Hello
happy readers. Today I’d like to discuss with you a book I got
for review and the original post is at No BS Book Reviews here, and that book
is Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes.
Rating: 4.5
Stars
Queen
of Hearts follows the Princess of Wonderland and future Queen of Hearts, Dinah,
who spends her days trying to keep it together through the vicious humiliations
and threats of the King of Hearts, her father.
Her one place of happiness is visiting her childhood friend, and love of
her life, Wardley, the future Knave of Hearts.
The pretty horrid pattern of her life is upset as a stranger comes to
the palace and her life and everything she’d been looking forward to starts to
slip away. Dinah is left to figure out
the truth to the mysteries that lurk within the palace before she loses
everything, including her head. Its part
fantasy and party fairy tale in the first book of a series that looks at
familiar and new characters we remember.
Back
to the really enjoying it part. I have
always been a fan of fairy tales and all the retellings that have been
happening and becoming more prevalent the last few years have been so much fun
for me. Seeing something classic that I
love and seeing a new side of it. The
Queen of Hearts has always been this vicious and evil figure but seeing before
that to when she was merely a princess is rather interesting. I’m a firm believer that everyone has a
backstory and the best stories always flush one out, especially villains.
Dinah
isn’t perfect she is a bit spoiled and while intelligent she isn’t quick to
look for answers; still she is feisty and has a big heart. There are small hints of the Queen I know
from different tales, a bit of a temper and snark. Her adoration to her mad hat maker brother
transposed from what we see of her and her father is what really pulls you into
her corner. Other characters of interest
for me, her brother Charles, Cheshire the advisor (and not a cat), and Wardley. The King is rather complex and intriguing
like the world and the towers but because they are dark and evil yet still make
you want to know more.
Throughout
we start to see what Dinah has been dealing with and how the addition of a new
guest starts to ring in a change for her, and not in a good way. The mystery begins to unravel as the closer
they come to her coronation, where Dinah is to rule beside her father until she
weds and rules with her husband, and Dinah must start to make sense of it all
before she loses more than her crown but her head. There is also a very light touch of romance
in the story. She is in love with her
best friend but while she dreams of more with everything going on Wardley is
much more focused on keeping her safe.
Not much time for romance, their friendship managed to come across as
true and solid having memories of playing together from a young age to their
own little codes. I hope to see more of
their friendship and possibly more in the sequel.
My
only issue with it was that many things uncovered hint at something larger and
while I think I have it figured out (early on too) it was never confirmed. I understand it may be flushed out further in
the next book of the saga but with some of the hints being dropped early on I
was hoping to have at least one of my suspicions confirmed. With the book not being very long it could
have easily added more to this particular aspect instead of making me feel it
was stretched into another book. I’m
still going to read the next book, I’d read it now if I could find it, and
would recommend Queen of Hearts to anyone who enjoys a good retelling or just a
“before they became what we know” type of story.
I’d
love to hear your thoughts and fells in the comments below.
Until
next time…
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