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“Sometimes your heart is the only thing worth listening to,” is an

undoubtedly heart touching quote that Merissa Meyer, the author of Heartless

and known for her young adult fairy tale retellings, left her dedicated readers to

swoon even more. Heartless is originally the imagined back story of Lewis Carroll’s

character the Queen of Hearts from his novel Alice in Wonderland. It was in this

book that her first stand-alone novel was created and it was published on

November 8, 2016 wherein such topics were discussed. Most likely, magic and

fantasy, princesses and fairies, animals, fairy tales, ghost and even monsters.

Hence, the book focused more on fantasy. The readers, mostly teenagers, fell in

love on how this book were able to showcased a character who starts out

hopeful, warm and sweet and ended up consumed by revenge and violence.

Surprisingly, a not so typical love story emerged, that hooked the hearts of many,

leaving them heartless.

Catherine Pinkerton was the main protagonist of Heartless. She was the

chosen queen of the kingdom of Hearts, but dreamt of opening a bakery with her

maid Mary Ann, which she considered as her best friend too, and becoming a

world-famous Baker. She was described to have fair skin and a beautiful

complexion alone with black hair and rosy cheeks. The king described her eyes

as green apples sprinkled with cinnamon and her hair as dark chocolate. Her

mother and father often voice their disapproval of her dreams and wish for her to

be queen and that was how Jest came in. With Jest black curly hair, golden eyes,

prominent dimples, tan arms, a slender and fit body type, it was unquestionable
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that he became the love interest of Catherine. He was first introduced at the

King's black and white ball, where he gave his first public performance as the

King's new joker. Jest's first encounter with Cath was at the palace gardens during

the black and white ball after she ran away from the ballroom. It was later

revealed that Jest came from Chess, a kingdom across the Looking Glass, and he

works for the White Queen and King. He was on a mission to steal Cath's heart

and give it to his queen in order to stop a timeless war between the two rival

kingdoms of Chess. His position in Chess was a Rook and he has the ability to travel

faster than any carriage. Jest wasn’t alone, for Raven became his companion

who sticks close to him most of the time and became a good friend of him. The

side character Hatta was based off of the iconic Mad Hatter from Alice in

Wonderland. He was a hat salesman described as a young man, around the age

of Cath and Jest, with longer white hair and purple eyes. Haigha’s remarkable

character cannot be underestimated for he fought off the Jabberwock and

exceeded his supposed to be character as being a guest at the mad tea party.

Another character, was very closely based on the Cheshire cat from Alice in

Wonderland and possibly influenced by some of the newer adaptations. Though

not payed much attention, he served as a gossiper and a voice of reason to his

friend Cath and helped Cath escape situations like the Black and White Ball. The

King of Hearts was head-over-heels for Cath and enjoyed her baking treats but

he found it hard to express himself and the feelings aren't reciprocated. He

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doesn't seem to be well equipped to run the kingdom but tried his best to cover

up problems with parties and fun events.

Set in the kingdom of hearts, a world of talking animals, animate furniture

and occasional bouts of unpredictable magic, the story follows Lady Catherine

Pinkerton, the 17-year-old daughter of the Marquess of Rockturtle cove.

Possessed with great passion of baking, she decided to bake lemon tarts to take

with her to the King’s ball, an event where they were invited. She wanted to

establish a bakery but her mother won’t let her.

“She would be queen, and queens . . . queens did not open bakeries with

their best friends. Queens did not gossip with half-invisible cats. Queens did not

have dreams of yellow-eyed boys and wake up with lemon trees over their beds.”

Catherine was very enthusiastic about her lemon tarts that she forgot to get

ready for the ball. Good thing her maid was there to help her out because it was

clearly shown in her actions that she doesn’t care about the ball itself. When

Catherine arrived at the ball, she was filled with shocked, only to know that the

theme was black and white. She later on knew that her mother made her wear

red so the King would notice her. As her mother expected, the King saw her and

asked her if she can dance with him. The King also tried the lemon tarts that

Catherine made and he complemented her.

The King’s new joker, Jest, arrived at the ball and entertained the crowd.

Afterward, Catherine stood by the banquet table where she met Peter, a new
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member gentry that was knighted after he won a pumpkin eating contest, and

his wife. At the ball Catherine met Cheshire, and she told Catherine that the King

was planning to propose to someone. She realized the actions of the King towards

her and she led into a conclusion that that “someone” was her. She left the ball

and saw Jest in the King’s garden. Catherine suddenly felt dizzy and fainted, good

thing Jest caught her and he woke her up with a white rose. Catherine was too

shocked to even pronounce a word. Jest smiled at her as he called a carriage to

take her home. At home, she heard her parent’s carriage arrived and stood from

her bed. Her parents were relieved to find her at home because a Jabberwock

had attacked at the ball however, Catherine’s mother, the Marchioness, is upset

that she was not engaged to the King.

Later in that day, she and Mary Ann found out that the cobbler was closing

his store. They took the opportunity and visited the shop, thinking if it would work

on their bakery. They went to the Duke and asked his permission if they can rent

the space from him, but the Duke gave them an offer and that is to help him win

Margaret Mearle’s heart. When they got home, her mother told her that the King

invited them again for a tea party. She had rose macarons in her pocket to give

it to the King as a gift. Margaret was there and spoke ill of the Duke, but still

seemed jealous when another guest flirts with him. Jest comes over and told

Catherine the King wants to see her.

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She walked around the garden with the King and they talked about the

upcoming Turtle Days Festival which would be hosted by Catherine’s parents. The

King asked Jest to entertain Catherine but Jest convinced the King that he should

court the girl before proposing to her. When they were alone, Jest told her about

the King’s planned proposal for her. He said he believes the King truly cares for

Catherine, but she insisted the King does not love her. When they got home, her

mother was upset because the King haven’t proposed to her yet and that the

King lost interest. However, the King surprised them when he arrived at their home

and asked their permission if he can court their daughter. Jest was with him who’s

just listening. That night, Catherine saw a white rose on her windowsill. When she

opens the window, Raven and Jest are in the tree. He told her that he convinced

the King to court her because he thought she would prefer that to a proposal.

Jest confessed that he has liked her from the moment he saw her at the ball and

invited her a tea party at Hatta’s Marvelous Millinery.

At the tea party, Catherine met Hatta, a hatter who makes elaborate hats.

The guests at the party are expected to take turns entertaining. Hatta and

Catherine talked. Hatta told her a riddle about a heart being stolen. The host were

looking for a person who can showcase their talent. She joined and displayed her

baking skills. However, the Jabberwock attacked the party. The Turtle became

frightened and froze in the meadow. Catherine jabbed him with a stick to get him

moving. The Lion is taken by the Jabberwock. They were all running for their lives.

When the Jabberwock disappeared from their sight, Jest walked her home.
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While they were walking, Catherine shared her interest in baking. Jest

looked for an opportunity to tell her that he was a Rook and that it was his job to

protect the White Queen. Catherine was horrified and told him they cannot see

each other again, but Jest hoped to see her at the Turtle Days Festival. When she

arrived home, Mary Ann saw her and she tried to lie but ended up telling Mary

Ann all about Jest.

Catherine went to the festival and Hatta gave her a hat with macarons on

the top. Catherine wondered about the hatter that used to live in Hearts. Hatta

revealed that the hatter was his father and that he went mad. He said the

condition runs in his family, but he has a way to escape his fate.

Catherine went to dance the lobster quadrille, which was her duty as the

daughter of the Marquess. Jest complimented Catherine on her new hat and

implied that the hat is somehow magical. The King arrived and Catherine tried to

talk to him about the Jabberwock, but he refused to discuss the subject.

Catherine felt obligated to dance with the King. Afterwards, people tried to

congratulate her and right on cue, Jest saved her from the crowd. The baking

contest started, but the King announced that he cannot judge her cake because

he’s planning to marry her. Turtle ate the cake and turned into a Mock Turtle.

She found herself with the King, watching a theater but suddenly Lady Peter

approached her and begged for more pumpkin cake. The Jabberwock

attacked and Catherine pulled the Vorpal Sword from Jest’s magic hat. When
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the Jabberwock saw the sword, it flew away. Sadly, Catherine’s ankle was injured

but Jest appeared and took her to the treacle well to be healed. He explained

to Catherine that the Sisters were in charge of the well and the entrance to Chess,

but that a person must be desperate to find the well. He also told her that Chess

was at war and the White Queen was useless, so he has been sent to steal the

heart of a queen to end the war. However, Time played a trick and sent them too

early. Catherine realized he was there to steal her heart. Jest told her that things

have changed since he met her and they pledged their hearts to one another.

When Catherine went home the King was at her house and her parents were

furious. They all believed Jest kidnapped her. The King tried to arrest Jest, but he

turns into a bird and flies away.

The King threw a masquerade ball to distract the people from the

Jabberwock. Catherine went to the ball intending to accept the King’s proposal

so she can help Jest with his mission. Jest appeared at the ball and told her he

has a plan to make her a queen in Chess, which means they can be together

and he can fulfill his mission. She ran away with Jest and they went to the Hatta’s

shop. From there, Jest, Hatta, Raven, and Catherine traveled to the treacle well

to ask the Sisters to open the maze.

The Sisters agreed to open the maze and shown them a picture they have

drawn that shows the future. In the picture, Catherine was the Queen of Hearts,

Hatta was mad, Raven was in his executioner form holding a bloody axe, and
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Jest has been beheaded. The Sisters tell the group they can avoid the fate by not

going through any doors.

They entered the maze and walked for a long time. Eventually they ended

up back in the Crossroads, which was full of doors. One of the doors shows Peter’s

pumpkin patch and Catherine sees Mary Ann in the window of a giant pumpkin

calling for help. She went to help Mary Ann and the others followed her.

Mary Ann told Catherine the Jabberwock was Peter’s wife. Catherine

realized Lady Peter was transformed by the same kind of pumpkin she baked her

cake with. Peter knocked Catherine down and Jest came to rescue her. Peter

said that everything was Hatta’s fault because he brought the bad seeds.

Catherine killed the Jabberwock and Peter killed Jest in revenge.

Catherine returned to Rock Turtle Cove. After a few days, the Sisters visited

her to offer a chance to get vengeance on Peter for a price. They want the heart

of a queen to sustain themselves. Catherine agreed and baked a key lime pie to

convince the King to marry her. She convinced the King to marry her.

On the day of the wedding, Catherine insisted that the white rose tree where she

met Jest be cut down and that all the roses in Hearts be red from now on.

Catherine went to visit Hatta wearing her wedding dress. He explained the story

of the magic pumpkin seeds and that he was also in love with Jest. Catherine sat

at court with the King and listened to the petitions of the people. Raven has been

her companion since Jest died. The Sisters arrived at court with Peter in tow. They
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took Catherine’s broken heart from her chest. Peter found not guilty, but

Catherine rejected the verdict. Starting from that day, the young girl who felt so

much, who felt strongly enough that ‘…it felt as though her heart had outgrown

her body. It was the size of her house now. The size of the entire kingdom’, ends

up as the heartless villain we all know.

Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for this book after reading

the "...she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love". Fortunately, I was wrong. This

book was great. It was magical, and adorable, and I really can't pull out any big

fancy words to describe it, because "magical and adorable" describes it so

perfectly, and yet it wasn't sickening sweet. It was just right. The concept was

handled really well and even though I was expecting this to read a bit more

sinisterly as if from a villain’s point of view, I did enjoy that I was really kept guessing

until the end how that switch was going to happen! The first chapters boggled my

mind, before I got used to seeing Catherine Pinkerton being so pliable,

understanding and simply good. Though some of the slowness of the plot can be

attributed to its structure and emphasis on characters and conversation, at the

same time, I did notice even towards the end of the novel Meyer’s style still

remained rather long winded and focused on discourse, despite the fact that at

that stage events are climbing to a point, we’ve moved well beyond the safe

social sphere and into far less pleasant territory. Now that I’ve read one of her

story, I want to borrow my cousins’ collection of the Lunar Chronicle series, which
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was also written by her. I just adore her writing skills and how her words affect my

perspective about bad or cruel people. I realized that they have reasons and no

matter how good or bad they become, we should always try to understand them.

I believe I couldn't even blame her at the end; I couldn't blame the evil

character she has become when she shut herself away from the world that had

screwed her over so completely because Meyer painted such a vivid, such a

poignant story of love, loss, and betrayal that Catherine could have murdered

everybody in her kingdom in the end, and I still wouldn't have blamed her one

bit. That’s why this novel was so great, so important. That's why everyone should

read this novel; because Meyer is the kind of author that makes you love the villain

no matter what.