Heartless by Marissa Meyer Published by Pan Macmillan Australia on 8 November 2016
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 449
Source: Publisher
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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.
Welcome to Tea in the Treetops’ stop in the Heartless Blog Tour!
Marissa Meyer’s newest story, Heartless, is the origin story for the Queen of Hearts – you know, the borderline psychotic ruler with the tiny husband who screams “Off with her head!” at Alice during her trip to Wonderland?
Catherine is just a young girl with a dream: to open a bakery with her lady’s maid and friend, Mary Ann. She knows that her parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove, are planning to marry her off to some rich lordling as soon as they can, but she is upset to find out that her mother has plans for her to catch the eye of the King of Hearts himself. She will never be able to realise her dreams if she becomes the Queen, but how can she turn the King down without bringing shame on herself and disappointing her parents?
Then there’s the newcomer to the court – the Joker. Jest sweeps Cath off her feet with secret meetings and notes, but who is he really?
Marissa Meyer writes the most delicious romances, and this book is no exception, with plenty of swoony moments as well as heartbreaking ones. The trouble with origin stories is that we know how they are going to turn out, more or less. Cath’s actual descent into the angry Queen was almost too fast – I almost wanted to see more of her heartbreak and anguish, even though that would have been hard to read.
The food in this book sounds delicious – lemon tarts, macarons, pumpkin and key lime pies… I found myself wishing that there were recipes in the story, like in Caramel Hearts!
If you enjoyed Marissa’s Lunar Chronicles then you’ll recognise the gorgeous world-building in this book, and there has been plenty of Wonderland woven into the story, from the flamingo-hedgehog croquet to the Mad Hatter’s tea party, strange magical creatures and dark, misunderstood villains. I loved it!
I received a copy of Heartless from Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange for an honest review.
Why not check out the rest of the stops on the Heartless tour?
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