lewis Caroll fan. I love the Jabberwock poem, but I haven't read Alice in Wonderland in years and I vaguely remember the Disney movie. So I haven't been interested in reading Caroll adaptations in the past. I was only reading this because of the author. I thought it was going to be like Fairest, the origin story of the evil Queen Levana in the Lunar Chronicles, tragic and fascinating.

Before she became a blood thirsty loon, Catherine Pinkerton was once a young vivacious woman who dreamed of opening her own bakery. But being the daughter of nobility, she was forced into a marriage with the tiny air-headed King of Hearts who was unfortunately besotted with her. She meets Jest, the King's new mysterious court entertainer, who introduces her to new ideas, worlds, and most importantly, freedom. They enter a secret romance despite the inevitable danger. Meanwhile the Kingdom is being terrorised by vicious monsters with no hope of being vanquished.

I was quickly enchanted by Meyer's world building which was beautifully and cleverly written. Magic, wonder and intrigue filled each description, from lemon trees that grow from dreams to dancing lobsters. There are so many allusions to Caroll's creation, which was a nice unearthing of my childhood memories. Familiar and new characters slip in together naturally. Catherine is a very passionate and warm character. Her struggle for independence, which evokes Victorian female oppression, is very endearing.

However, I'm afraid this is where my interest ends. My reading of this book took two months, way longer than I anticipated. Instead of racing through to the end as I did the Lunar Chronicles, I kept getting distracted by other books. I had to ask myself why it almost went into a slump pile, despite having so much promise? I think at the end of the day, when you take away all the beautiful (and sometimes heavy) descriptions, which is primarily adapted from other works, you are left with a singular story line: a young girl with a dream who is forced to abandon it. I'm not saying this story is too simple, but in this case it doesn't survive. The romance between Catherine and Jest developed too slowly and just wasn't strong enough. This resulted in the shift in Catherine's character at the dreaded ending being quite displaced.

Perhaps it belongs to more devoted Caroll fans. The only reason I am not giving it 2.5 stars is because of the beautiful writing which is undeniably impressive. I will, of course, still look forward to more of Marissa Meyer's work.

I always find Alice in Wonderland retellings (or Alice back stories) to be very enjoyable and this was no exception. This is a villain backstory about how the Queen of Hearts became so mean. It was well written and I really loved it.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I love re-tellings so this was a must read for me. Reading Heartless I felt myself giggling continuously.

Catherine's character was constantly developing straight from the start which is amazing, her character is played out to an exact direction of good girl constrained by traditions. Then she meets Jest, and her heart is swayed out of the parth to marry the King of Hearts.

As we carry on throughout the book you findit getting darker and darker like you would imagine with the Queen of Hearts, I love how we still see some of the original characters from Alice in Wonderland but the re-telling is still very different from the original.

I was immersed into the story straight from the start, I did admittedly have a few issues with the dynamic of the stroy however, I can look past them as I still think it was an amazing read.

Seeing all the magic and world building was absolutely fantastic. The ending to the book was heart breaking and emotional. But overall, Heartless is an absolutely amazing read and I highly recommend to everyone, espeically Alice in Wonderland fans as this is just an amazing view on the Queen of Hearts!

I really like this book at the start but then felt there were parts where it really dragged out. It was great to see a book telling the tale of the red queen but also felt like with the introduction of jest that 2 red queen stories were in the book and thought that was a bit much.

Heartless is such an emotional masterpiece. If The Lunar Chronicles gave you a lot of feels, then this book will give you tons more. I cannot go into detail in fear of spoiling anyone. However, trust me when I say that this book won't make you think about rainbows, unicorns, cotton candy, and the like. After all, it's about the early life on an anti-hero.

Since Heartless is a prequel to Alice in Wonderland, it inevitably gave me a Tim Burton vibe. The world was very whimsical, fantastical, and sometimes dark or creepy. Hence, thoughts of Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp often came into my mind. But of course I did my best to imagine them in their younger years. Haha.

Gleaning upon her previous works, Marissa Meyer has always been good at crafting unique, captivating, and well-rounded characters. Thus, I was happy to find new fictional beings to like, love, and hate in this book.

Catherine was unsurprisingly my favorite protagonist. My heart now bleeds for her, out of both pity and understanding. All she really wanted in life was to be a successful baker and possibly marry for love, but her royal parents blindly forced her into a life/fate they sincerely believed would make her happy. I really felt so emotional seeing her evolve from a hopeful lass to a heartless queen. Even though her story was heartbreaking, it was beautiful and unforgettable nonetheless.

As for Jest, he reminded me a lot of Rhysand of A Court of Mist and Fury. He was delightfully mysterious and somehow omnipresent. It was strange how he managed to be there for Cath every time she was in major distress. Furthermore, Jest's intentions were often questionable. He didn't seem malicious in any way, but there was something about him that conveyed a fondness for secrets. In totality, he was a very attractive character (not only physically speaking).

The antagonists in this book were downright despicable, but it was in the best possible way. I absolutely loved to hate them, Cath's parents in particular. Ugh, they were so dense and presumptuous that I could hardly contain my temper every time they appeared in a scene. I also disliked a few more antagonists, but disclosing their names would make this review spoilery. Just know that they will surely tick you off, as the author probably intended them to do. ;)

What I admired most about Heartless was the intricacy of its plot. Whilst I was quite annoyed that I managed to predict some events or outcomes, I loved how Marissa Meyer was able to flawlessly connect all the circumstances leading to Cath's imminent transformation into the Queen of Hearts. Overall, I honestly did not detect any plot hole whatsoever.

In conclusion, I sincerely believe that Heartless is worthy of all the hype it's receiving. Yes, it shattered my heart, but I still enjoyed it because it made me realize that authors aren't necessarily obliged to make their readers happy. When I come to think of it, sadness has a beauty of its own

Who was the Queen of Hearts before she was the Queen of Hearts? She was Catherine, a noble girl who loved baking and had dreams of opening up her own bakery. All this changes when she meets Jest, the mysterious, handsome court jester who steals her heart, just as she is to be betrothed to the King. Cath falls for Jest and they have a secret courtship. We get to meet other characters such as Hatter and Cheshire Cat, as well as the terrible Jabberwocky terrifying the kingdom.

As per usual, Meyer's writing was beautiful and it was interesting to see her world building, her take on Wonderland and all the magic there. I enjoyed the first half of the book and where the story was going but it fell apart for me, it just wasn't really rooting for anyone and I felt like the plot plodded along. I love the premise of seeing how a villain became the villain but it wasn't that fun for me. I don't know if the book got stifled because it was trying to keep close the Alice in Wonderland world or if fell flat because there was too much from that world there. I almost gave up on it but carried on til the end. I love the Lunar Chronicles but wasn't a fan of this

A rich, almost cartoonish YA fantasy in the vein of Alice in Wonderland from the already popular Marissa Meyer. With a striking cover and pacing that takes its time, Heartless will appeal to fans of villain origin stories and fairytale retellings in the style of Rosamund Hodge and Reneé Ahdieh.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, but the plot was all right and the writing is good.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me this book to review.

I enjoyed Heartless but I think I would have liked it more if I was a fan of Alice in Wonderland as it is full of references, and also weirdness with I know it part of wonderland but I didn’t get on with it. It is well written like all of Meyer’s books but I did find it a bit forgettable. I would really recommend not reading this when on a diet as it will make you want to bake and eat with its vivid description of the food.

Cath is whiny, naïve, and has no backbone, and by trying to please everyone she ultimately pleases no one. Jest is mysterious and charming but no as interesting as some of Meyer’s other male leads.

While I still enjoyed this book, it did not grab me as much as Meyer’s other novels. I would recommend Heartless to those who enjoy the world of Wonderland or books about villain’s backstories.

I am a massive fan of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series and was really excited about reading Heartless but I can't help but feel slightly disappointed with Heartless.

This isn't to say that I didn't like it, it was a good read but I was disappointed in comparison to how much I adore her other series.

I did like the characters to some extent but the plot was quite weird to me so I just couldn't connect to it as much as I wanted to. I did really enjoy it towards the end of the book but it was a little hard for me to get into which was a little sad for me.

I will continue to read her books, however, and am excited about her future releases.

Thoroughly enjoyed this despite not being that clued up on all things Alice in Wonderland. I read it as a kid but that was a loooooong time ago...
Don't go into this book with an empty stomach, there are many, many droolworthy descriptions of cakes as young Catherine is a keen baker who dreams of opening her own bakery, however her parents have other ideas for her future. They are desperate for her to marry the King and yet she finds herself falling in love with Jest, the court joker.
If you are a big fan of Wonderland I am sure you will know how things are going to end but it sure is a lot of fun getting there.

The book was very slow for me, and at times it just felt like she was a whiny teenage girl in her room not wanting to marry the King but not really doing anything to stop it or do anything. I struggled to keep my interest with the story and I think this wasn't really my cup of tea!