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A review by peneloperea
Hello, Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson
2.0
Thank you, NetGalley and Disney Press for providing Hello, Cruel Heart by Maureen Johnson in exchange for my honest review.
I jumped at the opportunity to read Hello, Cruel Heart because meeting Cruella devil pre 101 Dalmatians seemed like a no-brainer. We meet Cruella at the age of 16 and her name is Estella. She’s an orphan, living in a Lair with two boys she meets after her mother died. They taught her how to survive and to be a skillful thief. Horace and Jasper are her family. Her best friends. I personally wish we got to know them better, unfortunately, they had small side parts. Important to Estella…
Anyway, 16-year-old Estella randomly runs into twins, Magda and Richard who are posh, spoiled socialites who are bored and looking for some excitement. Estella is a gifted fashion designer with a fantastic eye for detail and Magda and Estella connect, as much as you can connect with someone who looks down on you. Through the twins, Estella meets Peter, a musician in a local band. She likes that he does all the work for the bad, but she’s frustrated that he’s not getting all the attention, and she offers to design him an outfit for their television debut. Estella’s life goes from stealing fabric to having fabric she’s never dreamed of, handed to her by Magda. She is thrust into the life to London social scene, but is she really?
Throughout the story, we see glimpses of Cruella, but in truth, she felt almost like an afterthought. I really wanted to like this one, but I am not the main age group and perhaps it will work for some younger readers. For me, I had so many questions that were never answered. I waited to learn the story of Cruella, but it really gets glossed over. I just wanted more…
I jumped at the opportunity to read Hello, Cruel Heart because meeting Cruella devil pre 101 Dalmatians seemed like a no-brainer. We meet Cruella at the age of 16 and her name is Estella. She’s an orphan, living in a Lair with two boys she meets after her mother died. They taught her how to survive and to be a skillful thief. Horace and Jasper are her family. Her best friends. I personally wish we got to know them better, unfortunately, they had small side parts. Important to Estella…
Anyway, 16-year-old Estella randomly runs into twins, Magda and Richard who are posh, spoiled socialites who are bored and looking for some excitement. Estella is a gifted fashion designer with a fantastic eye for detail and Magda and Estella connect, as much as you can connect with someone who looks down on you. Through the twins, Estella meets Peter, a musician in a local band. She likes that he does all the work for the bad, but she’s frustrated that he’s not getting all the attention, and she offers to design him an outfit for their television debut. Estella’s life goes from stealing fabric to having fabric she’s never dreamed of, handed to her by Magda. She is thrust into the life to London social scene, but is she really?
Throughout the story, we see glimpses of Cruella, but in truth, she felt almost like an afterthought. I really wanted to like this one, but I am not the main age group and perhaps it will work for some younger readers. For me, I had so many questions that were never answered. I waited to learn the story of Cruella, but it really gets glossed over. I just wanted more…