Inhaltsangabe

Die Frauen des mysteriösen Geheimbundes »Black Coats« haben sich geschworen, gewalttätigen Männern eine Lektion zu erteilen. Als Thea eine Einladung erhält, sieht sie endlich ihre Chance gekommen, sich am Mörder ihrer Cousine zu rächen. Doch die Vergeltungsaktionen eskalieren und Thea zweifelt am Sinn ihrer Mission: Sorgt Rache wirklich für Gerechtigkeit?

Kann sie noch aussteigen – oder ist es längst zu spät? 

Meine Meinung 

Für mich ist es das erste Buch dieser Autorin, aber ich denke es wird nicht das Letzte sein. Warum? Weil mir sowohl die Grundidee, welche bereits aus dem Klappentext hervortritt, als auch der Schreibstil der Autorin sehr gut gefallen haben.

Überraschen konnte mich Oakes gleich auf den ersten Seiten mit ihrem Prolog.

Bämm! Mehr gibt es dazu nicht zu sagen.

Dann lernt man als Leser Thea kennen. Sie wirkt traurig und in sich gekehrt, hat sie doch erst vor kurzem ihre Cousine verloren. Die beiden hatten ein schwesternähnliches Verhältnis. Warum musste gerade Natalie sterben?

Eines Tages erhält Thea eine schwarze Karte und wird zu einer Art Schnitzeljagd aufgefordert. Ihre Suche endet vor einer alten viktorianischen Villa namens >>Mademoiselle Corday<<, in der sie auf eine Frau namens Nixon trifft.

Diese bietet ihr die Chance an, sich den Black Coats anzuschließen, was ihr eine unglaubliche Chance ermöglichen soll. Rache!

„Das oberste Ziel unserer Arbeit ist es, Gewalt in der realen Welt innerhalb des Systems erfolgreich zu bekämpfen.“ (S. 39)

Thea nimmt an.

Sie ist nun Mitglied des fünfköpfigen Teams Banner und wird von Nixon ausgebildet.

Gleichzeitig fängt Thea an Gefallen an einem Jungen ihrer Schule zu finden.

Aber diese verliebte Anfangszeit steht unter keinem guten Stern, da Thea niemandem etwas von ihrer Aktivität erzählen darf.

Sie flüchten sich in Geheimnisse und Lügen.

„Wenn ihr diesen Mantel tragt, dient ihr den Frauen, die ein Recht auf Gerechtigkeit haben.“ (S. 64)

Team Banner bekommt Aufträge, in denen sie sich an Männern rächen sollen, die Frauen Schlimmes angetan haben.

„Wir zerstören ihr Leben, aber die Black Coats töten nicht.“ (S. 72)

Das große Highlight ist das Erbe eines jeweiligen Mitglieds. Hier erfährt jede die Chance sich an dem Mann zu rächen, der ihr persönlich oder deren Familie Leid angetan hat.

„Die Black Coats setzen reichlich Adrenalin frei, und die Befriedigung, der Gerechtigkeit zu dienen, wurde zur Sucht. Thea fühlte sich wie ein Elektrodraht, spannungsgeladen.“ (S. 163)

Als das erste Mädchen ihre Chance erhält, wendet sich sowohl das Bild der Mädchen, als auch das der Leser. Ab dato wird man zum Nachdenken angeregt.

Inwiefern ist Rache tatsächlich erlaubt?

Kann man aus der Rache wirklich im Nachhinein einen Gewinn für sich verzeichnen?

Oder lädt man eine zu große Schuld auf sich?

Colleen Oakes nimmt die Leserschaft mit auf eine spannende Reise.

Ich fühlte mich fast durchgängig sehr gut unterhalten und war zu jedem Zeitpunkt gespannt, wie die Geschichte verläuft bzw. welches Ende sie nehmen wird.

Actionreich wird es auf jeden Fall.

„Er rannte, als könnte er vor seiner Traurigkeit davonlaufen, dabei war Trauer wie ein hungriges Tier, das seine Beute jagte.“ (S. 230)

____________________________________________________________

Einige der Mädchen des Team Banner werden etwas intensiver beleuchtet, andere leider nicht. Da ich diese Truppe wirklich sehr gut gewählt fand, hätte ich mich gefreut, von allen etwas mehr zu erfahren. Thea soll und stand auch während der Geschichte im Mittelpunkt, da sich ein Nebenstrang der Geschichte mit ihr und ihrem Freund befasst.

Mein Fazit

Ein Jugendthriller, welcher meiner Meinung auch für Erwachsene lesenswert ist.

 Das Buch punktet mit einer tollen Message an die Leser und einer gut ausgearbeiteten Grundidee. Das Thema Rache kann mich in Büchern und auch Filmen einfach immer wieder packen.

Des Weiteren konnte mich das Buch mit vielen Textstellen, welche ich mir markiert habe, begeistern.

Werft euren schwarzen Mantel über und tretet ein!

Either I've grown out of YA fiction, or my patience and forgiveness for it has diminished over the past couple of years. It also doesn't help how many Wonderland retellings I've seen, which made "Queen of Hearts" already a tough sell. But sometimes a nice easy read sounds appealing, which I thought this would end up being. And it was easy - easy to skim through and get distracted from, because while there's certainly a lot of text describing events and presenting dialogue, it all stayed on the surface as a dry cardboard-cutout.

I'll give the book credit for trying to present a different identity of the Mad Hatter, who happened to be the only character I cared even a little for. Considering how vague and up in the air the "plot" was, the characters were the default focal point for attention. Even then, Dinah was unlikable and difficult to feel any empathy for, whereas too little was known about any of the other characters, particularly the king, Wardley, and Vittiore, all of which fit the stereotypes of the cruel-for-no-known-reason father, the hot and drool worthy guy who's been a friend from childhood, and the girl who's a rival for power and who is hated by the heroine for, also, no clear or entirely believable reason. There's also the familiar cast of Wonderland characters like Cheshire who are slotted in just to satisfy the criteria of having them in the story - it is, after all, a spin on "Alice in Wonderland.  The classification of the Cards was the only other interesting aspect that altered the original story, but it did little in redeeming the book.

The "plot" was a mixture of loose threads thrown around that was more like sketchy exposition in a prequel style than any kind of coherent story. The writing lacked the alluring tone of voice that would draw a reader in, instead dry and stereotypical in the way in described characters or events. It was a book that was driven more by the unappealing heroine than by plot, although the former was surely the goal.

Beyond that there isn't much more to say. The fact that it was easy to get through felt like a small mercy considering how frustrating it felt to read it. I think I won't be touching any more Wonderland retellings after this one, as "Queen of Hearts" set a new low in the genre. It simultaneously had characters and action going on, but also lacked both of those things tremendously. It was predictable and boring, worse than I feared it might be. It looks like, with the immense about of takes on Wonderland, it is slowly losing its magical touch, which is probably a sign that it's time for publishing companies to stop churning out more dime-a-dozen books because they think they'll sell.

 3.5/5 Stars

Imagine what the queen was like as a child. Queen of Hearts tells us the story of young Dinah and what her life was like growing up in the well known, Alice in Wonderland world. There were things I liked and didn't like about this version. 

Dinah has been the princess everyone has ignored. Her father hates her and only cares for her sister. Wordley is the only one that pays any attention to her. But then mysterious dreams come and strange things start to happen within the castle and Wonderland. Dinah and Wordley must travel to dark parts of their world to figure out just what is going on. 

This is a book that has its ups and downs. I really would have liked more back story with Dinah, but I suppose the author may have assumed we know enough about Alice in Wonderland. 

A good recommendation for someone looking for another fantasy/childhood retelling. 

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I’ve not read a Peter Pan retelling before and my knowledge of the original is limited to the Disney movie version. So I figured I would give this one a chance. It started off fairly boring to be honest. Beautifully written, but very dull. Wendy was kind of bland and uninteresting, Michael the five year old was cute, and John the other brother was a complete ass. Wendy is a 16 year old girl who’s supposed to be getting ready for a profitable match for her family, but she’s secretly in love with the bookseller’s son, Booth. Who adores her. Wendy is torn because her society status will not accept a lady of her standing to be with the bookseller’s son. Even though he’s sweet, charming and really does truly seem to care for her.

Wendy is crushed when her father confirms her fears, and hints if she doesn’t cut off her feelings for Booth, then she may be shipped off to boarding school. Her brothers don’t help much, and John is dick when he finds a love note Booth has written Wendy. But next thing you know, the enigmatic Peter Pan has appeared and charmed them all with tales of Neverland, flying and the promise of thrills and adventure and that he can have them all escape for the night and be home before their parents even realise that the children are gone.

So off they go on an exciting adventure. Wendy is kind of nervous, but goes along with the flow. It’s all meandering along nicely, there’s a great sense of wonder as Wendy and her brothers experience the thrills and nerves of flying and arriving in Neverland. There’s a captivating sense of beauty in actually arriving in the magic of Neverland, the beautiful seas, the beautiful but disturbingly deadly mermaids. The sense of adventure and no rules and grownups around to tell anyone what do.

Wendy though, appears to be struggling greatly with the sense of keeping to the manners she has been brought up with. However, arriving on Pan Island with Peter and meeting the Lost Boys – it’s clear being a well-mannered girl is something of a problem. These boys haven’t seen a girl in years and Wendy is something of an anomaly. She’s treated with suspicion and the boys are constantly poking and prodding her.  Until Peter tells them to leave her alone and show her some respect.

As dull as she is, though you have to give it to Wendy Darling – she must have the patience of a saint to put up with the appalling manners of the Lost Boys. They are just not used to having a girl around. And the only other female form – is Tink, the last fairy. Who hates Wendy. I almost find myself sympathising with Tink a lot – what is it about Wendy that’s so special, there’s nothing particularly remarkable about her at all (other than her manners and endless patience) it’s really hard to fathom out what it is that Peter sees in her.

Wendy shows remarkable tolerance and tries to befriend Tink in spite of Tink’s nastiness and threats and acts of violence against her. The boys come to enjoy her company and Wendy tries to get into the swing of things – eating with them and sitting with them, climbing around the trees and walking the dangerous rope bridges. Peter Pan himself is sassy and eloquent, just has a presence that commands attention and holds your intrigue and respect. He’s full of great stories and all the Lost Boys want his special attention and favour. He makes everyone feel welcome and part of the fun.

As soon as the Darling siblings arrive and have been welcomed, Peter tells a story of daring deeds with the notorious Captain Hook and decides they need a raid to steal booze from the pirates to have a proper welcome feast for Wendy and her brothers. John’s smarts get him made a General in the Lost Boys and have a big part in the raid. Wendy is terribly worried for him. John dismisses her and is very cruel to her.

For the most part, the novel up to this point has been fairly bland, as I mentioned very well written, though I failed to see why it was marketed for a YA audience, and thought I could easily see reading this to group of younger children – it’s fun, kids would get a kick out of the excitement of the Lost Boys and the thrill of adventure and those looking for romance would enjoy the budding thrill between Peter and Wendy.

Once the pirate raid happens, things quickly took a much darker turn than I anticipated.  It goes very wrong very quickly and ends in terrible violence. It’s not all fun and games anymore and there are some serious issues with Peter’s greed when everything starts falling apart. Wendy is naturally very worried and shocked about what happens. Though Peter’s so charming he can talk his way round pretty much anything. And starts heating up the romance angle again. Which pretty much makes Wendy swoony.

Though thanks to Wendy’s latest encounter with Tink, she starts to realise there are very important things she’s forgetting. This is when things get darker still. Neverland is looking so fun anymore. At least not to Wendy as she starts to remember their parents and their lives in London. And also begins to be concerned about whether or not they will ever get home.

By the end of the novel, Wendy shows incredible strength as she fights to get herself and Michael to safety, away from Peter who’s shown a much more frightening side than she ever realised. It’s life or death to escape and Wendy realises she will do whatever it takes to get home. John for now seems like a lost cause, but her priority becomes getting Michael away from the Lost Boys and safe. The last twenty percent or so is absolutely gripping and quite scary.

And left at one brilliant cliff-hanger. I really can not wait for the next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and SparksPress for approving my request to view this title.