Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

 

“The blond-haired, blue-eyed girl raised her head again, a look of desperation marring her radiant face.  “Please!” she screamed.

Dinah should be merciful.

She would be merciful.
She had made a promise.
She wasn’t like him.
She paused, eyeing the crowd.
“OFF WITH HER HEAD!” she screamed.” 

 

Queen of Hearts is the first book in The Crown series, a compiling series about the Red Queen we all know and loath.  But what if this queen was merely a misunderstood child, who never had the proper love and care?  In tradition with authors like Gregory Maguire, Colleen Oakes has decided to give the readers the villain’s side of the story. 

 

Dinah, is the daughter of the King of Wonderland, along with her brother Charlie, the mad-hatter, they are the only children of the King.  That is, until the King announces he has a love child, which unmistakably looks like Alice (I don’t think she is actually Alice, but this does explain Dinah’s hate for her.)  Constantly worrying about pleasing her father and being accepted by him, Dinah cannot fathom why he would love his bastard more than his other children.  It is safe to say that Dinah is none too happy about this development, and so close to her coronation. 

 

Given a clue, Dinah knows there is something going on, something her father is not saying and she plans to unravel that truth.  Unfortunately Dinah doesn’t understand that her father has no limits to his punishments, and pretty soon Dinah and her secret crush will lose more than just pieces of their body.  Because the wonderful world of Wonderland is not as nice as we would have thought, danger lurks in the most unpredictable places. 

 

I liked Dinah, and the connection Oakes gives her to the Mad Hatter.  In my opinion this remake has been done well, thus far.  As the rest of the books in this series begin to be released, then we will know if the story remains true to the Wonderland of our youth.  Filled with drama, action, clandestine meetings, and unrequited love this story is sure to be enjoyable for almost anyone, especially since it’s less than 250 pages.

 

Thank You Netgalley.