Author: Marissa Meyer
Page: 453
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads rating: 4.09 Stars
Published: November 8th, 2016
Source: Hardcover/Bought, Audiobook/Borrowed
Description:
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.
My Thoughts
*THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS*
I. Should. Have. Known! You know how sometimes you pick up a book knowing it's a retelling, but you want to think its a retelling that twists the ending to be a "happily ever after"? That was my hope for this book. As a kid I had an extreme dislike for the Queen of Hearts, and while reading this I just knew there was absolutely no way Cath could ever be that horrid creature from Alice In Wonderland. No. Way. Marissa Meyer has a knack for taking things that have me going "there is just no way" and turning it so I'm saying that same phrase with a bit of awe in my voice. Because there is. And she always finds it.
Catherine {or Cath} is the daughter of one of the upperclass titled families, the only daughter of a Marquess and his wife. She is full of life and joy, loving to pour her heart and time into baking, dreaming of a day when her and her lady's maid. Her desire, passion and just joy made me look at her and say "there is just no way she's going to be the angry Queen of Hearts. No way." Oh, I should have known.
The secondary characters bring out so many different aspects of Cath, and, one by one, we see how each could bloom or shatter. Maryanne, Jest, The King, and even Hatta bring out the different sides to Cath - friend, lover, subject, and ruler {sorry if I'm spelling anything wrong, I listened to the audiobook}. I don't want to say too much, because it really could give the book away, but its amazing what actually happens - what Cath actively does and what she stands back and allows to happen.
Meyer takes this story and makes it so beautifully her own, but it's also apparant what inspired this story. Much like her Lunar Chronicles, Meyer doesn't really re-tell the story, but takes elements from it and makes it her own unique masterpiece. Any time I thought it was going to turn more towards the most recent Alice in Wonderland live-action film {you know, the one with Johnny Depp} or a little like the classic Disney film {honestly, one of my least favorite films}, it never did.
This book gave me a serious book hangover. When I finished I just couldn't gather the words to describe the feeling, over than heartbroken. This left me shattered and unable to really say anything other than "I should have known!!" My husband nonchalantly said that to me as well when he was wondering why I should have known what was going to happen. And, guys, I really should have known. I should have. But I still can't believe it.
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