ARC Review: Queen of Hearts: The Crown by Colleen Oakes

Title: Queen of Hearts (Volume One: The Crown)
Author: Colleen Oakes
Publication: February 14th 2014 by SparkPress
Genre: YA Fantasy
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...

Not every fairytale has a happy ending.
This is the story of a princess who became a villain.
***
A Father’s Betrayal. A Kingdom with a Black Secret. A Princess Slowly Unraveling. 

As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah’s days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts — and the love of her life.

When an enchanting stranger arrives at the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she’s ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It’s up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe.

Part epic fantasy, part twisted fairy tale, this dazzling saga will have readers shivering as Dinahs furious nature sweeps Wonderland up in the maelstrom of her wrath. 

Familiar characters such as Cheshire, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter make their appearance, enchanting readers with this new, dark take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

-- My Rating --

3/5 Oscars: Liked it

-- My Thoughts --

     I am a HUGE fan of Alice in Wonderland. i have watched the animation in my childhood, and read the book a year ago. It's quite fun and one extraordinary masterpiece of children's literature. I was quite excited when I read that this book is based on that story, and I read it on that assumption alone. It did not quite disappoint.
     Dinah will be the future queen of hearts, but she has to endure her father, the King of Hearts torturous hatred of her for a while, and her visits to her best friend and the guy she is in love with, Warley. But everything changes when her father announces Dina's half-sister that she never knew existed, Vittiore and nothing in the kingdom will ever be the same.
     I went into this book expecting it to be a lot like Alice in Wonderland. But there is no Alice her. We have Dinah, who is going to be the future Queen of Hearts. It is really refreshing to look at the story in Wonderland from someone in the heart family. I LOVED the references to the Alice in Wonderland. We have Dinah's brother, the Mad Hatter, whom I loved. We have the Cheshire, but not as a cat. And we have the Cards working for the king! It all reminded me why i loved this fairy tale so much and always will.
     The only thing that bothered me in this book was the slow-moving plot. It was too slow for my taste and nothing would happen for a very long time then BAM, something huge happens and you are left wondering how you didn't work it out. But the plot was quite predictable except for those little patches of surprise!
     The romance in this book is quite non-existent. You are left to wonder whether Dinah's love for Warley is unrequited love or not. but i am hoping that the author would add more romance to this story in the next books. What's a fairy tale without its romantic couple? If you are a fan of Alice in Wonderland,  then you will definitely like this book. If you are not, you can still check it out and tell me what you think later!