Heartless / Marissa Meyer / 449 pgs

I went into Heartless thinking that I wasn't going to like it as much as the Lunar Chronicles. In a way, that's still true. The Lunar Chronicles is the pinnacle of the YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi Fiction Series genre. Heartless is a stand alone novel, which is good because the story, in my opinion, is complete and needs nothing added to it. I had read the first chapter in a sneak peek preview that appeared at the end of Winter and wasn't sucked in, hence why I wasn't as excited about Heartless. However, the book was way better than I imagined. I bow down to the greatness of Marissa Meyer and I intend to never doubt her again. 

Heartless is the story of how the evil Queen of Hearts from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland came to be the cruel woman she is in Lewis Carroll's story. Before she was the Queen of Hearts, Catherine is the daughter of the marquess and marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove. Catherine dreams of opening up her own bakery, but finds that her parents are not as agreeable. They have bigger plans that include the King of Hearts. Catherine wants anything but the king's hand in marriage. What she doesn't count on, however, is falling in love with the court joker, Jest.

Marissa Meyer does a wonderful job of writing romance, and you will pull for Catherine and Jest, but this is a book about how Catherine becomes the Queen of Hearts, so don't expect a happy ending. Things do not wrap up as nicely as they did in the Lunar Chronicles