Heartless by Marissa Meyer

| ISBN: 978-1250044655 | Pages | 453

Publication Date: November 8, 2016 | Source: Library

| Rating: 4 out of 5 stars |

★★★★

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. 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 a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

I finally picked this up after eyeballing it for so many months but refusing to read it because I hadn't finished the Lunar Chronicles yet. With that said, I ended up giving in and reading this first and I think I'm still mending my heart from the aftershock of everything that just happened.

The first word that pops into mind when describing this book: Whimsical. It's not a particularly exciting book, there is a section that dives into a very familiar Wonderland setting (The Mad Hatter's Tea Party), but for the most part, the story takes place in the Kingdom of Hearts. However, Marissa Meyer's writing style just creates a captivating world where the people just want to have fun.

“It is a dangerous thing to unbelieve something only because it frightens you.” 

The Kingdom of Hearts is ruled by a very incompetent king who spends all his time giggling and ignoring the real issues that need his attention. It's no wonder that Catherine feels no joy at being his favorite and longs to have the freedom to accomplish her own dreams of opening the best bakery in Hearts with her friend MaryAnn.

“The easiest way to steal something, is for it to be given willingly.” 

I didn't know what to expect from Catherine because she was a girl "who just wanted to fall in love" and I was curious to see how Marissa Meyer would build her character into being the Queen of Hearts that we all know. During the first half of the story, Catherine is someone everyone aspires to be - passionate, driven, and unafraid to challenge society. Because of that, my heart absolutely broke for her because her transformation from being a girl who loved baking and her life to being "heartless" seems almost too cruel (for lack of a better description).

“Perhaps we know each other in the future and you’re only remembering backward.” 

All the characters in this novel are amazing - I loved Jest and Raven because how can you not? I wish we could have learned more about their world because we only got a small snippet from what Jest told Catherine, but that was enough to pique my interest. Also, I have to mention the Hatter because he's one of my favorite characters. He's constantly fighting against his family curse of going mad and it's impossible not to feel your heart twist even if his decisions/actions are questionable.

“Fascinating, isn't it, how often heroic and foolish turn out to be one and the same.” 

I really enjoyed how Heartless focused on the Wonderland aspect without mentioning Alice and I kind of wish we could have more in this world because I'm torn between loving this as a standalone and wanting more. My heart was so broken for Catherine at the end of the story and I just want to spend more time with her.  I guess this just proves why "villain" backstories are some of the best things in the world because they make you question everything you thought you knew.

The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst

| ISBN: 9780062413345 | Pages: 353 |

Publication Date: September 10, 2016 | Source: Library

| Rating: 4 out of 5 stars |

★★★★

An idealistic young student and a banished warrior become allies in a battle to save their realm in this first book of a mesmerizing epic fantasy series, filled with political intrigue, violent magic, malevolent spirits, and thrilling adventure

Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . .
But the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. She alone has the magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. But queens are still just human, and no matter how strong or good, the threat of danger always looms. 
With the position so precarious, young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, is under no illusions as to her claim to the throne, but simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits’ restlessness—a journey that will test their courage and trust, and force them to stand against both enemies and friends to save their land . . . before it’s bathed in blood.

This book is absolutely crazy in the best possible way. Before I get into the review, the sequel to this book - The Reluctant Queen releases today so if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, you can marathon the first two books of the trilogy starting today! 

I've been craving fantasy lately since I realized I didn't read a ton of high fantasy stories this year so when I saw this on the shelves of my library I was immediately intrigued. The summary itself weaves together a pretty ruthless world where elemental spirits have an innate desire to kill humans. The only thing that is preventing them from doing so is the queen, who has the power to command the spirits in an attempt to create peace.

“Whether you made your choices with your eyes open or closed, they’re made. It’s not time to regret them; it’s time to live with the consequences.” 

The entire premise of the story is fascinating - I mean, where else do you get blood thirsty elemental spirits? One of my favorite things from the start was the imagery of houses woven into the branches of trees because it just sounds so beautiful but there's this understanding of how dangerous the people's lives are as they live alongside the spirits that want to kill them. 

"Two chances to make this all worthwhile, to prove she could do this, to have the opportunity to do something real with her power, not just practice and study."

Our main character Daleina finds out about her ability to commands the spirits when her entire village is slaughtered and she joins an academy designed to train girls to becoming heirs for the queen. Since the queen is still human, the moment she dies, the spirits are released from their command to "do no harm" and must choose a new queen from one the heirs otherwise chaos will erupt. 

"You believed in me when you chose me. You believed in me when I was blind. Believe in me again now."

So Daleina joins this academy but she quickly finds out that she doesn't belong. Unlike many stories that have a similar plot with a ruthless world and the fight to become queen, Daleina isn't some special snowflake who can command spirits to her every will. Instead, she barely manages to pass the physical aspect of her training and rather pushes herself academically to pass her courses.

"In the stillness of the forest, there was a kind of beautiful simplicity. You could be alone without fear, and so Daleina was."

As you can imagine, life at the academy is not the most pleasant experience and Sarah Beth Durst creates so many beautiful and amazing female friendships that spawn from hardship, fear, and determination. All the girls at the academy become each other's family as they face what the rest the kingdom cowers from because they have the chance to protect the people they love. I really appreciated all the different relationships throughout the story and how everything was focused the final goal.

This is getting a bit long but I feel like I still have so many things I want to say. The Queen of Blood is amazing - sometimes it's empowering, sometimes it's discouraging, and sometimes it's just outright bloody but that's what makes it so good. Needless to say, I am very excited for The Reluctant Queen because after that whirlwind of an ending (which I reread 3x because I was in shock) I need to be back in the world of Aratay.