Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes – Review

This is not the story of the Wonderland we know. Alice has not fallen down a rabbit hole. There is no all-knowing cat with a taunting smile. This is a Wonderland where beneath each smile lies a secret, each tart comes with a demand, and only prisoners tell the truth.

Dinah is the princess who will one day reign over Wonderland. She has not yet seen the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father’s approval and a future with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, she is launched into Wonderland’s dangerous political game. Dinah must stay one step ahead of her cunning enemies or she’ll lose not just the crown but her head.

Evil is brewing in Wonderland and maybe, most frighteningly, in Dinah herself.

This is not a story of happily ever after.

This is the story of the Queen of Hearts.

Queen of Hearts (Queen of Hearts Saga #1) by Colleen Oakes
Narrator: Moira Quirk
My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.67
Storygraph Rating: 3.45

Length: 6hrs 55mins / 306pgs
Fiction | Fantasy | YA | Retelling
Pacing: Medium
Spice: None
Gore: Low

I picked this one as my ‘Q’ for my alphabet challenge and it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It was dark and delicious, full of a dysfunctional royal family, political intrigue, betrayal, and murder. It has all the characters you know and love but in forms you probably wouldn’t expect and with motives you can’t be sure of.

Dinah is the future queen of Wonderland and she was born for the role. She loves her kingdom and her people and is determined to make her father and tutor proud. But as she grows older her father, the current King of Wonderland, becomes increasingly aggressive and paranoid towards her. Dinah needs to survive until her coronation so she can be a better ruler than her father has been of late. However, she continues to feel that something is amiss in her home and investigates with her childhood sweetheart. 

I enjoyed the character work in this and I was suspicious of basically everyone. I was surprised buy how the characters such as the White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, and Cheshire Cat were introduced and the parts they played. I’ve got to add a note here that as usual Moira Quirk’s character narration is fantastic in the audiobook and definitely added to my level of enjoyment. I loved all the references to the original story because it still felt fresh while interweaving so many clever little details. 

The pacing was just right, I did not feel that it dragged along or was rushed at any point. I like to guess plot points along the way (I’m incredibly annoying to watch a movie with due to this trait) and I didn’t catch many. The writing was atmospheric and definitely gave that gothic feeling without bogging me down with too much worldbuilding. 

This is definitely going to be a series that gets better and better with each book (watch this space as I am going to get to the next book, Blood of Wonderland, soonish). So, as someone who generally avoids retellings/reimaginings, I was impressed. Definitely recommend.

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