The time it was about Heartless

Posted September 19, 2016 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Reviews | 6 Comments

I’ve enjoyed all of the books from Marissa Meyer, and when I saw Heartless was a Queen of Hearts origin story, I couldn’t wait to get my greedy hands on it.

Today marks the start of the official countdown to Heartless and Fierce Reads has some lovely things in store.  Before we get to my review and the goodies, let’s check out the book.

11Long 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.

Sounds good, right?

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**Thanks to my pretty prancy PA AKA Christina from The Book Hookup for letting me steal borrow her review format**

review

Rating and First Reaction:

All of the stars, because 5 isn’t enough.

MCs:

Catherine: I mean, you know where the Queen of Hearts ends up, so I was sort of surprised to find how much I loved Catherine.  She’s so smart and wants her future so badly, that she’s prepared to do anything to get it.  And that’s part of her personality that carried over when we get to Carroll’s Wonderland.  This Catherine is sweet and loves to bake.  She’s a bit whimsical and it was fun being in her head.

Jest: The scene where Jest appears for the first time is perfection and I loved him right away.  He’s smart and doesn’t really show it because he knows his place in the kingdom.  And yet, there’s maybe something else too…

Secondary Characters: There are a lot of characters and I could have named more in the MCs category, yet half of the fun is meeting not only Marissa’s take on the classic Lewis Carroll characters as well as the unique characters she’s created.

Plot & Pacing:

There is a bit of a slow build up, but in the best way.  We have to maneuver around the world that Marissa created and get to know everyone.  And then once it starts, it really starts.  There’s magic and swoons and danger and fighting and more descriptions of delicious tarts than I knew what to do with.

And like I said above, even knowing that Catherine was eventually going to become the Queen we see in Wonderland, I was hoping hoping hoping that something would change. It was amazing and heartbreaking all at once.

Teaser Quote:

“You’ve had me mesmerized from the first moment I saw you in that red dress, and I don’t know what to do about it, other than to use every skill at my disposal to try and mesmerize you back.”

— taken at page 239 of the arc

Rec It?

A million times yes.

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And now the goodies… Like I said above, today starts the countdown to Heartless and there are only 50 days to go. For every day, there will be a different challenge shared on the various social media platforms that Fierce Reads has. If you participate and use the hashtags #HeartlessChallenge and #sweepstakes, you’ll be entered to win.

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To complete today’s challenge, share a photo of you with a black heart and the caption “50 Days to Heartless” on Twitter and/or Instagram. Include the two hashtags above and you’ll be entered to win an arc of Heartless.

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marissa-meyer-c-julia-scott-close-upSomeone thought it would be a good idea to give me a book deal, so I became a full-time writer. CINDER is my first novel, though I have an adorable collection of unfinished ones lying around too.

I live with my husband and our three cats (Calexandria Josephine, Stormus Enormous, and Blackland Rockwell III), who go in and out, in and out, about eight hundred times a day. My favorite non-bookish things include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, re-watching episodes of Firefly, and playing all manners of dress-up.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Huge thanks to the lovely ladies at Fierce Reads for the invite to share this, and of course for sending me the arc and making me scream when I saw the envelope! Click here to check out the schedule of challenges!

And now, what about you? Are you excited for Heartless? Have you already read it?

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6 responses to “The time it was about Heartless

    • Stacee

      Have you looked at her other series? They’re all fairy tales: Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White.

      I hope you enjoy Heartless!!

  1. Gooorgeous review Stacee :D I am SO glad you loved this book. <3 I'm nervous about that ending. But I am SO excited for Heartless :D Been waiting so long for it. Sobs. I'm a huge fan of Marissa. <3 Biggest fan, I would say, hiiih. But I have not gotten Heartless yet. Sigh. I'm a bit bitter that all the giveaways are US only :p And that they couldn't send the ARC to me here in Norway. Sobs. But I think I just managed to get hold of one from a friend; so I'm super excited :D I just. Yeah. I'm going to love this one too. The characters seems aaaamazing. And I'm so glad you loved them :D Eee.

    Carina Olsen recently posted: In My Mailbox #256
  2. Arkon and Annie

    We know we should really be focusing on your review, but we can’t help zeroing in on that graphic.

    “Even the blackest heart once beat red”

    That’s just amazing and wonderful and wicked feeling. We can sense the malevolence and we want so much more. Strangely enough your review of Heartless is the only one that’s left us with a larger need for this book.

    Everything else we’ve seen has kind of made us doubt the quality of it, but not you.

    Amazing work!

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