The judging of the contest is suspended, leaving Cath without the prize money. He doesn’t disclose his mission to Cath, but regardless she knows they can never be together.ĭisaster strikes at the baking contest when the Turtle, one of the judges, takes a bite of Cath’s cake and transforms into a half-calf half-turtle creature called a Mock Turtle. Jest is in Hearts on a secret mission for the White Queen, who is engaged in an endless war with the Red Queen. She secretly meets with him and learns that he is a Rook, a high-ranking military official from the land of Chess beyond the Looking Glass.

Cath dances with the King but realizes that she’s fallen in love with Jest.

Cath enters with a pumpkin spice cake made from a pumpkin stolen from Peter’s patch, where Cath notices signs of the Jabberwock’s presence.Īt the festival, Hatta shares with Cath some of his personal history: “Madness” runs in his family, and he is desperately trying to avoid it for himself. The monetary grand prize would allow Cath to open her bakery. The Jabberwock attacks the tea party, carrying off one of the party guests.Ĭath learns that there is to be a baking contest at this year’s Turtle Days Festival. Presiding over the tea party is Jest’s close friend Hatta, who makes hats with magical properties.

One night, Jest appears at Cath’s window and invites her to a “mad” tea party. Meanwhile, the tension between Jest and Cath grows. The King pursues a courtship with Cath, which Cath reluctantly enters due to pressure from her parents. Cath leaves the ball early, narrowly escaping a violent attack by the Jabberwock, who carries off two courtiers. A deep attraction grows between Jest and Cath, although it is undermined by the King’s desire to marry her. The King’s new court joker, Jest, performs for the court.Ĭath meets Jest in the King’s Rose Garden he is accompanied by Raven, a raven who speaks in rhyming couplets. Peter Peter is hostile toward everyone, and Lady Peter appears constantly ill. At the ball, Cath runs into Peter Peter, the local pumpkin patch owner, and his wife, Lady Peter. Cath is horrified when she learns of the insipid King’s intentions to marry her. The action of the novel begins when Cath and her parents attend a ball at the King of Hearts’s palace. Cath is passionate about baking and dreams of opening a bakery with her best friend, Mary Ann, a venture she knows her parents will never support.

In the kingdom of Hearts, Catherine Pinkerton struggles against her social obligations as the daughter of the noble Marquess and Marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove. Content Warning: This guide contains mentions of mental illness and suicide, and the source text frequently uses the term “mad” to refer to mental illness.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer