A queen of retellings, Marissa Meyer, has brought Heartless, another yet special standalone after Cinder, in her fairytale series, The Lunar Chronicles. If you expect an Alice in Wonderland happy ending, though, dear bookworm, turn the page before the world of wonderland drags you in! If you are still here, then brace yourself for a rather fascinating backstory of the Queen of Hearts that fell in love with… the court joker!
Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Marissa Meyer discovered a new way through the Looking Glass—sounds familiar yet not at all! And if you are a fan of retellings, here is a list of books like ACOTAR, the Beauty and the Beast retelling. For mythology enthusiasts, check out our The Song of Achilles book review or a retelling of a Chinese myth in our Daughter of the Moon Goddess synopsis.
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Let’s now step into Wonderland, but beware of elixirs that contain spoilers!
Cath is a young girl who aspires to become the most well-known baker in the Kingdom of Hearts. Along with her best friend, Mary Ann, they would open a successful business; a talented baker and her trustworthy accountant. Sounds like a dream, right?
If only Cath wasn’t the only heir of Rock Turtle Cove, daughter of a Marquess and Marchioness, and Mary Ann, her loyal maid. Catherine Pinkerton’s duty collides with her dream, especially when her mother tries to set her up with no other than the King of Hearts himself.
Cath is totally unprepared for what awaits her at a royal ball. Apart from being the only one wearing a deep red dress in a sea of blacks and whites, and the new court joker’s spectacular appearance, the King is about to announce his engagement to a certain lady.
Cheshire, Cath’s cat friend, saves her at the last minute, buying her time to run. Panicked and dizzy, Cath collapses in the Castle gardens, only to wake up next to Jest, the Joker. From that moment, a secret courtship develops, while Cath tries to avoid the King’s proposal and find a way to open her bakery. However, the Kingdom of Hearts is plagued by the appearance of the Jabberwock, a fearsome monster who chases after citizens.
Thinking about Jest is as scandalous as eating a tart while wearing a corset, but Cath simply cannot stop. In contrast to the King, Jest seems able to read her like an open book, compliment her, and feed her fantasies like no one else.
One night, he steals her away to a tea party held by no one other than the Mad Hatter, Hatta. There she makes unexpected acquaintances but also experiences profound feelings of recognition, bravery, and loss for the first time. She is applauded for the exquisite desserts she has prepared, risks her own life to save a turtle from the Jabberwock’s talons, and watches as a brave soul sacrifices himself for the team.
Before Jest bids her farewell for the light, he reveals his true identity. He is a Rook, working for the White Queen of Chess, who came undercover as a jester on a mission to stop the war in Chess between the White and Red Queens. He hints that he could abandon his plans and stay at Hearts if there could be a future between Cath and him.
During the Rock Turtle Festival, held by her family, Cath is determined to win the baking contest and win the prize money to open her bakery. On the other hand, Jest's presence is so distracting that she almost misses her turn. Jest makes an unofficial love confession to Cath, and she ends up considering accepting him, but duty calls…
Her pumpkin cake gains the judges’ approval by its mere appearance, but then, when the turtle judge actually tastes it, something horrible happens. The poor creature turns into a Mock Turtle. The Festival ends shortly as the panicked crowd retreats.
Jest avoids Cath, believing her place is next to the King, a stance that infuriates her. On a fateful night, the King invites her to a performance, and Cath follows Jest out in the lobby only to get attacked by the Jabberwock again. While Jest distracts the monster for Cath to run, she fishes a magical sword from the jester’s hat.
The Jabberwock retreats swiftly, but Cath is injured. Jest takes her to the treacle well and heals her wounds. There, where time does not exist, the masks fall. Jest’s true mission is to steal a true queen’s heart and take it back to his White Queen to win the war. Of course, he was after Cath’s heart, but then he came to love her. He wants to find another way for them to be together. Maybe even open her bakery elsewhere.
With renewed hope, they come back to Cath’s home, only to find her parents waiting. Mary Ann, worried about her friend’s fate, has revealed her relationship with Jest. The Marquess has Jest arrested, and Cath locked up in her room. Of course, Jest slips away shortly after, leaving Cath bitter and sad. Betrayed by her best friend and the boy she loves, Cath has nothing left but to accept the King’s proposal.
That is when Jest comes back, spectacularly spiriting Cath away. There is another way to be together; walking through the Looking Glass, making her the Queen of Chess, ending the war, and living happily ever after. The tricky part—besides winning a war—is to find the Looking Glass. Hatta helps them, but they come across a terrible prophecy; one murderer, one martyr, one monarch, and one mad.
Also, the issue with the Jabberwock is left unsolved back in Hearts… Will Cath make it to Chess, or will she walk through the wrong door? One thing is for certain; someone will lose their head.
Cath struggles to avoid the inevitable; accepting the King’s proposal and becoming the Queen of Hearts. Her dream is to become a baker and have a future with the boy she fell in love with—Jest. Cath will realize in the hard way that running away from a prophecy is as dangerous as accepting it. Marissa Meyer brilliantly raises the question of fate set in stone against a person’s own agency. Do we really have the power to change destiny?
Love is everything in Heartless, but if we can note one moral in this story, it is that sometimes love can be devastating. The love that Cath shares with Jest is passionate, thrilling, and it seems unbreakable. It is also far from fairy tale love… It demands sacrifice, abandoning your safety and dreams and venturing into the unknown. It is tragic and dooming.
Cath is a kind, positive young girl and talented baker who has only one dream; to open her own business with her best friend. She is passionate, stubborn, and believes in the good in people—and creatures. The eventful turn of events in her life gave birth to the cold, vengeful, and unforgiving Queen of Hearts; the villain we all remember from Carroll’s original story. A grieving, broken heart is all it took to strip Cath of all hope.
Throughout the novel, Cath struggles to define herself in a world determined to define her. Her parents expect her to marry well; the King wants a compliant queen; society wants her to fulfill her duty. Meanwhile, Cath wants to be a baker—an artist, a creator. Her ultimate transformation into the Queen of Hearts is both a loss of her true self and a grim acceptance of a role forced on her.
A different—most certainly unique—retelling of Queen of Hearts is a must addition to your young-adult TBR list. Log into your Amazon, Goodreads, or any alternative of your choice, and save Marissa Meyer’s Heartless for when BookTok romantasy feels too repetitive. For a more fairy tale experience, download the audiobook! Surely, you won’t see the plot twist coming your way!
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Heartless ends with the epic line by Caroll’s Queen of Hearts “Off with his head,” when Cath is presented with the man who murdered her lover. In order to get her revenge, Cath had offered her heart to the fates that brought the man to her. She carves out her own heart, finally relieved of all the pain.
Catherine Pinkerton, the heir of Rock Turtle Cove, is the main character in Marissa Meyer’s Heartless. We actually follow the backstory of the very Queen of Hearts when she was just a young girl full of dreams and hope. She is brave, passionate, and reckless. She aspired to become the best baker in the Kingdom of Hearts, but then she sacrificed everything for a boy. Her love knows no bounds or class differences.
Nikki Sheryee insists that she’s “up to no good” whenever she’s in the company of books. Armed with a degree in English Language and Literature, she wields the power of words like a mischievous wizard. Her lifelong dream? To be the editor who sprinkles magic dust on manuscripts! To Nikki, a book is more alive than a caffeinated squirrel on roller skates. Readers nurture it, cuddle it, scold it, and occasionally challenge it to a duel! But in the end, a book does its own thing, pulling at our heartstrings and revealing our inner human-ness. Nikki’s favorite pastime? Well, it’s none other than the noble art of daydreaming! And she wears her daydreamer’s badge with pride, sharing this delightful delusion with the crème de la crème of her friends.
