5.0 out of 5 stars i loved it!

s. · 7 May 2025

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } if you've ever read, watched or even HEARD of Alice in wonderland, you probably know how this book will eventually end... But that doesn't stop it from being so heartbreaking. it was such a good book, I'd recommend it to anyone!

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing but so sad

O.T. · 13 January 2025

I loved this book as Alice in wonderland was my childhood favourite book so knowing more of the story such as wicked in the case of wizard of oz really helped me understand the bigger picture of the story. Very well written and truly wonderful world building however the ending made me bawl like a baby

4.0 out of 5 stars Heartless- quality review

l. · 11 April 2025

I was kind of confused with this as it was labelled as ‘very good quality’ but when it came it had multiple cracks in the spine as well as page damage. It is still readable and it did come on time which I am happy about though x

5.0 out of 5 stars Catherine Before She Became Queen Of Hearts

G.A. · 24 March 2017

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.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one I'll reread

T.o.a.L. · 22 December 2016

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest reviewCards on the table, I did not like this book. I nearly DNFed a couple of times. However that doesn't mean it's not a good book cleverly written because for the most part it is. I can see why others have rated it so highly (and also not so highly!)I really liked the premise - the origin story of the Queen of Hearts (not to be confused with the Red Queen!) However one of the areas in which it fell down was it's adherence to the source material. In fairness EVERY retelling or adaptation of Lewis Carroll's work has suffered from the same problem. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking Glass are works of fantasy and philosophy. They were never intended as children's stories despite being suitable for children. It was just that if you wrote anything that looked like a 'fairy tale', then for decades you were writing for children by default. Swift, Tolkien, Baum and many others suffered the same pigeon holing. So where textual intervention by other writers comes unstuck is that they want to use the fantasy world created by Carroll without much understanding of the ideas behind it, and those ideas, that philosophy, is what gives a rather nebulous and nonsensical world the tensile strength to stand up to carrying a narrative in the first place. Ultimately, the world building in Heartless was wishy-washy and relied too much on the assumption that if the readers had not read the original books, they would have seen the Disney films. I do understand that it is very difficult to get this right because you have several sets of iconic material that have already created definite images in many readers minds but I found it lazy all the same.I hated the MC. And I mean I really HATED the MC not just disliked or wasn't bothered about her. She made me so angry that at some points the book really stressed me out and I had to stop reading. In some ways this is a testament to Meyer's skill. She set up a situation of both overt and subtle emotional abuse and manipulation, in a claustrophobic, rigid and negligent society, and she hits it on the nose. That did not change how I felt about Catherine who is whiny, spoiled, spineless, stupid, self involved and mediocre. I don't think she did a single think that wasn't at least 80% selfish. As a character she had very little agency. I know that was the point but when even when I did feel sorry for her, I was resenting her for making me feel that way. The sudden change which presaged her becoming Queen of Hearts felt jarring. It was too swift an about face.That was another issue. The book felt as if it had actually been three different books that were torn up and roughly pasted together. Motives were spurious, even whimsical. Some events added nothing to the plot and felt tagged on. It was messy. The pace also suffered for the same reason, slowing in places until it felt like nothing of significance was happening at all and I was actually quite bored.Predominantly, my personal problem with this book is also the reason why so many other people will love it. It is a romance dressed up in fantasy trappings, that goes sour. Romance is not my genre. Simple as that.However, the characters are all well drawn. The relationships - even with a central MC I wanted to feed to the Jabberwocky - were pitch perfect, not an easy thing to accomplish when it's emotional abuse and manipulation. There were echoes here of the genuinely creepy 'otherness' of Lewis Carroll's characters. The strangely compelling concupiscent nature of the descriptions of food and it's subtle reference to emotional and spiritual sustenance was very clever.This is a well written book with a lot of thought gone into it. It just wasn't for me. I loved the Lunar Chronicles. I'll read Meyer's next book. But I'm glad this one is over.

Marissa Meyers Wunderland ist brilliant!

P. · 9 February 2020

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } „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.

perfetto

C.A. · 21 May 2025

Ottimo prodotto, molto valido.Ottimo venditore.

Magnificent wordplay

J. · 8 July 2019

This book took everything I loved about Alice and gave me more to love. The characters are so vivid and the story had me captivated from the beginning. For a slow and reluctant reader, Heartless is a great gateway back into finding ones passion for reading. It's easy to read, digest and love.

Book Review: Heartless

R.S. · 14 January 2018

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_104227The 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_HDRHope you liked this review.Thanks for reading.

Delivered on time and packed well

S. · 3 December 2024