Review: Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes 
Publisher: SparkPress
Release Date: February 14th, 2014
Source: Netgalley
Date Read: 2/4/14 to 2/11/14
205 pages

Rating: ✰✰✰✰1/2

Not every fairytale has a happy ending.

This is the story of a princess who became a villain.

A Father’s Betrayal. A Kingdom with a Black Secret. A Princess Slowly Unraveling.

As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah’s days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts — and the love of her life.

When an enchanting stranger arrives at the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she’s ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It’s up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe.

Part epic fantasy, part twisted fairy tale, this dazzling saga will have readers shivering as Dinahs furious nature sweeps Wonderland up in the maelstrom of her wrath.

Familiar characters such as Cheshire, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter make their appearance, enchanting readers with this new, dark take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Taken from Goodreads

I requested my first book through Netgalley, and I got it! And I am proud to say that I am so, so glad I got chosen to read this as my first ARC book, because it is simply a fantastic and amazing read, and I can't say that enough. 

Queen of Hearts is set in the world of Alice in Wonderland, but with a few twists. A strict and evil King rules over Wonderland, and he only cares about power and imagery rather than his daughter, Dinah, the future Queen. Instead of caring for her in a loving fashion, he ruthlessly casts her aside, by either ignoring her or yelling at her over nothing. He even takes on another beautiful daughter and makes her the duchess, Vittiore.

Dinah, on the other hand, struggles to find her place in the palace. She looks forward to her coronation day, where she rules alongside her father, and the day she hopes her father will finally take pride in her. And she also dreams about the day when Wardley, her childhood friend and crush, becomes her husband. But as that day slowly comes by, she realizes that there are things in Wonderland that she has no idea about.

Colleen Oakes does an amazing job creating and putting together a setting for our heroine in the Queen of Hearts. In every chapter, I learn more about Dinah and her jealousy towards her sister, her relationship with Wardley, or just about Wonderland itself. And also that Dinah's brother, Charles, is the Mad Hatter? Genius. I'm in love with all of these well developed characters, even though I still have no idea what role Vittiore will play in the series. She definitely has some huge secret that she's hiding from everyone. And I love Dinah! I really hope she succeeds at everything because I know where her feelings are coming from and plus she has really good intentions for everyone. I am curious to see how Oakes will tie all of this with the original story of Wonderland, or maybe she won't at all. 

I recommend this book to everyone, especially readers who love fairy tales, because Queen of Hearts definitely puts a new perspective on the Wonderland story. The only flaws are that this book was only 205 pages, and that I have to wait for the next book in the series.

With that said, the expected release date for Queen of Hearts is this Friday, February 14th!

"Colleen Oakes is the author of the Elly in Bloom Series and the upcoming YA fantasy Queen of Hearts Saga, both published via Sparkpress. She lives in North Denver with her husband and son. When not writing, Colleen enjoys swimming, traveling, and immersing herself in nerdy pop culture. She is currently at work on the last Elly novel and another YA fantasy series called Wendy Darling.

You can visit her webpage at: www.colleenoakes.net or at her very lengthy and sometimes embarrassingly personal blog, The Ranunculus Adventures."

More information from Goodreads