In which Bethanie and a special guest Ash discuss Heartless Chapters 52-54.

After her wedding, Cath visits Hatta and finds that he has lost his sanity, lashing out bitterly and revealing that he too loved Jest. Blaming Hatta, his hats, and everything connected to Chess for the tragedies that unfolded, Cath orders all production stopped and bans future travel between realms. Though Hatta insists they both share responsibility, he admits his role and says he has already paid for it with his mind, just as the Sisters foretold—confirmed when his pocket watch finally stops and he becomes truly mad. Now the Queen of Hearts, Cath endures court duties until the Sisters arrive with Peter Peter in chains, offering her the vengeance she sought in exchange for the price she promised; she accepts, and they carve her heart from her chest, leaving behind only emptiness. Freed from pain and filled with cold fury, Cath presides over Peter Peter’s trial, where both blame one another as her transformation into the vengeful Queen of Hearts reaches its final stage.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

In which Bethanie and a special guest discuss Heartless Chapters 48-51.

Devastated by Jest’s death, Cath begs Time to undo it, but nothing changes. She dreams of the Three Sisters, who deny responsibility and offer her a deal: they will deliver Peter Peter for revenge if she gives them “the heart of a queen” by marrying the King. Cath agrees, and the dream’s key limes remain when she wakes.

Cath brings the King a key lime pie and publicly apologizes; charmed, he agrees to marry her in three days. She no longer fears becoming Queen.

As she prepares for the wedding in a lavish red gown, Cath seethes with anger. She barely restrains her hatred for Mary Ann and finds no comfort in Cheshire’s warning that she has abandoned all whimsy and hope. Rejecting her past, she orders the palace’s white rose tree torn down and replaced with red roses. When her parents ask if marriage will make her happy, she replies that they should have asked her that long ago.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

In which Bethanie and a special guest discuss Heartless chapters 45-47.

At the Crossroads, Cath must find a way to Chess without using any doors. Realizing they must pass through a looking glass, she discovers a shrinking potion and a small mirror that will serve as the entrance. Before they can continue, Cath hears Mary Ann screaming from behind a gate that leads to Peter’s pumpkin patch. Despite the Sisters’ warnings, Cath goes alone to save her.

Mary Ann reveals the truth: Lady Peter is the Jabberwock, transformed by the same tainted pumpkin seeds that changed the Mock Turtle. Peter has been hiding her while searching for a cure, and now plans to feed Mary Ann to the creature. Peter attacks Cath before she can free her friend.

Jest, Raven (in human form), and Hatta arrive to help. Peter blames Hatta for planting the cursed seeds, though Cath recognizes Peter’s own choices deepened the tragedy. When the Jabberwock descends, Cath kills it with the Vorpal Sword. In revenge, Peter immediately beheads Jest and flees. Heartbroken and enraged, Cath vows to take Peter’s head in return.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

In which Bethanie and a special guest discuss Heartless Chapters 41-44.

Jest explains that if Cath crosses the chessboard, she can become a queen without marrying the King. She agrees, and they prepare to journey to Chess, ignoring Cheshire’s warnings of danger. At the treacle well, the eerie childlike Sisters open the Looking Glass maze in exchange for small offerings and five minutes of Hatta’s time, warning him he cannot escape Time. Entering a mirrored forest clearing, the Sisters show disturbing prophecies of Cath as Queen, Jest beheaded, and Hatta mad, urging them to avoid doors. Finally, the group enters the maze, discovering a well that leads to a spiral staircase deep underground—the true beginning of their challenge.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

In which Bethanie and a special guest discuss Chapters 37-40 of Heartless.

Jest returns Cath to Rock Turtle Cove, where the King, his guards, the Marquess, Marchioness, and Mary Ann await. With Cath and Jest missing earlier, everyone suspects Jest of kidnapping, and he is immediately arrested. Cath defends him, but Jest reveals his mission from the White Queen, confesses to charming Cath, then transforms into a raven and escapes, saving Cath’s reputation but leaving her in despair. The King and Marchioness suggest a masquerade to move past the night’s events.

Cath continues to defend Jest, angering her parents. The Marquess orders her to accept the King’s marriage proposal and threatens to disown her if she resists. Cath ends her friendship with Mary Ann, blaming her for the chaos. The next morning, she awakens to find she has dreamed a new plant—red, bleeding hearts—symbolizing her lost dreams. Preparing for the masquerade in a striking dress and crown, Cath imagines herself as a queen, finding solace in this vision.

At the masquerade, Cath commits fully to her role as Queen, orchestrating her entrance and silencing the White Rabbit. Peter confronts her about the Vorpal Sword, threatening her vaguely, but she is saved by a mysterious stranger—Jest in disguise. They talk, and Cath initially agrees to marry the King to allow Jest to save Chess, though she feels disoriented. Jest soon reveals a better plan: Cath can be with him, keep her bakery, and still help save Chess, though it will require giving up her comfortable life in Hearts. Cath readily accepts.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

In which Bethanie and special guest Cullen from Not My Fantasy Podcast discuss Chapters 33-36 of Heartless by Marissa Meyer.

Chapters 33-36 Summary:

Cath secretly witnesses Jest advising Margaret Mearle to accept a suitor, then apologizing to Cath for his earlier distance. Though clearly jealous of the King, Jest still urges Cath to marry him—leaving her confused. Before he can explain, the Jabberwock attacks the theater. During the chaos, Cath injures her ankle, but uses Jest’s hat to retrieve the legendary Vorpal Sword. As she prepares to strike, the Jabberwock mysteriously retreats.

After the attack, the cowardly King praises Cath, but she scolds him for doing nothing. Jest teleports her to the mythical treacle well to heal her injury. There, he reveals it’s a portal between worlds and the entrance to Chess. He also confesses his true mission: to retrieve the heart of the future Queen of Hearts—Cath—to save Chess from war. Though shocked and betrayed at first, Cath softens when Jest says he fell in love with her. She declares he already has her heart, and promises to reject the King’s proposal. They kiss, united at last.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

Find out more about Cullen’s podcast:

Not My Fantasy Pod https://open.spotify.com/show/66azzqbAua7mgc3WRsH5av?si=384e47719e504247

In which Bethanie and special guest Daurie discuss Chapters 30-32 of Heartless by Marissa Meyer.

Chapters 30–32 Summary:

Cath’s dreams of opening a bakery are crushed when both of her parents reject the idea, leaving her angry and disheartened. She reaches out to Hatta with a business proposal, hoping to secure a loan. During her visit to his shop, she accuses him of causing the Mock Turtle’s transformation with one of his magical hats. Hatta denies responsibility but explains how materials from Chess gain magic in Hearts, affecting the wearer. He rejects her proposal, partly out of bitterness toward her relationship with Jest, which he believes is shallow.

Cath later attends the theater with the King, joined by Mary Ann and Jest. Though she longs to connect with Jest, he remains cold and distant. At the theater, Lady Peter demands more of Cath’s enchanted pumpkin cake and reveals that Peter supposedly destroyed all the pumpkins. The strange encounter leaves Cath unsettled. Meanwhile, Jest leaves the theater box, and Cath is left alone with the clingy King, deepening her frustration and isolation.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

Find out more about Daurie on her podcasts

Of Slippers and Spindles https://open.spotify.com/show/5C9Aa3i8CCTcAm6gOgiztV?si=26a38f557d5640f7

Tangled UP! https://open.spotify.com/show/44kxkmzDXSM48O9C7y5ZOu?si=4628884df4274b1b

In which Bethanie and PKFP OG Host Ash discuss Chapters26-29 of Heartless by Marissa Meyer.

Cath has a brief conversation with Jest, who notices herspecial hat and warns her that Hatta’s hats are not ordinary. Cath confrontsthe King about the Jabberwock attacks, but he avoids her questions, lookingashamed. As the Marquess’s daughter, Cath must lead the festival’s traditionallobster quadrille dance, and choosing her partner is a big deal. Torn betweenJest and the King, she reluctantly chooses the King. While dancing with him,Cath realizes she has fallen deeply in love with Jest.

Feeling panicked by this revelation, Cath is stolen away byJest to a private white crystal cave. They talk about their situation—Jestinsists the King has good intentions and would support Cath marrying him. Cathwants to marry Jest, but they both know their difference in social class makesthis impossible. Cath worries about disappointing her parents by refusing theKing and courting a lower-class suitor, and she admits that social rank mattersto her too.

During the baking contest judging, the Turtle and the Kingare among the judges. The King, clearly fond of Cath, prematurely declares herthe winner and announces she will one day be his bride, mortifying Cath.Suddenly, a scream interrupts the contest.

The Turtle undergoes a horrifying transformation into theMock Turtle, gaining a calf’s head, hooves, and tail. He is devastated, and thecrowd is horrified. Cath realizes that the Turtle was the only judge who tastedher cake. Peter Peter watches her from the crowd with malicious hatred. Thecontest is suspended. Back home, Cath decides that since she won’t receive theprize money, she must ask her parents for support to open her bakery.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced byThree Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and theIntro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

In which Bethanie and special guest Soumaya discuss Chapters 23-25 of Heartless by Marissa Meyer.

Cath struggles with the King’s numerous overly sentimental love letters, which deepen her feelings of disgust, guilt, and anxiety about their courtship—especially since she knows Jest actually penned them. Cheshire visits, having learned about Cath’s attendance at the tea party, and Cath begs her to keep it secret to protect her reputation and relationships. Cheshire tells Cath about an upcoming baking contest at the Turtle Days Festival with a grand prize large enough to help Cath open her bakery—but the King will be one of the judges. Cath is still grieving the Lion’s loss and frustrated by the King’s inaction against the Jabberwock.

Preparing for the contest, Cath and Mary Ann visit Peter Peter’s pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin for Cath’s spiced pumpkin cake. They find the patch heavily damaged, and Peter hostile. They hear scratching from inside a gigantic pumpkin shaped like a cage. Intimidated, they leave but Cath finds a lone sugar pie pumpkin to harvest. As they depart, Cath feels a sharp pain underfoot and discovers a miniature carousel pony like the ones on the Lion’s hat when he was taken by the Jabberwock.

At the Turtle Days Festival, Cath finds Hatta’s shop, where he gifts her a hat modeled after her macarons. Hatta shares that his father, Hearts’s previous hatter, suffered from mental illness and died by suicide, and that madness runs in his family—but Hatta has found a way to escape it. He tells Cath to wear the macaron hat during the dancing and baking contest, hinting it will boost her charisma.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.

In which Bethanie and special guest Katherine discuss Chapters 19-22 of Heartless by Marissa Meyer.

Hatta urges Cath to perform next at the gathering and offers her a hat to boost her confidence. Cath chooses a white bonnet, symbolizing unconventional decisions, and instead of storytelling, she shares macarons, which earn high praise and Hatta’s respect. Suddenly, the Jabberwock attacks the hat shop. Hatta, Haigha, Jest, and Raven distract the beast so the guests can escape. The Turtle freezes in fear until Cath jabs him with a stick, prompting his escape into the forest. The Jabberwock then targets Cath, but the Lion heroically throws himself in front of her and is carried off by the beast.

Jest escorts Cath home, apologizing for the danger she was placed in. He praises her passion and beauty, then reveals that he and Raven are Rooks—guardians of the White Queen from the Chess realm, embroiled in a secret mission alongside Hatta and Haigha. This revelation shocks and disappoints Cath, as it means Jest must eventually return to Chess. Although Cath wants to be the reason he stays, she resolves to end their relationship. Still, they plan to meet at her family’s upcoming Turtle Days Festival, despite the King’s expected presence.

Cath confides in her friend Mary Ann, who recognizes Cath’s genuine feelings but warns her that she might not truly know Jest and that he could be after her wealth or status. Although reluctant to believe this, Cath becomes determined to learn more about Jest and his true intentions.

This podcast is hosted by Bethanie Finger and produced by Three Sisters Podcast Network.

Logo Art was created by Cosmic Nova Flare and the Intro/Outro music was composed by Emma Povvo.