Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 464

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Released: 9th of February 2017

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, 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.

What I Have to Say

As a long time fan of Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles, obviously I was interested in seeing her take on Alice in Wonderland. At the start it was hard to see how anything would connect up with the screeching, angry Queen of Hearts as pictured in the original story. But as I trusted Marissa Meyer as an  author and quite liked Cath as a character, I continued to read and watched as poor Cath's life was torn apart. 

It was a sad story, but it also had a lot of humour, merriment and obviously acts of the impossible. There were many of the original characters from Alice in Wonderland and we saw the origins of a lot of the other characters as well, including the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat, obviously. It was beautifully woven with the insanity and humour that Wonderland is known for in Meyer's unique style. 

Meyer has a very distinct style and as I have liked her other books, I enjoyed reading this style, but I feel like she lacked a lot of the humour that Wonderland is known for. It had bits of whimsy involved in it, but mostly it was quite a serious story based within this world. I respect that this is a choice that Meyer had to make, whether to go with her quite serious style or change to add more humour, so I wouldn't say it's a problem as such, but I think I would have liked more humour really. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Macmillan to providing me with this copy for review. 

Faithful by Alice Hoffman

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 272

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Released: 1st of November 2016

Growing up on Long Island, Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl until one night an extraordinary tragedy changes her fate. Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt.

What happens when a life is turned inside out? When love is something so distant it may as well be a star in the sky? Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future. In New York City she finds a circle of lost and found souls—including an angel who’s been watching over her ever since that fateful icy night.

What I Have to Say

Normally I get so bored by this kind of book. And I was a little at the start, but from the point when she starts her career of dog theft, I somehow got endeared to her and started to get really invested in her journey towards forgiving herself for what happened. 

I think it was mostly the dogs, but the love of chinese food and the kindness that Shelby showed through the book both to animals and humans. It makes makes her so lovable that the reader starts to really want her to get the life she deserves. 

I would have liked it if the plot had been more action based than just a redemption tale, but I liked it a lot and it really surprised me. 

My thanks go to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400

Publisher: Puffin 

Released: 4th of February 2016 

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

What I Have To Say 

This is very much not a book for the faint-hearted. It is tragic and heartbreaking from the word go, taking it to harrowing extremes in the climax. Sepetys writes about a great tragedy without holding back from the details of it. There are some images in this book that will stay with me for a long time. 

Each voice was very different. I loved the switch between the voices in the narrative, showing things from different perspectives and revealing the character's secrets bit by bit. I only took a couple of days to read through it, because the characters and their mysteries caught me up in the story and compelled me to read on. 

This is definitely one for those who like a good cry at sad books. It's also a very good and well researched look into Germany and the surrounding countries during the Second World War. 

My thanks go to Netgally and Puffin for providing me with this e-Arc.