Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Summer Reading Challenge 2014: Queen of Hearts Volume Two : The Wonder by Colleen Oakes #SRC2014


This summer, members of the Vise Library are participating in a Summer Reading Challenge. We have received copies of several books from publishers for honest reviews. We hope that you enjoy these reviews (and books)!









The fifteenth book on our schedule is Queen of Hearts by author Colleen Oakes.

About the book:

Book two in the bestselling Queen of Hearts series!
Alone in the wilds of Wonderland, Dinah fights for survival. When she meets the Yurkei, natives she was always taught were the enemy, and finds out she had been lied to all along, Dinah plots to reclaim her throne with their help. Filled with vivid imagery and thrilling action, Dinah’s transformation into a fierce warrior is stunning. 

This book is the second book in a trilogy about the Queen of Hearts from Wonderland.  If you haven't read the first book (which I haven't, yet), I probably would before picking up this book.  It doesn't take long to understand what is going, but I am sure some of the background information is important.  

This story centers around Dinah, who was until recently, the Princess of Wonderland.  She was set to become Queen, but things got a little twisted.  She has recently escaped from being killed by her father the King and has been exiled to the Twisted Wood.  She is there with her horse Morte.  He is actually called a Hornhoov, which means he is very fast, dangerous and you probably wouldn't want to cross him.  They are still on the run from her father and at one point are almost captured by him.  A stranger, who has his own vendetta against the king, helps her escape further into the woods and into the Yurkei lands.  When they get there, things are not easy for them and Dinah is essentially their prisoner.  The leader of the Yurkei does allow her to train as a fighter.  She steadily improves and allows herself to think of being happy with the Yurkei.

However, someone she knows (and has never trusted) arrives at the Yurkei mountains.  After she hears this story (read the book to find out!), she decides that she should try and take back her kingdom.  She strikes a deal with the Yurkei and some of Wonderland's mistreated soldiers to take back her home.  The rest of the book centers around the preparations for battle and you also begin to see where the Queen of Hearts' anger stems from.  You realize that Dinah's life has not been easy by any means and that there really is no one around her that she can trust.  

This book is very interesting take on a well known character from Alice in Wonderland.  I liked it!  It was fun to read about characters from that story being utilized in this story.  For instance, Cheshire is in this story, but he is not a cat.  The smoking caterpillar also makes an appearance, but in a different way.  I want to read the first book so that I can read more about Dinah and the characters around her.  If you like fairy tales or different takes on well known characters, I think you will like this.  The world of Wonderland was written very vividly and I like Colleen Oakes' imagination and interpretation of the landscape and characters of this book.  It was a very fun read and I'm looking forward to finding out how this trilogy ends! :)





About the author:

Colleen Oakes is the author of the Elly in Bloom series and the YA fantasy Queen of Hearts Saga, both published via SparkPress, a BookSparks imprint. She lives in North Denver with her husband and son. When not writing, Colleen enjoys swimming, traveling, and immersing herself in nerdy pop culture. She is currently at work on the last Elly novel and her second YA fantasy series, Wendy Darling.

Connect with the author:
·         ·         Facebook:  http://on.fb.me/1hJGIL6
·         ·         Twitter: https://twitter.com/ColleenBlooms
·         ·         Website: http://colleenoakes.net  
·         ·         Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1jl5CvV


If you want to find out more about the Summer Reading Challenge click the image above!

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