Heartless: The bestselling epic fantasy fairytale retelling

Before Alice, before the trial, before the roses were painted red, before all of that, Catherine was a young, beautiful girl dreaming of owning a bakery and falling in love for the first time. All her love, concentration and hope are in this bakery and the handsome man who suddenly appears into her life and the last thing she wants, and everyone seems to be pushing her to be, is to sit on the throne and become the Queen of Hearts. Throughout the book there is an ever present doom - you know how the story is going to end before it even begins, which makes for a unique experience. Marissa Meyer, I felt, was able to create a different but familiar Wonderland, that still held that cheeky, goofy and absurd nature that Lewis Carrol invented back in the 1800's. I've read Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, so when a character from the book is show, I had to stop for a moment and appreciate how Meyer inserted them into her work. Her writing is also one that I really admire and one that really gives you the scope of the world while also feeling personal. Now, I won't deny it, the pacing is rather slow. There's not a lot of action - if any at all - and that wasn't a problem for me. There is instant-love in the plot, but it is a stand-alone novel, so that was to be expected. Parts of the plot were a little repetitive and it felt rather like the story was just stuck in this loop for about three times. However, I liked the conflict slowly building in the background and Cath's reaction to it all. Or maybe I was just in the mood for that kind of book. Catherine herself is a very sympathetic character, filled with hopes and dreams, who is trapped in a very upper-class Victorian problem. We see the whole story from her point of view and her strong attitude makes her entertaining and somewhat likeable. She does have a bit of development, but the more you wonder about how this nice, caring girl who wants to open a bakery became the Queen Of Hearts, the more you can see little bits of her attitude and personality that will inflate when she is confronted with a situation. I would go into more detail, but I went into this book not knowing a lot about it, and I have a feeling that would be the best way to go into this book. Overall, it was an inspiring and interesting take on Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, one that I think Wonderland lovers will enjoy. The pace is a little slow and there are times where it gets repetitive; there is an romance that comes and goes very quickly, but if you can get past all of that and take in the writing style, the characters and the interesting and heart-breaking take on the classic novel, pick this book up and you will never look at the vicious Queen Of Hearts the same way again.

Love this book

This book is a slow-burner but it is definately worth sticking with. It tells the story of the Queen of Hearts and how she came to be as she was. If you are a fan of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland stories, then there are few suprises in this book - it follows the Alice stories very well (although it is dealing with events before these books) and captures the essence of Wonderland without changing too much of the world created by Lewis Carroll. There is at least on twist, that I wouldn't have seen coming (although I knew it was because I had accidently read a spoiler for this book) and that adds an element of suprise to the tale. The characters are well-written but the majority are annoying and each one seems to have at least one trait to dislike. Catherine drove me mad with her indecisiveness (especially as you know how its going to end), Jest was cruel and manipulative at times and the King was a charicature who would be a pain to live with. Lesser characters are also well-written and you can recognise who some of them will become. Minor events and characters are mentioned and these had me smiling as I realised where they fitted into the original canon. My only criticism is that this book took a long time to get anywhere, but the final third is excellent - face-paced with drama, excitement and sorrow - and makes me glad I stuck with the book through the slower beginning. All-in-all, a good book that is worth reading if you are a fan of Wonderland (or alternative fairy tales).

I love a good retelling and this one has been on my TBR pile for a while. I read Melissa's Lunar Chronicles series last year and I LOVED it! So when I saw this was on audio I just had to grab it. This book is set before Alice in Wonderland and tells the story of how Catherine became the Queen of Hearts. I liked this different take on a retelling by telling the villains story. This has happened a few times recently in a few Disney films and it's something I really like. I feel like people most of the time there is a reason people have turned evil. Catherine is young and full of dreams. She is an avid baker and dreams of opening her own bakery. She loves the way her treats make people happy. Catherine was such an endearing character that you really struggle to see how she can become the Queen of Hearts. Marissa does such a good job of making Catherine likeable. I kept hoping that somewhere something would go right for her and things wouldn't turn out so terrible. I'm not a die-hard Alice in Wonderland fan but it did make me want to read the book (or maybe watch the film!) I loved that some of the characters like The Mad Hatter were in the book. It really made the story feel real. I'd love this to become a series as I feel there is more that could come from these characters but I equally understand why it's a standalone. If you love a retelling with a twist then I would highly recommend this story. Especially the audio version. Rebecca has such a great voice I could listen to her read to me all day. She does such an excellent job of portraying the story and differentiating the voices.

„It is a dangerous thing to unbelive something only because it frightens you.“ […] „But hoping," he said, „is how the impossible can be possible after all.“ Zum Cover: Absolut passend zur Geschichte und zur Atmosphäre in diesem Buch, gerade gegen Ende sind die Farben und Kontraste von Rot und Schwarz super gut gewählt. Generell harmonieren sie aber auch sehr gut zusammen. Auch die Krone über dem Titel „Heartless“, wobei das „t“ als Schwert getarnt ist, finde ich äußerst toll arrangiert. Insgesamt: Große Coverliebe! Zum Inhalt: Catherine mag eines der begehrtesten Mädchen im Wunderland und eine Favoritin des unverheirateten Herzkönigs sein, aber ihre Interessen liegen woanders. Als talentierte Bäckerin will sie nur eines, mit ihrer besten Freundin ein Geschäft eröffnen. Ihrer Mutter zufolge ist ein solches Ziel für eine junge Frau, die die nächste Königin sein könnte, undenkbar. Dann trifft Cath auf Jest, den gutaussehenden und mysteriösen Joker am Hof des Herzkönigs. Zum ersten Mal spürt sie die Anziehungskraft. Sie und Jest laufen Gefahr, den König zu beleidigen und ihre Eltern wütend zu machen, und gehen eine intensive, geheime Beziehung ein. Cath ist entschlossen, ihr eigenes Schicksal zu definieren und sich zu ihren Bedingungen zu verlieben. Aber in einem Land voller Magie, Wahnsinn und Monster hat das Schicksal andere Pläne. „Es ist gefährlich, etwas nicht zu glauben, nur weil es dich erschreckt.“ […] „Aber Hoffnung“, sagte er, „ist, wie das Unmögliche doch möglich sein kann.“ Meine Meinung: Marissa Meyer weiß, wie man Geschichten besonders macht. Mit einer außergewöhnlichen Protagonistin, die ein außergewöhnlich alttägliches, fast schon „normales“ Talent besitzt. Cath ist in diesem Fall die Tochter aus gutem Hause mit einem Traum, der, so findet ihre Mutter, unter ihrer Würde liegt. Sie will Bäckerin bzw. Konditorin werden, weil sie das backen von Kuchen und Desserts liebt. Und was habe ich in diesem Buch nicht manchmal Hunger auf Süßes bekommen! Nebenbei bemerkt, ist Jest, der Gegenpart zu Cath, ein ebenso toller Charakter, mit dem man sehr gerne seine Zeit verbringt. Da kann man wirklich verstehen, weshalb Cath sich so schwer tut, ihr Herz an einen anderen zu verschenken, wenn es da doch Jest gibt. Auch die Anspielungen an die Originalgeschichte von Alice im Wunderland, mit der weißen und roten Königin, der Grinsekatze, die absolut genial auch in diesem Buch ist, dem verrückten Hutmacher und seiner Teeparty mit seinem Nicht-Geburtstagsfeiertag und dem Jabberworky. Allesamt geben dieser Geschichte Sinn, aber dennoch gewinnt Caths Geschichte mit Eigenständigkeit, vor allem auch durch den super atmosphärischen wie flüssig lesbaren Schreibstil. Ich habe das Buch zwar auf Englisch genossen, weil es bisher noch nicht übersetzt wurde, doch finde ich, dass die Sprache, die Marissa Meyer für ihre Bücher wählt, nicht anstrengend ist. Sie ist zwar auch nicht unanspruchsvoll und ich würde empfehlen, dass man „Heartless“ nicht als sein erstes, englisches Buch liest, sondern erst einmal Erfahrung sammelt. Wenn man dies hat, ist „Heartless“ aber ein voller Genuss und ein Buch, das die Geschichte einer Anti-Heldin erzählt, die anders ausgeht als man es erwartet. Fazit: Ich liebe Marissa Meyer, ich liebe ihren Schreibstil und ich bin verrückt nach ihren Büchern. Vielleicht sehen das manche anders, aber für mich ist sie meine „Queen of Reader-Hearts“ . Sie schafft es einen mit vollkommen simplen, jedoch außergewöhnlichen Ideen zu überzeugen und dafür bewundere ich diese Frau. So haben mich ihre Welt und ihre Charaktere in „Heartless“ zu Hundertprozent oder auch zu 5 Sternen überzeugt.

Ottimo prodotto, molto valido. Ottimo venditore.

Heartless is the story of a princess with very simple needs and a head full of simpler dreams. Heartless is the story of an ordinary girl who possesses an extraordinary power to bring back things from her dreams. Heartless is the story of a girl who only wanted to bake and to fall in love with her prince charming. Catherine is a young girl, who loves to bake and is very good at it. Her sweets are loved by all who have had the privilege to try them and the demand for her hand baked delights only seems to rise like a sweet dough left aside. All she wants is to open a bakery and live her dream. She has the full support of her maid and best friend, Mary Ann in this little venture and they both have decided to be business partners. All has been decided; Cath would do all the baking and Mary Ann would handle the accounts. But there’s a slight problem here. Cath’s mother would never approve of her only daughter going into the men’s world of business, especially with a humble servant like Mary Ann as her partner. And that’s not all. There is a bigger part of the story where she falls in love but her lover is not approved by her family as he is an ordinary court joker, Jest. Oh Jest! He isn’t as ordinary as he pretends to be. His entry into the king’s court brings a dark entity to the court. And all this happens on the same day when the king decides to propose Catherine to be his wife; on the same day when Cath’s prospect of opening a bakery in town was crushed by her parents; on the same day when Cath and Jest fall in love. I can rave about this book for as long as the person I am raving to doesn’t hit me with the same book and make me unconscious. Heartless was my second best read of 2017; the first place is undoubtedly taken by The Harry Potter series♥. Merissa Meyer managed to hold me right from the first sentence of the book and didn’t let me escape, till the last words were read. Her writing flows and you wouldn’t notice the pages go by so effortlessly. I didn’t know how I was reading so fast and yet grasping each and every emotion the book had to offer me. It made me smile, and at times, I even howled with laughter( my mother had to hit me to make it stop); it made me cry and I could feel my soul being crushed by what I was reading(but I tell you even that couldn’t make me stop reading this mind boggling book); it made me hopeful that magic was possible and it could be found anywhere, in anything. P_20171220_103939 P_20171220_104227 The plot is well written and well woven too i’d say as it takes some reference from the original Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol. I loved the characters and actually they were the best part of the book for me. The author worked very well with the character development of each of them, irrespective of how often they were to appear in the story. I had most fun reading the banters between Cath and Cheshire, the disappearing cat. Cheshire was one of the best characters for me, portraying all the traits we can imagine a magical cat could handle. She often made remarks like, ” It is a dangerous thing to UNBELIEVE something, only because it frightens you.” ” I would offer you one, but i don’t want to.” ” Fascinating isn’t it, how often heroic and foolish turn out to be one and the same.” These remarks are not even a justifying proof of Cheshire’s wit and sarcastic tongue. The relationships shown in this book have been nurtured like babies and treated delicately so that the reader feels like home when he reads about them. There is no instant love crap and the reason for why people are attached to each other are mentioned everywhere. Friendships in this book are to die for and very ideal i would say. Merissa Meyer builds relations like a pro and I don’t think anyone can replace or dominate over my feelings for her writing after this book; this absolutely amazing, delightfully gorgeous book. There’s so much more to it when you read it in the passage with all the other characters dancing around in your head, waiting for their part to be played. This book is going to be the one of my favourite books of all times. And I highly recommend you read it as soon as possible (what i mean is read it right NOW). This book had been on my shelf for months before I started reading it and I regret it so much that why hadn’t I read it before. It’s a flawless masterpiece. Here, I’ll leave you with some magical lines from the book. Enjoy guys. “Her eyes snapped open. A blush climbing up her neck. She’d been dreaming about the joker.AGAIN.” “I see nothing all the time” “To be alright implies an impossible phase. We hope for mostly right on the best of our days.” “To be alright implies an impossible phase. We hope for mostly right on the best of our days.” “Jest walked like falling snowflakes.” “Attraction is a subjective thing, but charisma is universal.” “Are you a doctor? No, I am a joker and that’s even better.” “She couldn’t stand the idea of crushing her friend’s dreams, not when she was still so new to dreaming.” “We’re desperate enough.” P_20171220_104419_HDR Hope you liked this review. Thanks for reading.

Además de que el libro en sí está bien bonito físicamente, la historia es hermosa y te rompe el corazón. Es mi libro favorito de 2021