HEARTLESS, by Marissa Meyer

The story: Cath wants to be a baker, but her parents have other plans: they want her to be the queen. Cath already knows that the King of Hearts makes her squirm, but when she meets Jest, the court Joker, she realizes it will now be impossible to marry the child-like sovereign. To make her dreams come true, all she and Jest need to do is seize the moment and make a run for it--but if they're not successful..."off with their heads."

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG-13; Sexual content PG; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (forced marriage; murder; evil monsters) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: My rating may be lower than most because I am NOT a fan of unhappy endings. And even though there was only one way this could go to be true to the original tale (Cath does end up as the Queen of Hearts out of "Alice in Wonderland", after all) it's still an unhappy ending. I'm a big fan of the Lunar Chronicles; this one, slightly less so. However, those familiar with the Lewis Carroll originals (and with Poe's "The Raven") will find lots of ingenious tie-ins h