Series: Queen of Hearts Saga, #1
Publisher: SparkPress
Release: Feb 12th 2014
Source: Borrowed
Pages: 222 (ebook)
( Amazon | Goodreads )
A Father’s Betrayal. A Kingdom with a Black Secret. A Princess Slowly Unraveling.
As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah's days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts--and the love of her life.
When an enchanting stranger arrives at the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she's ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It's up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe.
Part epic fantasy, part twisted fairy tale, this dazzling saga will have readers shivering as Dinah's furious nature sweeps Wonderland up in the maelstrom of her wrath. Familiar characters such as Cheshire, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter make their appearance, enchanting readers with this new, dark take on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. But be warned...not every fairytale has a happy ending. This is the story of a princess who became a villain.
I have recently gotten myself into a Wonderland frenzy, all thanks to the fabulously written retelling Splintered by A.G. Howard, which left me desperately in need of more mystical adventures. I was so overwhelmed by the urge to return to Wonderland that I hunted high and low for something else to quench my thirst. Queen of Hearts came to me then, with promises of epicness and gloomy twists, and easily captured my attention.
Unlike many other retellings, Queen of Hearts took an alternative approach by centering itself around the notorious villain of Wonderland - the Queen of Hearts, who is infamously known for being temperamental and fiendish. The Queen, or rather Princess at the moment, is merely a little girl who is pampered and eager to seek her father's approval. That is until Vittiore, a bastard child of the King's, is abruptly declared Duchess of Wonderland and swept away by admirations. The exact kind of admiration Dinah has always dreamed for. The sad truth is, Dinah may well hold the title of the Princess of Hearts, but she has never been respected in the way her royal status warrants. The King's blatant disregard for her only further encourages the humiliation she bears around the palace, making us feel terribly sorry for witnessing her endurance of the unjust treatment. Though Dinah is never one to feel sorry for herself, she knows perfectly well how to defend herself and she does so with true honor and pride, just like how a future ruler should be. It is in those moments that we see the Queen of Hearts we are all so familiar to, one who would never let anyone to impose on her.
While the premise is incredibly intriguing, Queen of Hearts is a book that takes time to get into, especially in the beginning. This section of the story serves little purpose other than introducing Vittiore and depicting the estranged relationship between Dinah and the King, yet it occupies a fairly large portion of the total length. Although I enjoyed reading the side mentions of Dinah's mother and the Wonderland kingdom, the story really only gets exciting when it fast forwards to two years later as Dinah anxiously awaits her coronation. Whilst her 18th birthday approaches, mysteries seem to loom over Wonderland, sending Dinah troublesome and uneasy vibes that force her to dig deeper. Being the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah takes upon herself to find out the sickening truth rooted deep under her kingdom, but darkness thickens and secrets goes unrevealed. With only puzzling riddles on hand, Dinah suddenly finds herself at the eye of a tornado, barely on the edge of destruction.
Aside from the mysteries, there is also a hint of romance in Queen of Hearts, though it mostly went unrequited. It is not clear to me how this relationship would develop and whether or not this will ever become a two-way affection, but either way I anticipate many battles lie ahead for the pair no matter it is in the name of love or friendship.
Queen of Hearts could easily be a four-star read if not for its initial mediocrity, but keep in mind that the story does pick up the pace and only gets better after that. I imagine I will be alongside of Dinah every step of the way as she falls for villainy slowly but surely and I'm certain this will be quite a riveting ride.
My Rating: ★★★ (3 stars)
I love Alice in Wonderland retellings too, so this one sounds great! A slow beginning is definitely a bummer, but I'm glad it picks up. The mystery and premise definitely seem really interesting. I hope to give this one a try eventually. Awesome review :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, Alice in Wonderland is awesome! I'm gonna re-read the original tale one of these days, all the retellings are bringing back so many memories :P
DeleteI'm on SUCH a Splintered/Unhinged hangover too. I'm absolutely dying for Ensnared, but I have a bad feeling that it won't end how I want ti to, sooo I'm simultaneously wanting it and not wanting it. ;) Ah the hard life of a bookworm. This looks quite good, but I'm a bit worried about it being slow. And also...I'm still stuck in A.G. Howard's wonderland x)
ReplyDeleteYep :P Me too. I'm so glad there are so many good wonderland retellings out there, because I really need MORE!! Also, I have been putting off reviewing Splintered because I have no idea what to say and I don't think what ever I come up with would be coherent at all ;P
DeleteHmm, I'm leery on this one because of the slow start. That's like my peak DNF period if the book doesn't hook me xD I like the sound of everything else, though! I may give this one a shot when I am feeling particularly patient ;)
ReplyDeleteI know. I almost DNFed it too. Luckily this is a short book, so you get through the beginning pretty fast!
DeleteI'm glad that despite a rocky start, this one ended up being an enjoyable read for you Angel! I of course am a romance fiend, I always crave it in my books, so I'm glad there's at least a hint of a romance in this one even if not much comes of it. It sounds like it might be something that builds over the course of the series which would make me happy:) Lovely review!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hope that happens, but I feel like they may not get a good ending :/
DeleteI love Wonderland retellings, so I will check this out. I do wish it sucks me in from the start, though. Sometimes, it's hard reading a book when it bores me in the first few chapters. Great review, Angel :)
ReplyDeleteSame for me, and it's getting easier and easier to bored me in the intro stage of a book nowadays too. I almost put this down but I really needed some wonderland back then, so I just kept reading :P I hope you will like it Dre!
DeleteA story about the Queen of Hearts?? Sign me up! :) Too bad that it takes a while to get into! Ugh...I hate that. But I think I might be willing to gamble on this one because you said it got better as you kept reading! *runs to goodreads* Lovely review Angel! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha I hope you like it! :D I love villain retellings, they are they best!
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed this one despite the slow start Angel! I'm reading Splintered right now, and really enjoying it, so I'm definitely going to have to give this one a try! It's always fascinating to get the physiology of a villain, and this sounds like just the read for that! Thanks so much for sharing this and putting this under my radar! Thanks so much for sharing Angel! <3
ReplyDelete~ Zoe @ The Infinite To-Read Shelf
You are welcome Zoe and I hope you enjoy it! I'm really looking forward for the subsequent installments. This is just the beginning :)
DeleteThis does sound quite fascinating. I like the premise, even if the beginning was a bit slow. I suppose that just means the sequel should move much quicker because much of the "background" has been established.
ReplyDelete-Lauren
I hope so! There are gonna be more revelations and conspiracies in the second book for sure.
DeleteI've never heard of this book or this author, never even seen any reviews of this book. What is this sorcery?
ReplyDeleteThe book itself seems very interesting, but the plot is hit or miss. It can either go very good or very bad, it all depends on the writing style.
It looks really good though! Great review!
Ivana @ BookishTeens
Haha, I only got to know about this book from another blogger :P As for the writing style, I would say it's decent, but nothing special. You might want to read a sample or something to try it out, though the beginning section is unfortunately the down point of the book.
DeleteSounds like one that was worth sitting through, great review Angel! I have read other reviews and loved the sound of this, I'm glad you enjoyed it too. I'll have to pick it up sometime :)
ReplyDeleteJeann @ Happy Indulgence
I just can't get enough of Wonderland!! I'm re-reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland now. I must say that the original story is kind of weird to read. But then again, I never really get nonsense literatures.
DeleteHmmm, I am curious about this one but must admit that the slow start puts me off. I was one of the few people who didn't really enjoy Splintered all that much, so I am kind of wary of Wonderland retellings. Splintered was amazingly well written, but it just wasn't for me. Thank you for the honest review :)
ReplyDeleteMhmmm this might not be the book for you then. Splintered outdone this one by so much. The writing in Queen of Hearts is no where comparable to Splintered, though the whole villain aspect is very interesting. If you are curious about it, I would say give it a try :)
DeleteI love that this centered around the villain - that is just so much fun! I could see myself picking this up after Splintered to get more in this world, like you did, but with its slow start I might try to wait to see how the sequel fares! Great review!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ The Quiet Concert
Thanks for stopping by Nichole :D This is definitely an interesting start to a series, but yeah, I wish it had a more grappling beginning.
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