Heartless by Marissa Meyer (Audiobook)

 Hey!

Apparently January has become the month I catch up on Marissa Meyer's books!  I've been behind for a few years! And now with the access to my local libraries Audiobook database, I get that chance to catch-up!  

I have Heartless on my shelf since its release in 2016, and just have never had a chance to read it, or honestly been in the mind set, because I rarely read fantasies at this point; so when it saw on the Libby App, I finally checked-it out via audiobook and began.  

From Goodreads:

Long 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 unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath 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.

In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

My Thoughts:

Honestly, I have never been a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, it's always just been a little too...I don't know how to say this... maybe too quirky for me.  I am not sure the whole colorful-on-acid thing is for me.  But I enjoy origin stories, and so I knew this book always sounded intriguing to me.  And let's be honest, Marissa Meyer is the queen of fairytale retellings, so I knew I knew I couldn't miss out on this one.  

Better Late than Never, I guess!

Heartless was So good! Marissa Meyer does it again! I mean, it shouldn't be surprising for me, I think its more because it is related to Alice in Wonderland, but I really enjoyed this one.  Rebecca Soler is the narrator of the entire Lunar Chronicles series, for the audiobooks, and she is amazing!  She gives each and every character their own voice, and it is just amazing!  

She really brings this book alive!  

Now, I will admit that having read the audiobook, I did have a few moments where events weren't clicking in my brain as well as if I would have read the actual book, but I think that's because Alice in Wonderlanduses a lot of make-believe words and things and that got a little confusing to keep up every so often.  

To hear how the Queen of Hearts came be the vicious person that she became in Alice, was an experience that I didn't know I needed.  This was different than my last origin story, which was Hello, Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson, the story of how Cruella de Vil came be the person we knew about.  I thought Heartless I think was a better showcase of how an innocent young woman, who had dreams beyond her reach, get torn down and everything she loves taken away from her, and how she has nothing left but resentment by the end.  I almost understood Heartless more.  Maybe because it takes place in a fantasy world, but I just enjoyed this one more.

Overall Rating:

Four and a half for me!  It was great!  I highly recommend the audiobook, even if you've already read this one.  Rebecca Soler really brought this one alive.  It's a long one, around 15 hours, but well worth it!

The Romance Bookie :)