I make a habit of judging books by their covers. I almost never read book jackets. I sometimes read bookstore or Goodreads blurbs, but that is usually way before the book comes out. This is one time I am glad that I do that.

Gregory Maguire once asked if some is born wicked do they have wickedness thrust upon them. It a good question that fits with this book. All I knew of Heartless going in was that it was an Alice in Wonderland retelling. Turns out it is not a retelling but an origin story, and a unique one at that. Was the Queen of Hearts always the nasty screaming cantankerous old biddy she is made made out to be? Or was she once a lovely young girl with passion and desire? Who really is the Queen of Hearts?

I will start by saying I found the story slow to begin with, and if I was not in an internet outage might not have finished it right away. But I am so glad I did. We all think we know the stories of Wonderland, but I am not sure we do. Meyer creates worlds where a boar can fall in love with a debutant, and a raven can be a rook. A land of Chess and a land of Hearts, where it's all about who you marry, and not who you love. I love the intermixing of Poe, nursery rhymes, and Wonderland. It in riches the story. I cried for the Mock Turtle and at times hated the Hattar. And now I have this desire to bake.

I see this book being around for generations. It will share shelf space for ever more with its original materials, and for that I am glad.

#beatthebacklist #Dombledore #HungarianHorntail (I will officially choose one later). #LitsyAtoZ #MountTBR #readharder