Book Blurb:
Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.
Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.
Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. 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 an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.
Tropes:
*Fantasy *Young Adult *Romance *Fairytale Retelling *prequel *heartbreaker
*Betrayal *Villain origin story *secret mission *insta love *angst *tension *forbidden love
Thoughts:
I am currently on a team doing a book challenge and saw this book on the bingo board for this week saw the blurb and chose this one to help our group complete the board for this week. I actually hadn't heard of this before (or if I had I forgot about it)... but considering it has almost 300,000 ratings on goodreads I must be in the minority.
To start with we have Catherine she is a sweet girl with big dreams she loves to bake and her wish is to one day open a bakery with her best friend Maryanne. Even though Cath comes from a wealthy family this dream is very much just that a dream and as far away as it can possibly be from her reach... She comes from a noble family and her family would never just approve for her to start a business... with one of their maids... not on their watch.
Cath has caught the eye of the King but she hasn't caught her eyes... in fact she really would rather he not talk to her at all she wants to open her bakery and he is giving her mother big ideas like one day she might be the queen. Her mother is obnoxious and snooty she frequently talks down to Cath and is quite insulting.
The King is a timid (irritating) man who just wants peace in order to get it he often turns away from real problems and his form of a solution is having a party... like that will solve the real issue here.
While Cath was not searching for love... love found her in the way of the court Joker (Jest MMC) who is handsome, charming, mysterious, stealthy and everything that Cath felt she would want if she were to fall in love... but totally unsuitable according to her parents and everyone else around her but she is intrigued by him from the moment she lays eyes on him.
Cath says yes to the kings courtship... not because she wants to but because she is voluntold and the only highlight to being with this man is that she'll get to continue to see Jest and he meets with her in secret they grow closer together and Cath continues to dream of a life where she can control what happens where she will say no if the king actually proposes marriage, one where she will be able to open her bakery and one where she can be with the one man she is growing to love Jest.
The romantic in me wanted for her to be able to have her happy ending with Jest and open up her bakery as she wanted to with her friend but over the course of the book it's clear that the fates have other plans for everyone involved, but could Cath have it all? There has to be another way.
When a creature from nightmares emerge and everyone is afraid who will there be anyone to rescue them?
I did at times feel that the pacing was a bit off there were many slower scenes which led to the ending feeling more rushed. Cath was sweet and naive to the point of me feeling like shouting... no girl don't do that you've been warned. I also was frustrated with her for not setting her foot down long before the end... I get that she felt trapped in an impossible position when the king started courting her but if she didn't want to go thru with it and was in love with another man she seriously could have run away and opened a bakery in another whimsical place... she kept wanting to make her parents proud but her mom was terrible (in my opinion) and her dad just backed her mom.
The ending... seriously crushing... if you are a HEA person... don't start this book.
Over all I really enjoyed this story it was an easy read and it flowed well, I loved how the characters we know from fairy tales and Alice in Wonderland came together the story felt whimsical and magical and we see from the beginning how the Queen of Hearts got to where she is now when time, fate and choices get in the way.
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