tl;dr Overall I enjoyed this story. Fairly short which makes it a very quick read, it was interesting. Very - Wicked only for the Queen Of Hearts from Wonderland.
Description Dinah, the Princess of Hearts, has never been in her father's favor. She longs for the day when she'll be queen of Neverland, hoping to both earn her father's love and rule the country well. But everything changes when her father brings home his bastard daughter - Vittiore - and proclaims her the Duchess. Now the princess must figure out how to navigate the court while her increasingly paranoid father continues to shower his attentions on Vittiore, all while looking down on Dinah.
I got this ARC from Netgalley, my first ever! So yeah lets being! I didn't realize it when I started but it is very much like Wicked. Dinah, the future Queen of Hearts, the one with the catch phrase
And to be honest, I've never read Alice's adventures in wonderland. I mean, I probably should. I'm sure I'd like it, its kind of a classic. But I just haven't. Anyways, this story was interesting! You can see the little bits of viciousness coming out in Dinah right away, but she also tries hard not to give in to those petty motives. She very much wants to be a just ruler, but her anger towards her father brings out the worst in her.
I really liked Dinah's character. She's strong, and while a bit lazy and very obviously spoiled, she strives to be more. She longs to be a great Queen which is fantastic. She loves her mad little brother, and seems to be the only one who really does. I loved their relationship, it was tender and sweet.
Now the love interest part I wasn't so sold on. I get that Dinah and Wardley grew up together and she basically has loved him her whole life, but I just didn't feel any chemistry. While I can understand the lack of them spending time together (I mean, her dad is crazy. I wouldn't put it past him to freak out if they hung out too much), I felt like there could have been a few more scenes of them. This is a series, though, so I'm sure the author has an idea for where their relationship is going. I just didn't really buy her love for him, and I had no idea his feelings for her aside from childhood friends. So that was a little confusing for me.
Overall, though, I enjoyed this story. It was only about 200 pages or so, so its an extremely fast read and it picks up the pace 1/3 of the way into the book. Thats when really interesting things start to happen. I am interested enough to want to continue reading the next books when they come out, and I would definitely recommend this to someone who loves the world of Wonderland!
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 - Colleen Oakes)
