Heartless

Author: Marissa Meyer 


Themes: Love and Sacrifice; Tragedy


Genre: Fantasy


Recommended Age for Reading: 

The reading level is 5.0, and I would say most of the content is appropriate for students in that age range, but there is an intimate scene between the protagonist and the male lead that is implied.  There's also a violent scene in which one of the characters gets decapitated.  In my opinion, it may be very difficult for kids to comprehend much of the book since the setting is actually in Wonderland.  If readers don't have a lot of background knowledge of "Alice in Wonderland" many aspects of this story will be difficult to understand.  I suggest reading "Alice in Wonderland" or watching one of the movies before reading this book.




Plot:

Every villain has a backstory, and this one tells the reader how the Queen of Hearts became so, well, "heartless."   The setting is actually in the same world Alice found herself in from the story, "Alice in Wonderland."  Of course,  this is all before Alice's whimsical adventure.  Catherine Pinkerton is the protagonist and is the daughter of the Marquess.  She has been chosen by the king of hearts to become his bride.  While her parents are thrilled to have a daughter become the Queen of Hearts, Catherine has different plans.  She dreams of owning her own bakery with her friend, Mary Anne, who also happens to be her maid.  As she is trying to make her dreams come true, she meets the court joker, Jest, and unintentionally falls in love with him.


Review: 

I gave this book a try because I absolutely adored the Lunar Chronicles.  I half expected some kind of sci-fi twist with this story, but it is strictly fantasy.  It's been awhile since I've read Lewis Carol's story, "Alice in Wonderland," so there were many parts of this book that were confusing for me.  I ended up googling many of the characters mentioned and found how they connected to Carol's story.  I never really got into this story, so it took me a while to finish it.  However, it was interesting to read how the Queen of Hearts became who she was in "Alice in Wonderland." I also liked the Edgar Allan Poe connection with Jest's companion, Raven.  It is implied that he was the same Raven in Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem. As a language arts teacher and literary nerd, I ate this up.

Rating: 3/5

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