Meyer steps away from the sci-fi landscape of Luna society and Earth to step into a world of magical realism where Victorian-era human characters chat with talking candles and animal beings in this tale of hearts stolen and broken.

The kingdom of Hearts is ruled by the foppishly cheerful King who has his eye set on Lady Catherine Pinkerton. However, Cath doesn’t want to be queen. She wants to fufill her lifelong dream of opening a bakery with her best friend/servant, Mary Ann. As one can imagine in such a staid society of proper manners and corsets that no one in Catherine’s life believes she should follow her dream when she could be queen.

Even Catherine has her doubts as she stumbles upon one obstacle or another, and the mysterious new court joker, Jest presents another reason to say no to the king no matter the disappointment of her parents.

I applaud how Meyer manages to take well-known romantic tropes (beauty and the beast, childhood friends etc.), this case being star crossed lovers and twist into something new and distinct from all the other couples she has written. Jest is absolutely charming and graceful and how could you not fall for a joker who makes the impossible happen. And its clear why Jest would fall for Cath and her stubbornness and her independence despite the odds.

I also enjoy how this story not only creates the unique and tipsy world of Lewis Carroll’s works while also providing mentions of other well-known rhymes like Peter Peter, Pumpkin Eater and poems such as the Jabberwocky and Edgar Allen Poe’s Raven to create a horrifying mystery turning this well-mannered romance to a craggy world of terror. Carroll’s Wonderland seems so harmless ut always has a dark undercurrent running underneath which Meyer uses masterfully to build suspense.

Like her work with Empress Levena, Meyer does not hold back in building the psychology torment of Cath as she encounters frustrations and roadblocks in every turn. She tries her best to obey her family’s wishes, she berates herself for her selfishness and for stringing along the king, she is a kind person.

But in a world that looks the other way, focusing on frippery than real action. A world that constantly tells a girl “No” and confine her dreams and belittles her as someone “walrus-like” and “has to act like a lady” and all that, it’s no wonder she turns to anger and fury to get things done. A build-up of no one considering or caring for her happiness till she no longer cares for her hearts’ bleeding emotion.

Hatta here is interesting as he is sane most of the time and quite a hard character to get to know. In fact he is most distinct in his hatred for Cath for several reasons. While I like the contrast to most iterations of him and his being the catalyst for several big events, I did find some of his scenes to be repetitive with the whole secrets-close-to-his-hats-despising-Cath-bit.

Overall, a heart-rendering new twist on an old fairytale.