Book one in the Queen of Hearts series by Colleen Oakes, titled The Crown, follows the story of the future queen of Wonderland.
That is, it follows the story of the future queen of Wonderland before she took the crown, before Alice showed up in her kingdom, and before she became a villain.
The Crown is just the first volume in Oakes’ series about the Queen of Hearts, and it details Dinah’s journey as she transforms from a naive princess to someone who knows more secrets about her kingdom than she cares to.
Dinah is not loved by her kingdom, nor is she feared by her subjects, like her father. The people of Wonderland look down on her for her lack of beauty and her apparent inability to become queen material. Perhaps this stems from the King of Hearts’ attitude, as he can barely stand to be around his daughter — both in private and in the public eye.
Though Dinah’s life is far from perfect, it becomes even more complicated when a stranger shows up and completely flips her world upside down. Not only does the stranger threaten Dinah’s place within the royal family, this person’s presence begs enough questions that Dinah begins to look for answers. But when she finds them, they become even more of a burden to her.
Written as an origin story for the villainous Queen of Hearts, The Crown takes an interesting look at the queen’s life while she was still a princess, before she had any blood on her hands.
‘Queen of Hearts: The Crown’ review
Though Dinah is never a particularly likable character, she is a far cry from the woman she will presumably become by the end of the series. Spoiled, improper, and full of barely-contained rage, the princess is still an innocent, and someone that you can sympathize with in time.
Her life, while better than most, is also full of dangers that she begins to see around every corner. And soon enough they will step from the shadows and into the light, forcing her to make decisions that will affect her, the people she loves, and the kingdom as a whole.
One of the highlights of The Crown is the emergence of several well-known characters from Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland stories. The Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, and Cheshire all make an appearance, though perhaps not quite in the manner you might think. Still, the callback to the original story is obvious, but unique enough that these characters are different than their predecessors.
The Queen of Hearts series is darker and more twisted than Carroll’s version, and Wonderland is less whimsical and more dangerous than most of the other incarnations we have seen. Filled with deadly politics, monstrous creatures, and bloody beheadings, The Crown is just the beginning of a longer tale about how a princess became a queen, and an innocent girl became a menacing villain.
Queen of Hearts: The Crown is available now! You can add it to your Goodreads list, or purchase it from Amazon.