From the Bookshelf of Buddy Reads…

Heartless

Marissa Meyer

Start date: November 1, 2018

Finish date: November 30, 2018

Discussion: Heartless

Discussion leader: Ashley Chen

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Showing 2 of 7 topics — 109 comments total

Heartless

Heartless-Reviews
By Aqsa , Dracarys! · 15 posts · 16 views

last updated Nov 29, 2018 01:51AM

Heartless-Chapters 45-54
By Aqsa , Dracarys! · 21 posts · 18 views

last updated Nov 18, 2018 06:15PM

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What Members Thought

Nov 16, 2018 Aqsa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, recommended-to-me

There are two reviews here.

Review on first Read:
This was a cruel read. Honestly. I am disappointed by the end. How well it could’ve been! It was just too gruesome. Too dark.

So okay, I wrote those two lines about 3 hours ago and I was so disappointed and angry and then those 3 hours happened which couldn’t have been worse for me and I now completely understand. Almost glad for it. (view spoiler) ...more

81 likes · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2021 — nova rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

read this if you want a book that makes you hungry and makes you cry :)

trigger warnings! cath's mom talks a lot of cath's weight and also makes her go without eating/makes her "diet"/doesn't let her finish her meals because she thinks cath should be skinnier. ...more

28 likes · Like · see review

Nov 22, 2018 Barbara Senteney rated it it was amazing

Catherine ( Cath ) is the daughter of a Marquess who wants nothing more then to have a bakery of her own. But her parents on the other hand want to marry her to the King, who is infatuated with her baked goods. Jest is the court Joker and befriends Cath, who find him oddly attractive, once you peel away the funny clothes and 3 pointed hat. Mary Ann is Cath's personal maid, and shares the bakery dream. For a dream is all it is or ever can be, The Marquess would never allow his daughter to become ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2019 gaby rated it it was ok

I read Heartless out of the blue, and it was an interesting novel. I think this book was not necessarily “the one”(for the lack of a better term) for me because unlike a lot of people in the community I have very little knowledge of the original Carroll fairytale( I know, I know I watched both the animated and live-action Disney films as a young child so it’s quite fuzzy and wrong, DON’T KILL ME), and secondly I don’t think I was in the mood for a fantasy when I read it(honestly I don’t know why I read Heartless out of the blue, and it was an interesting novel. I think this book was not necessarily “the one”(for the lack of a better term) for me because unlike a lot of people in the community I have very little knowledge of the original Carroll fairytale( I know, I know I watched both the animated and live-action Disney films as a young child so it’s quite fuzzy and wrong, DON’T KILL ME), and secondly I don’t think I was in the mood for a fantasy when I read it(honestly I don’t know why I decided to be like “wow, I’ve been really enjoying contemporary lately but let’s read a random fantasy”, so like don’t scold me pls and ty!)

Anyway, I think my own problems were not the only reasons why Heartless and I didn’t click. My main problem of this book is probably the pacing. This book mostly follows this harmless girl named Catherine, and her insane turn to becoming to evil Queen of Hearts that we have all come to hate(but like honestly, love). These villain backstories are not new to Meyer, as we were able to see this in Fairest, but I have to stay I preferred the latter. Unlike Fairest, this book’s transition was much less seamless. It’s hard to completely explain my problem’s without completely spoiling it, but a specific plot point completely unravels Catherine’s sanity. It’s not exactly that this plot point wouldn’t affect her psyche because it was deep, hurtful and detrimental but the complete personality change is not somehting that seems completely realistic to me as a reader. I felt that the pacing of the last 50-100 pages were WAY too quick and I was not a fan.

My other big issue with this book was the side characters. This book is extremely focused on the main relationship Jest and Catherine, which meant that the side characters were unfortunately affected. Jest’s “crew” for a lack of a better word was fun and they seemed like a pretty cool bunch, but for characters who we have come to love from aforementioned novels, they seemed very little like them. They were there when they were needed to bring the story along but other than that they were little more than a plot tool. I was expecting to better understand this tale that I knew very little about(yes, I know that was not the purpose of a retelling but I don’t know maybe a little something?) And I wasn’t able to do that.

Suffice to say, Heartless was a disappointment for me. There were times of fun and pleasure that existed between Catherine and Jest, but nonetheless, that wasn’t enough for me to truly love it, and I much preferred her TLC work. :( ...more

1 like · Like · see review