King of Hearts
A Wonderland Story (Genderbent Fairytales Collection, Book 4)
by KuroKoneko Kamen
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Pub Date Jan 29 2019 | Archive Date Oct 09 2019
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Description
Crimson, the bloodthirsty, sadistic King of Hearts, is a villain. Or at least he’s supposed to be. That’s just how things work in Wonderland: a strange, fanciful place filled with heroes and villains that always seem to be at odds.
Crim is in a very dark place after the hero, Alister Kingsley, wins the Wonderland Joust and marries Madeline Hatter. He should have known better than to hope for true love since villains don’t get ‘happy endings’.
But there’s something fishy afoot. Even though Crim loves Madeline he can’t stop thinking about his Cheshire Cat slave, Katrina, who remains trapped in an enchanted sleep. Only true love’s kiss can break a sleeping curse, and Crim has tried that already. Don’t get him wrong. He doesn’t love Katrina. He just misses her delicious raspberry tarts terribly, and will stop at nothing until she can bake them for him again.
Like sharks smelling blood in the water, Crim’s enemies make their move when the King of Hearts shows a moment of weakness caused by his recent defeat at Alister’s hands, and his inability to break Katrina’s curse. The Queen of Hearts and Crim’s birthmother, Cordelia, has two powerful allies in her arsenal: the Other Artist, Alice, and the Sorcerer Maleficent.
Crim later discovers that the saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is true when the Cheshire Cat People decide to join Crim in retaking the Red Kingdom from the clutches of Alice’s army, which is made up of vicious Dark Fairies and human-sized insects.
Can a villain become the hero Wonderland needs before it’s too late, or will Wonderland be plunged into an eternal darkness forever?
Advance Praise
"This story is about Crimson the King of Hearts. He was the villain in Alister in Wonderland but is he all bad? This is his story and it's wonderful. The characters are as fun to get to know as KuroKoneko Kamen's other genderbent stories. It's fun to listen to with action, adventure, mystery, suspense and plenty of humor."
-Audible Reviewer
"This is a fun and interesting story of an adventure in Wonderland. Most people will recognize many of the characters and references in this book. The characters are familiar but with a twist. I enjoyed seeing this adventure play out. The story is full of strong characters and a good plot that grabs your attention and keeps it until the very end. Crim and Katrina are good together and I enjoyed seeing the two find their way to each other as they help fight the Queen of Hearts in a battle for Wonderland. I really liked seeing the growth of Crim throughout his ordeals. He learns a lot and he becomes the man he was meant to be. It was nice to see the camaraderie that grows between all the characters. The story moves along at a good pace and the author does a wonderful job of taking you down the rabbit hole. Narrator L. A. Johnson does a good job of breathing life into the characters and had me quickly engulfed in the story right from the start."
-Audible Reviewer
"What to expect: the summary does an excellent job but for those who need just a tad bit more- magic, energy shields, humor, enchanted forest, dragon, jabberwocky, tweedledee and tweedledum, weapons, death, Cheshire cat girl and cat people, relationships difficulties, control collars, curses, painting items that come to life, and so much more."
-Audible Reviewer
"Crimson is a villain, but his past has created who he is. "Off with their head" is his answer for anything. But deep down he is missing something. This story is about searching for that something. Crimson chooses the wrong path many times before he can find the way back to his heart."
-Audible Reviewer
Featured Reviews
Stephanie T, Reviewer
Very interesting, Gender Bent retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Very interesting storyline and strange characters.
Jenny D, Reviewer
We return to wonderland to catch up with the King of Hearts, Crimson, who has been manipulated by his wicked mother resulting in him being unable to remember his feelings for Cheshire Cat slave, Katrina, who has been placed in an enchanted sleep by Sorcerer Maleficent. The evil enchantress wants to rule again and has initiated a wicked plan for it to be forever night, allowing her daughter’s army of underworld warriors to take over. I totally love the world created by KuroKoneko Kamen and have started investigating her other titles. She has an amazing imagination and her stories are so detailed and descriptive that its difficult not to imagine everything in glorious technicolour. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Honor-Marie W, Reviewer
So I did enjoy reading King of Hearts. The overall Alice in Wonderland genderbend theme, mixed in with a few other fairytales plus some romance and you have a winner right there! Still, there were a number of issues that prevented me from loving it.
The story is mainly set in Wonderland which is now ruled by Crimson, The King of Hearts, a very mixed up young man emotionally. He never seems happy unless someone else is unhappy and if he is not please his reply is always ‘off with their head’.
After a coup d’etat by his mother and father, Crimson aka Crim finds himself in the proximity of his sworn enemy, Alister, and seeks his help to regain his kingdom, his memories and the one he truly loves!
The main problem I had with the novel was it’s overall way of being written. It jumped back and forth between past and present events, sometimes taking up far too much detail in the story when it wasn’t needed and could have been condensed down.
On the bright side, the sex-scene between Crim and Katrina was really well written. It wasn’t trashy or OTT but written to the point it got your heart racing, I was wanting to know where it was going to lead to, mand the interaction between the two characters throughout the whole novel takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions making you want to read more into their relationship maybe in a sequel or further in the novel.
I did find Crim to be a little bit unbearable when other characters were trying to be nice to him and he was having none of it, I couldn’t understand his true change of heart after being put to the brink of death by the Cheshire Cat people. But hey-ho we can’t have everything!
Throughout the whole novel we see Crimson overcome many obstacles of emotions and strength. He learns a lot from his past decisions and also from the decisions he makes during the story and knows where he has gone wrong and where he needs to go to make things right. The camaraderie growth between the characters throughout the novel was done wonderfully by L A Johnson and I was taken in from the beginning.
Caroline K, Reviewer
Delectably different and extremely satisfying. Genderbent fairytales are my new favorite fairytales. The King of Hearts has my heart. 5/5 stars
Tonya L, Reviewer
Mark my words this book is going to be a huge hit for this author. This is an exceptional book 4 in a series..
I really don't want to discuss the plot because I want everyone to discover this story on their own terms. It's intricate. It's breathtaking. It's heart-pumping. It's shiver inducing. It's everything I could ever ask for in this genre. I started this book yesterday morning and tore through 75% without even realizing it. I was completely riveted to the pages.
Thank you to NetGalley and publishing company for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Corrie D, Reviewer
I absolutely LOVED getting to see/learn more about Crimson.
Yeah okay, he was the evil King of Hearts in Alister in Wonderland, but really, was he *that* evil to begin with? It was his upbringing that made him into what he became, but does he have to be that way? This is all about Crim and his choices.
While he may not love Katrina in "true love" fashion, I have no doubt that he cares a great deal for her, and wants to see her awaken from her enchanted sleep. And not just for her raspberry tarts.
Always twists and turns. Who really is the puppeteer during all this? I ain't telling!
I genuinely enjoy all these genderbent fairytales from Kamen! PHENOMENAL!!!
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