Heartless

by Marissa Meyer

Genre:  Literature and Fiction/YA Fantasy
Publisher: Square Fish
Book Release Date: May 1, 2018
My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Stuff and nonsense. Nonsense and stuff and much of a muchness and nonsense all over again. We are all mad here, don’t you know?” 

-Heartless, Marissa Meyer

This book, oh, this book. It was so good. So creatively, whimsically, devastatingly good.

I admit I’ve never read the classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but of course I’ve seen enough of the Disney movie to know the general story, the characters, and the chaos and madness that is Wonderland, which made this book and all its characters a treasure to read.

That being said, I knew this story would not end well, knowing what I know about the Queen of Hearts, the terror of Wonderland in her coming of age story of how she came to be said terror. But what I did not expect was … everything.

I didn’t expect to like her so much. I didn’t expect to fall in love like I did. I didn’t expect to be so enthralled as I was or have as much fun as I did. I didn’t expect the excitement and longing or rejoice in the acts of courage and bravery like I did. I didn’t expect to be utterly heartbroken like I was.

If ever there was a book I want to reread the moment I finished it, it was this one.

Lady Catherine is just a girl with dreams, a prisoner to her title and the petty desires of her sovereign. The King, silly, simple, and brainless man that he is, wants her for his queen. But she knows she doesn’t want to be Queen of Hearts even before she meets and falls for the oh-so-suave, mesmerizing, witty, clever, noble, and protective Jest, the new court joker to the King. And the more she learns about Jest, the more she finds he is not just a lowly court joker. He’s so much more, and he’s full of surprises.

I fell so in love with Jest. He was … sigh … perfect.

Listen, just read this book. It does not have a happy ending and you won’t expect it to, but it won’t be what you expect, either. It’ll be so much more.