You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
You can tell right away that something horrible must have happened to Katherine for her to try to erase her past like this, but I would never have guessed just how bad it was. This book surprised me over and over again, because even when the chapters written from the future (or present I guess, if everything else happened in the past) gave away some things, we never knew when or how those things would happen.
Katherine is such a great main character. She's not perfect, she doesn't always know what to do, and she has some serious issues that she needs to deal with. It amazed me how someone can go through a life changing event like that and still be so naive afterwards, but it did make Katherine a more likable person. The other characters, and especially Alice, are all very well described. After finishing Beautiful Malice I felt like I knew every one of them personally, and I could not stop thinking about the plot for days and days after.
One of my favorite things about Beautiful Malice is that I knew something bad has happened, and I knew there was more bad things to come, and yet I couldn't stop reading. I cried out of frustration, happiness, anger and heartbreaking sadness, I cursed certain characters out loud more than once while cheering others on, yet ultimately the story came to it's own end. It was not the ending I wanted, but it was the only one that fit.
Katherine is such a great main character. She's not perfect, she doesn't always know what to do, and she has some serious issues that she needs to deal with. It amazed me how someone can go through a life changing event like that and still be so naive afterwards, but it did make Katherine a more likable person. The other characters, and especially Alice, are all very well described. After finishing Beautiful Malice I felt like I knew every one of them personally, and I could not stop thinking about the plot for days and days after.
One of my favorite things about Beautiful Malice is that I knew something bad has happened, and I knew there was more bad things to come, and yet I couldn't stop reading. I cried out of frustration, happiness, anger and heartbreaking sadness, I cursed certain characters out loud more than once while cheering others on, yet ultimately the story came to it's own end. It was not the ending I wanted, but it was the only one that fit.
Felt amateurish. Plot twists weren't that thrilling. I didn't believe for a second that these characters were teenagers. They all sounded and acted like adults in their late twenties. Also I couldn't determine the setting, which irritated me. I assumed it was set in Australia (based on author's residence, the characters' names, and lingo used), but then halfway through, a character is set apart from others by his Australian accent. The main character just kept saying she lived in "the city."
I guess I would recommend this book to people who love any mysteries or thrillers. I was interested enough to read the book to the end.
I guess I would recommend this book to people who love any mysteries or thrillers. I was interested enough to read the book to the end.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked it but the last few chapters were anticlimactic. I thought it would end with a big shebang that would completely blow my mind, considering Alice's personality. Oh well, we can't have everything we want.
I will always deduct a star for typos, and I will always deduct a star if I guess a major plot twist in the first 15% or so of the story.
So that's automatically a max grade of 3* - but luckily, I enjoyed it enough and the pacing was good enough that I'm not deducting more stars.
I will say, the author needs to better tap into the mindset of a teenager and the adults around them. Katherine and Alice acted more like 22 year olds than high-school seniors and the adults around them seemed unfazed by things that were happening to their 17 year old.
That's not enough of a critique to kill another whole star though.
I enjoyed this, and I'll forget all about it until Facebook reminds me in a year that I read it.
So that's automatically a max grade of 3* - but luckily, I enjoyed it enough and the pacing was good enough that I'm not deducting more stars.
I will say, the author needs to better tap into the mindset of a teenager and the adults around them. Katherine and Alice acted more like 22 year olds than high-school seniors and the adults around them seemed unfazed by things that were happening to their 17 year old.
That's not enough of a critique to kill another whole star though.
I enjoyed this, and I'll forget all about it until Facebook reminds me in a year that I read it.
I don't really know what I expected out of this book. It was different, that's for sure but I sort of felt that the first half of the book just kept on going round and round in circles. It kept on going from the future to the past and then back to the present. It wasn't till the second half of the book that real action started to happen.
I kind of felt like I really wanted to like Katherine but I couldn't. She had no admirable traits to respect, she wasn't really witty, or funny and after her sister died, she stopped being smart. And all she does through the whole book was wallow in self-pity. Of how much of a coward she is. In the end, it was Katherine herself that convinced me that she was a coward. First with Rachel's death and then with Mick's death, she just sort of stood by and watched it happen.
The other thing that I didn't like was, that Rebecca James always skimmed over the sex scenes. There was no description or indication of how Katherine felt or if it actually happened at all.
So over all I think it needs some improvement and if you are looking for an action-packed read, than this book is not for you.
I kind of felt like I really wanted to like Katherine but I couldn't. She had no admirable traits to respect, she wasn't really witty, or funny and after her sister died, she stopped being smart. And all she does through the whole book was wallow in self-pity. Of how much of a coward she is. In the end, it was Katherine herself that convinced me that she was a coward. First with Rachel's death and then with Mick's death, she just sort of stood by and watched it happen.
The other thing that I didn't like was, that Rebecca James always skimmed over the sex scenes. There was no description or indication of how Katherine felt or if it actually happened at all.
So over all I think it needs some improvement and if you are looking for an action-packed read, than this book is not for you.
I actually found this book in my school library during some kind of detention. Since I didn't see many novels, so I tried to read it. It wasn't bad, it was good but not great. Maybe this isn't my kind of books, but that still didn't stop me from finishing it in several hours.
The plot was kinda different from books I know, but the characters weren't special at all. The main character was a pretty popular girl that turned quiet and alone after an unfortunate event happened. She met a popular girl in her new school, who suddenly invited her to parties and became friends with her, which is pretty unusual. I mean, it's not everyday a popular girl befriend a person who never actually talk to anyone, without any reason.
I felt like Alice, the popular girl, was exaggerated. She was way too mean and people were fine with it. I'm fine if the writer wanted to make her seemed older that she actually was, but her character was way too cruel for her age. The story behind that wasn't that great either. She was mean to Katherine because she got her brother to jail, which was his own fault. Maybe Alice had a mentall illness even before her brother was jailed, but people, especially Katherine and Robbie, should have at least noticed it. I mean, she could be mean in one second and suddenly turned into flirty and happy in another. She has done soooo many cruel things to her closest friends or even people she didn't know, and they acted like she was just having a bad day? And I didn't get why Robbie admired her, because I didn't see any admirable trait in her.
But, despite it's flaws, this book is pretty good to escape reading slump or if you want something easy to read.
The plot was kinda different from books I know, but the characters weren't special at all. The main character was a pretty popular girl that turned quiet and alone after an unfortunate event happened. She met a popular girl in her new school, who suddenly invited her to parties and became friends with her, which is pretty unusual. I mean, it's not everyday a popular girl befriend a person who never actually talk to anyone, without any reason.
I felt like Alice, the popular girl, was exaggerated. She was way too mean and people were fine with it. I'm fine if the writer wanted to make her seemed older that she actually was, but her character was way too cruel for her age. The story behind that wasn't that great either. She was mean to Katherine because she got her brother to jail, which was his own fault. Maybe Alice had a mentall illness even before her brother was jailed, but people, especially Katherine and Robbie, should have at least noticed it. I mean, she could be mean in one second and suddenly turned into flirty and happy in another. She has done soooo many cruel things to her closest friends or even people she didn't know, and they acted like she was just having a bad day? And I didn't get why Robbie admired her, because I didn't see any admirable trait in her.
But, despite it's flaws, this book is pretty good to escape reading slump or if you want something easy to read.
Originally posted at A Book So Fathomless
I don’t even know what to say about this book.
The thing is- I’ve owned Beautiful Malice since it came out in 2010, and it was one of those books that my mum bought for me that I never really paid much attention to. It’s times like these that I want to travel back in time just so I can slap past Ely for being an idiot.
This was beautiful. (See what I did there?) I don’t know if I’m even going to be able to explain this, but the writing was just so easy. You know how there are those books that are just so tedious that you don’t even want to pick them up? This was not one of those books. In fact, it was the complete opposite- I couldn’t believe how quickly I flew through this book and how involved in the story I was.
I admit, Katherine could be a bit of an annoying character but I understand why she was written the way she was. I don’t know if that makes sense, but what I mean is I don’t think the story would have had quite the same effect if Katherine had acted differently. I also really, really want to talk about Alice but I feel like everything I’m going to say about her will just spoil the entire book. Also, Robbie. I really love Robbie. (Someone who’s read the book should help me flail about Robbie and rant about other stuff.)
I just want to talk about the plot for a moment. It’s not really something I can go into detail about without ruining the entire book, so I’ll just keep it brief. HOW? WHY? WHAT? AHHHHH. I think that pretty much sums it up. If that didn’t convince you to read this book then I don’t know what will. (And Ebony if you’re reading this, I totally should have picked up Cooper Bartholomew is Dead the other day. Why didn’t I do that?)
Also, this isn’t technically related to the book but has anyone else noticed how I always end up ranting about the books that Allen and Unwin publish?
I don’t even know what to say about this book.
The thing is- I’ve owned Beautiful Malice since it came out in 2010, and it was one of those books that my mum bought for me that I never really paid much attention to. It’s times like these that I want to travel back in time just so I can slap past Ely for being an idiot.
This was beautiful. (See what I did there?) I don’t know if I’m even going to be able to explain this, but the writing was just so easy. You know how there are those books that are just so tedious that you don’t even want to pick them up? This was not one of those books. In fact, it was the complete opposite- I couldn’t believe how quickly I flew through this book and how involved in the story I was.
I admit, Katherine could be a bit of an annoying character but I understand why she was written the way she was. I don’t know if that makes sense, but what I mean is I don’t think the story would have had quite the same effect if Katherine had acted differently. I also really, really want to talk about Alice but I feel like everything I’m going to say about her will just spoil the entire book. Also, Robbie. I really love Robbie. (Someone who’s read the book should help me flail about Robbie and rant about other stuff.)
I just want to talk about the plot for a moment. It’s not really something I can go into detail about without ruining the entire book, so I’ll just keep it brief. HOW? WHY? WHAT? AHHHHH. I think that pretty much sums it up. If that didn’t convince you to read this book then I don’t know what will. (And Ebony if you’re reading this, I totally should have picked up Cooper Bartholomew is Dead the other day. Why didn’t I do that?)
Also, this isn’t technically related to the book but has anyone else noticed how I always end up ranting about the books that Allen and Unwin publish?
I first read this book when I was 13 or so, and it traumatised me. I hid it for a long time.
I recently tried to reread it (2016), but had to stop half way. Not that it's actually bad, it's pretty good. It was scary. But it was still a bit "typical adult romance" by the end, and that has never interested me. Maybe that's the point, considering the content. Maybe it was supposed to have normal-life-except-her vibes.
As for structure I think it could have done without the third perspective, the oldest one. I don't remember it adding anything.
I recently tried to reread it (2016), but had to stop half way. Not that it's actually bad, it's pretty good. It was scary. But it was still a bit "typical adult romance" by the end, and that has never interested me. Maybe that's the point, considering the content. Maybe it was supposed to have normal-life-except-her vibes.
As for structure I think it could have done without the third perspective, the oldest one. I don't remember it adding anything.
Este libro me dejó tan tan traumada que a pesar de haberlo leído hace años siempre vuelve a la superficie de mi mente. Pero nunca recuerdo el nombre, cosas de la mente.
Lo leí mucho tiempo antes de entrar a Goodreads y recuerdo hacer memoria para poder agregarlo a mi biblioteca.
Y lo leí aun muchos años antes de escribir esto, pero sigo recordando la fuerte impresión que me dejó. Tanto como para que tenga la necesidad de escribir lo traumada que quede.
Ni idea de que trataba igual. Solo sé que me movió un montón de estantes.
Tal vez lo re-lea. Tal vez no. (no)
Y este review es totalmente innecesario.
Lo leí mucho tiempo antes de entrar a Goodreads y recuerdo hacer memoria para poder agregarlo a mi biblioteca.
Y lo leí aun muchos años antes de escribir esto, pero sigo recordando la fuerte impresión que me dejó. Tanto como para que tenga la necesidad de escribir lo traumada que quede.
Ni idea de que trataba igual. Solo sé que me movió un montón de estantes.
Tal vez lo re-lea. Tal vez no. (no)
Y este review es totalmente innecesario.