Meyer, Marissa. Heartless. (Lunar Chronicles)

Meyer, Marissa. Heartless. (Lunar Chronicles)   Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends    2016  453p  $19.99  ISBN 978-1-250-04465-5      Hardback    ms/hs  Fantasy  VG-BN  

What was the Red Queen like before she ascended the throne? Catherine may be one of the most desired young women in Wonderland. The (unmarried) King favors her.  The handsome, mysterious “Jest” intrigues her. Catherine’s ambitious mother is determined that her daughter will become Queen. Catherine would rather open a bakery and create delectable confections than marry, but her fate is out of her hands.

Meyer skillfully balances her fairytale retellings with her trademark twist on familiar tales. She manages to make the characters easily recognized but uniquely her own, in tales that go beyond retelling, into original flights of storytelling. 

Cath (short for Catherine) rails against her fate. She is the daughter of a Marquess, a talented baker, and (if her mother gets her way) the future Queen to the King of Hearts.  Readers will feel Cath’s frustration as her desires are consistently thwarted by the expectations of society and family. They will not be disappointed by the ending, even though it is apparent that Heartless is intended to be a stand-alone. Fans of The Lunar Chronicles will also enjoy Heartless, as Meyer continues to draw engaging characters (the humorous Cheshire, forbidden love-interest) and reveal the seamy back story that molded Alice’s nemesis.             

Summary: What was the Red Queen like before she ascended the throne? Catherine may be one of the most desired young women in Wonderland.

Alice In Wonderland-Fiction                                 —Hilary Welliver

Meyer, Marissa. Fairest. (series The Lunar Chronicles)

Meyer, Marissa.  Fairest. (series The Lunar Chronicles)     Macmillan/Farrar Strauss  2015  222p  $17.99    ISBN 978-1-250-06055-6  jr/sr  Science fiction  VG

Book 3.5 of The Lunar Chronicles looks back on how Queen Levana came to be the woman and monarch that she is by the time the events of Cinder occur. Fairest introduces the reader to a young, naïve, and yet terribly scarred Princess Levana, who is only second in line to the Lunar throne and desperately in love with one of the royal guards, who does not return her affections.  Levana's youth and inexperience lead to her taking drastic and terrible steps to win his love, even using the magical powers possessed by all Lunars to manipulate him into loving her and marrying her after his wife dies in childbirth.

Throughout the book Levana's attempts to secure love become increasingly alarming, but her position allows her to act unchecked, and so she commits worse and worse crimes against not only those she perceives as threats, but also against those she loves.  In the end, Queen Levana is not the pitiable young girl readers were first introduced to, nor is she a villainess who became evil because of some torment someone else inflicted on her.  Every step she took toward her eventual role in Cinder was the result of a choice she made, thinking it was the correct thing to do.  In that, this book is a trifle disturbing, but also fascinating.

For readers who are fans of the Lunar Chronicles, this is more of a pastiche than required reading, but it provides intriguing insight and sets the scene for Cinder and its sequels.  That said, it would really be better to read it either independently of the rest of the series, or to read books 1-3 first, to avoid potential spoilers, like the identity of the lost Lunar princess.  This is easily the most interesting book Meyer has produced so far, and it is worth a read whether or not one is interested in the rest of the series.     

Summary: Book 3.5 of the Lunar Chronicles looks back on how Queen Levana came to be the woman and monarch she is by the time the events of Cinder occur.        

Magic-Fiction                                               --Bethany Geleskie