Queen of Hearts
By Mary Eisenhart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Creepy, gory, violent origin story of Alice's mean queen.
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Based on 1 parent review
quality > amount of inappropriate content
What's the Story?
Dark-haired, dark-skinned, stocky, determined Dinah will someday take the throne of Wonderland as QUEEN OF HEARTS -- if she lives that long in a kingdom where murder, torture, monsters, and deadly intrigue are commonplace. Maybe she'll even get to marry her childhood friend Wardley, who makes her swoon. But, as she turns 16, her comparatively secure life is upended by the arrival of her womanizing father's illegitimate -- but much blonder and prettier -- daughter. And as time passes, she's in more and more danger as the whole kingdom seems to turn against her.
Is It Any Good?
Between the unrelieved gore, dismemberment, torture, and treachery, as well as the rising body count and lack of likability in any of the characters, there's not much to recommend here. Still, author Colleen Oakes has built a fan base with her previous dragging of beloved childhood tales to the evil side, and those readers may find these dark doings intriguing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about stories based on characters and themes from other stories. Which books, movies, or TV shows can you recall in which this worked well? When does it just seem lazy?
Some stories about villains make them sympathetic or at least relatable. Can you think of any examples?
How would you feel if an unknown-to-you sibling appeared out of nowhere and started disrupting your life?
Book Details
- Author: Colleen Oakes
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Book Characters , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: HarperTeen
- Publication date: July 6, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 13 - 18
- Number of pages: 320
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 13, 2017
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