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mariahistryingtoread's review
4.0
I decided to read this book after reading a review for Heartless that recommended this one. Heartless was enjoyable, but a little disappointing so I thought that I might give this a chance since that reviewer seemed adamant that this would be better.
It definitely was better, however, it did fail at its main goal. As a spinoff of Alice in Wonderland this was terrible. It barely used any of the source material (and not in a good way). Oakes might as well have told the story in some made up universe of her own creation. I would have enjoyed it just as much as you could completely remove anything referenced from Alice in Wonderland and still get the story. She did make a go at putting a new spin on some of the characters (the Mad Hatter, Harris, and Cheshire), but ultimately this was a tale of a girl who didn't realize just how power hungry her father was that could have been set anywhere because I certainly wouldn't call her universe 'Wonderland'.
The story was genuinely interesting. Pre-Queen of Hearts Dinah is living the typical, lavish lifestyle of Princess and one day soon will be Queen. Dinah is a fairly likable, sympathetic protagonist. She's strong-willed, and bratty, but it's tempered by her desperate desire to be loved and respected. She also truly does want to do better for her kingdom which means (to me) that she can't possibly be as spoiled as she comes off, sometimes. Dinah's father absolutely despises her for reasons that are, so far, only hinted at. I got sucked into the intrigue of it all, but I have to admit it was predictable. Dinah was naive, but as a reader I could quite easily guess at what was going on. It didn't hurt the story or my interest, but I hope that this was merely because I knew this was only the first book in the series.
Something else problematic, was the time skipping. I'm pretty sure 2 years passed from the beginning of the book to the end, but it wasn't clear enough. An event would take place then the next chapter would suddenly be a month later. It came off as Dinah having no growth despite some of the changes she went through. And what's worse is that it meant that if a major plot point would come up Dinah was apparently just sitting on it for an indeterminate amount of time.
Overall, an engaging read. I enjoyed it despite the fact that it's not exactly what it promotes. To be honest, not much happens, however, until I read the second book (or another by this author) I'm going to assume that is a result of this book setting the stage, rather than a commentary on Oakes' writing.
It definitely was better, however, it did fail at its main goal. As a spinoff of Alice in Wonderland this was terrible. It barely used any of the source material (and not in a good way). Oakes might as well have told the story in some made up universe of her own creation. I would have enjoyed it just as much as you could completely remove anything referenced from Alice in Wonderland and still get the story. She did make a go at putting a new spin on some of the characters (the Mad Hatter, Harris, and Cheshire), but ultimately this was a tale of a girl who didn't realize just how power hungry her father was that could have been set anywhere because I certainly wouldn't call her universe 'Wonderland'.
The story was genuinely interesting. Pre-Queen of Hearts Dinah is living the typical, lavish lifestyle of Princess and one day soon will be Queen. Dinah is a fairly likable, sympathetic protagonist. She's strong-willed, and bratty, but it's tempered by her desperate desire to be loved and respected. She also truly does want to do better for her kingdom which means (to me) that she can't possibly be as spoiled as she comes off, sometimes. Dinah's father absolutely despises her for reasons that are, so far, only hinted at. I got sucked into the intrigue of it all, but I have to admit it was predictable. Dinah was naive, but as a reader I could quite easily guess at what was going on. It didn't hurt the story or my interest, but I hope that this was merely because I knew this was only the first book in the series.
Something else problematic, was the time skipping. I'm pretty sure 2 years passed from the beginning of the book to the end, but it wasn't clear enough. An event would take place then the next chapter would suddenly be a month later. It came off as Dinah having no growth despite some of the changes she went through. And what's worse is that it meant that if a major plot point would come up Dinah was apparently just sitting on it for an indeterminate amount of time.
Overall, an engaging read. I enjoyed it despite the fact that it's not exactly what it promotes. To be honest, not much happens, however, until I read the second book (or another by this author) I'm going to assume that is a result of this book setting the stage, rather than a commentary on Oakes' writing.
ashleysnerdyworld's review
5.0
here is my review of queen of hearts first off I loved this book I gave it 4 stars only cause of the cliffhanger I wanted more.
this is not your typical alice in wonderland book this is the p.o.v of the queen of hearts and how she turned so evil and became the queen the we love to hate today.
it follows Dinah who is the soon to be queen of hearts when she turns 16 she cant wait to be queen all she wants is her dads approval and to be loved which her dad the king of hearts is a jerk.
then you have harries which is here keeper and takes care of her and trys to keep her out of trouble
then you have cheshire who is the king of hearts right hand man.
then you have are love interest is Wardle I loved him so much.
then you have Charles who is the mad hatter.
I loved all this characters and the story was writing so well action all the time I cant wait for the second book this book is mainly how a good girl can turn so evil and all the ways she goes to get there. this book took me out of my reading slump it was amazing.
this is not your typical alice in wonderland book this is the p.o.v of the queen of hearts and how she turned so evil and became the queen the we love to hate today.
it follows Dinah who is the soon to be queen of hearts when she turns 16 she cant wait to be queen all she wants is her dads approval and to be loved which her dad the king of hearts is a jerk.
then you have harries which is here keeper and takes care of her and trys to keep her out of trouble
then you have cheshire who is the king of hearts right hand man.
then you have are love interest is Wardle I loved him so much.
then you have Charles who is the mad hatter.
I loved all this characters and the story was writing so well action all the time I cant wait for the second book this book is mainly how a good girl can turn so evil and all the ways she goes to get there. this book took me out of my reading slump it was amazing.
sniktbubgirl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
meghan_plethoraofpages's review
3.0
3.5ish
So imaginative, action packed. Loved the plays on the original. More character development would have been great! Dinah left a lot to the imagination, as did her half sister. I’ll keep reading the series though, surprisingly as not much of a YA fantasy fan usually!
So imaginative, action packed. Loved the plays on the original. More character development would have been great! Dinah left a lot to the imagination, as did her half sister. I’ll keep reading the series though, surprisingly as not much of a YA fantasy fan usually!
eleftheria07's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
malbread's review
3.0
Nothing much happens stories wise. Very slow and very descriptive for each and every scene. Still enjoyed it
krisjenner's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
crypticparchment's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
rynflynn12's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
nilla_beanie19's review
3.0
I would say this is a 3/3.5 star read for me. It was a super quick and easy read. Nothing blew me away to where it’s my all time favorite but I did like it. The things said and situations that happened made me really angry sometimes. There were also times I felt on the edge of my seat and it made me not put the book down often. I read it in three sittings and it was about 4 hours in total. I plan on picking up the second one today since this was a quick read, I’m excited to see what happens next.