31 January 2017

Review #583: Heartless by Marissa Meyer



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.”

----Lewis Carroll



Marissa Meyer, the American bestselling author, has penned a captivating YA retelling of Carroll's popular book, Alice in Wonderland in her new standalone book, Heartless. This story revolves around one of the most villainous characters from the children's fiction, the Queen of Hearts, who is portrayed as an independent and strong young woman, who wants to open her own bakery and make the people of then Kingdom of Hearts happy, but her parents has chalked out a different plan for her future and this is fight and struggle of that self-dependent woman who only wants what her heart's desire.


Synopsis:

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland — the infamous Queen of Hearts — she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the yet-unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend and supply the Kingdom of Hearts with delectable pastries and confections. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next Queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the king's marriage proposal, she 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.



Catherine, the daughter of the Marquess in the Kingdom of Hearts, has an impeccable talent for making delectable confections and desserts, and she plans to open a bakery to satisfy the taste buds of all the people of her land alongside her bestie. Although her parents thinks otherwise about their daughter's future who has charmed the heart of the not-so-clever King of the Hearts and who wishes to marry Catherine. On the other hand, Catherine, struggles to make her parents realize about her dreams and about her heart's desire which do not belong to the king. Being an obedient girl, Catherine reluctantly meets the king so that the king chooses her as his queen, little did she knew that she will fall for the very handsome king's court joker, Jest, who will sweep her off her feet and understand her completely. So in the backdrop of Kingdom of Hearts, where magic, darkness and monsters lurking at every corner, can Catherine fulfill her dreams and find the love of her life?

I was bit skeptical on reading this book, as from my previous reading experience on reading retellings, I was left disappointed. Thanks to The Booklings Crate, an Indian book subscription box, for including this book in the January box. This is the first time that I read any book by this author, and boy, oh boy, this book is so incredibly good that it made me feel like a little girl running wildly through the dreamy land of magic alongside the Hatter, Cheshire the cat and many such favorite characters who made me believe in magic, dreams and fantasy.

The author's writing style is coherent and laced perfectly well with emotions. Although the book opens rather slow, but mid way through the book, the readers will be forced to hold their breaths till the very end that turns creepy yet enthralling. The narrative is engaging enough to keep the readers glued till the entire length of the novel. The pacing is smooth as there are quite a number of unpredictable twists and turns that will come out of nowhere to make the story extremely intriguing and push the readers off their edges.

The world building done by the author is thorough and with depth. Even though this is a fantasy story somehow the essence of realism will hit the minds of the readers strikingly. And not to mention the author decks up this make-believe world with the touch of Victorian-era look-and-feel. The readers will be swept away by such a world where monsters feel real and the magic sounds like a boon to the evil.

The author brings alive the characters, whom the readers more or less know from the book, Alice in Wonderland. Each and every character from this book makes the story highly absorbing, that will make the readers feel like their presence is an essence to the very flame of this story. The author projects the main character, Catherine, a.k.a, Cath or like the readers know her as the Queen of Hearts, with utmost bravery, independence and self respect. Cath, in short, is an inspiring character, whose fight to achieve her goals will encourage many young souls. Cheshire the cat is the cherry on the top or let's just say, he is the star of this book, who makes the story equally hilarious and thoughtful with his constant ushering of metaphors through out the story line.

The love story between Jest and Cath lacked a bit of passion yet somehow their secret affair makes the story compelling and anticipative enough to keep the readers arrested into the story.

In a nutshell, this story is power-packed with enough jaw-dropping actions, weirdness, creepiness and with some cheesy romantic moments to satisfy the taste buds of any young adult fantasy story fan. And not to mention, the book is going to make the sweet tooth folks extremely hungry!

Verdict: Amazing, delectable and bewitching!

Courtesy: Thanks to the Booklings Crate for including this book in their January book box.
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Author Info:
One of my first spoken words was “story” (right along with “bath” and “cookie”), my favorite toy as an infant was a soft, squishable book, and I’ve wanted to be a writer since I first realized such a job existed.
When I was fourteen my best friend introduced me to anime and fanfiction—over the years I would complete over forty Sailor Moon fanfics under the penname Alicia Blade. Those so inclined can still find my first stories at fanfiction.net. Writing fanfic turned out to be awesome fun and brought me in contact with an amazing group of fanfiction readers and writers. As Alicia Blade, I also had a novelette, “The Phantom of Linkshire Manor,” published in the gothic romance anthology Bound in Skin (CatsCurious Press, 2007).
When I was sixteen I worked at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma, Washington, affectionately termed “The Spag.” (Random factoid: This is also the restaurant where my parents met some 25 years before.) I attended Pacific Lutheran University where I sorted mail that came to the dorm, carted tables and chairs around campus, and took writing classes, eventually earning a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and Children’s Literature. Knowing I wanted a career in books, I would also go on to receive a Master’s degree in Publishing from Pace University (which you can learn more about here). After graduation, I worked as an editor in Seattle for a while before becoming a freelance typesetter and proofreader.
Then, day of days, someone thought it would be a good idea to give me a book deal, so I became a full-time writer. CINDER was my first completed novel, though I have an adorable collection of unfinished ones lying around, too.
I married my husband in 2011, two months before the release of Cinder, and we adopted our two beautiful twin daughters, Sloane and Delaney, in 2015. Reading lots and lots of bedtime stories is most definitely a new favorite pastime.


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