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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Loved Malice and I was so disappointed with this book. It was a slog to get through the first 60% of the book until the pacing finally picks up and then I kept waiting for the payoff at the end only to be left hanging! I have struggled to figure out what I wanted from the book and finally come to the conclusion that I wanted story about Alyce and Aurora fighting for a place where where they could be free to openly be together and love each other, not a story about them just fighting each other. I will still continue to love Malice and recommend it, just as a standalone with a cliffhanger ending, and suggest most people just stop with the first book.
emotional
sad
4 Stairs to Misrule by Heather Walter. (Note that this is the second book in this duology, I highly recommend reading Malice first.)
Sleeping Beauty (and Maleficent!) has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, so the Malice Duology was a must-read for me. When we start Misrule, we find Aurora fast asleep and Alyce (now Mistress Nimara) desperately trying everything she can to wake her in a way that Aurora will retain her memories. 100 years have passed, the old Briar has fallen, and Ms. Walter creates an entirely new kingdom for the reader. It’s been a while since I read Malice, but Misrule definitely felt darker.
This second book explores vengeance, justice, and prejudice - particularly hatred passed down through generations. I love that this is told from Alyce’s point of view. As the Dark Grace she experienced so much prejudice and hatred from the people of Briar, and it is interesting to see how this helps shape her as the all-powerful Nimara.
Of course, the root of this novel is a love story, and plenty of obstacles are put between Alyce and the sleeping Aurora. I enjoyed the new characters introduced in this book, and ultimately the conclusion for Alyce, Aurora, and Briar.
Sleeping Beauty (and Maleficent!) has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, so the Malice Duology was a must-read for me. When we start Misrule, we find Aurora fast asleep and Alyce (now Mistress Nimara) desperately trying everything she can to wake her in a way that Aurora will retain her memories. 100 years have passed, the old Briar has fallen, and Ms. Walter creates an entirely new kingdom for the reader. It’s been a while since I read Malice, but Misrule definitely felt darker.
This second book explores vengeance, justice, and prejudice - particularly hatred passed down through generations. I love that this is told from Alyce’s point of view. As the Dark Grace she experienced so much prejudice and hatred from the people of Briar, and it is interesting to see how this helps shape her as the all-powerful Nimara.
Of course, the root of this novel is a love story, and plenty of obstacles are put between Alyce and the sleeping Aurora. I enjoyed the new characters introduced in this book, and ultimately the conclusion for Alyce, Aurora, and Briar.
I’m crying laughing head in my hands bc I think I just wasted my fucking time reading this series. Boring predictable formulaic writing with no pacing and idk we get to the end and I’m like that was all for what? Ugh!!!!
What an absolutely fantastic end to the duology! I won’t go into spoilers but basically going into this book I wasn’t sure how Heather Walter was going to pull this finale off; the characters were left in a very difficult spot when the first book ended, and it only got more complicated in the sequel. But rest assured that the ending was entirely satisfactory and I highly enjoyed the book. 5/5 stars
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm giving this book 3 stars only for the first half, just so y'all know. I am really disappointed. Don't know what I expected, considering that it's YA, but this whole very inspiring bullshit and conveniences that were too convenient soured my experience and left me bitter. The first half of the book kept me engaged, had me fall for all these side characters that utterly broke my heart later on, whereas the other was just filled with senseless betrayals and weird schemes that wanted to seem way too pretentious. It kind of felt like they used the power of friendship rather than the power of love as there was NO LOVE. The little chemistry formed in Malice just vanished and was replaced with useless shouting, and 'I love you's scattered as for the course of the story to go smoothly. There were so many things left underdeveloped. Alyce's relationships with Neve and Regan were so overlooked. The potential for scenes to break my heart were utterly wasted and replaced by scenes with bitchy miss Aurora. What's more, the main character was Alyce, which is the reason why I didn't know how the author could do such a splendid job at making her into the most neglected side character. Everything was about Aurora. About how perfect she is. Even the ending favoured her, and we have our main character thrown into some bullshit said dream of hers to do whatever. It seems that after all, Aurora was truly after the Crown. I honestly feel immensely disappointed. I loved so much the beginning, the spirit of leadership in Nimara. It's so strange how after [redacted], it felt as though not a century had passed, but a mere few days. The author failed to convey the maturity one would gain in such a period, especially one that is in a position of power in times of war. You cannot tell me someone who's been fighting a war for 100 years and was on the verge of winning could fall so easily into those traps, enamoured or not. I'm really frustrated. The Dark Land was my ideal gothic vibe and I will forever mourn the loss of what could've been between Alyce and Regan or even Alyce and Neve. For a book meant to be in the sapphic section, if did little to make me feel that there was anything sapphic going on. Bland kisses and shit. I'm so so sorry. I want to rage. I want to destroy something for all the wasted potential, but I guess this is what I get for wanting too much from an YA book. I have learned my lesson. Now I'm gonna go and cry in a corner for this farcery of an ending, thank you very much.
I'm not sure what I want to star this review. Was this book as well-written and intriguing as the first? Yes, I would even say better. The characters were amazing, complex and real. They all made me feel different things, sometimes even anger at them, making me want to lash out (I literally yelled while reading it). But the ending of it has me frustrated and it left something to be desired. (Spoilers for first book incoming) In the first book, one of the main questions was if true love existed and if it was enough. Because True Love's Kiss is what broke the curse on Aurora's bloodline, but the love always turned sour at some point. So the question was whether or not her love with Alyce would do the same. (Spoilers for first book done)
Then when it came to the start of this book, it has been 100 years. Aurora is asleep because of the curse and Alyce is fighting her way to figure out how to break it herself. That all makes sense, especially given that this is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
I will say that this book is incredibly thought-provoking. It makes you think about who really is the bad guy, you see that people have good intentions, but do bad things and they should still be held accountable (people weren't easily forgiven, which I do love), and ultimately see that not everything is black and white and that the victors truly make themselves seem as if they are the good guys. There's a lot of prejudice in this book based on the type of magic you have, which is something that can be related to the real world as people face prejudice for their race and ethnicity. It also talks about holding on to the past and taking it out on the people in your future and the people who are similar to those who have harmed you and wronged you in the past. It's a lot of commentary that can be translated t0 society today, and I think that's really great.
Overall, I really loved the book. I did. But I just wish the ending was more explicit. I wanted more, and it doesn't feel like I got what I wanted. It's very open-ended. It feels wrong that something that was so beautiful and strong just ended like this. But I guess since it is more open-ended, I can envision it the way I want, but I don't really like that. I wanted something more decisive, and I think that's what has me a little dissatisfied.
EDIT: I sat on it and the ending isn't as open as I felt it was when I was in my feelings about it. But I'm so glad it ended happily even if I didn't see exactly what I wanted.
Then when it came to the start of this book, it has been 100 years. Aurora is asleep because of the curse and Alyce is fighting her way to figure out how to break it herself. That all makes sense, especially given that this is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
Spoiler
There's a lot of betrayal in this book, where it has you second-guessing the people's character and who really is the bad guy in this story. My love for, and faith in, Alyce never wavered. While she didn't make the best decisions, she did the best (almost all the time) with what she had. And maybe I have this point of view toward her because the book is very much in her point of view and you don't see the depths of the others from their point of view but only from Alyce's. Aurora infuriated me at one point because she betrayed Alyce by promising Oryn something that wasn't her's to promise. She did it in the name of protection of Alyce, which would make sense, but she got angry with Alyce for doing the same thing, but on a way lesser scale. Alyce only prevented her from waking up thinking that she would not remember Alyce as someone she loved but as a villain. So she refused to allow someone else to wake her up, which is completely understandable. And the fact that Aurora's father was going to force her to marry a man in her sleep so he can rule and take over the Queendom is absolutely horrendous, so Alyce did right by Aurora. But did Aurora? No. Absolutely not. But Aurora still thought she was right.I will say that this book is incredibly thought-provoking. It makes you think about who really is the bad guy, you see that people have good intentions, but do bad things and they should still be held accountable (people weren't easily forgiven, which I do love), and ultimately see that not everything is black and white and that the victors truly make themselves seem as if they are the good guys. There's a lot of prejudice in this book based on the type of magic you have, which is something that can be related to the real world as people face prejudice for their race and ethnicity. It also talks about holding on to the past and taking it out on the people in your future and the people who are similar to those who have harmed you and wronged you in the past. It's a lot of commentary that can be translated t0 society today, and I think that's really great.
Overall, I really loved the book. I did. But I just wish the ending was more explicit. I wanted more, and it doesn't feel like I got what I wanted. It's very open-ended. It feels wrong that something that was so beautiful and strong just ended like this. But I guess since it is more open-ended, I can envision it the way I want, but I don't really like that. I wanted something more decisive, and I think that's what has me a little dissatisfied.
EDIT: I sat on it and the ending isn't as open as I felt it was when I was in my feelings about it. But I'm so glad it ended happily even if I didn't see exactly what I wanted.
I LOVED this book.
When I read Malice I thought it had its length but loved the overall world building.
Misrule continues with that world building and adds so many incredibly multilayered characters!
I have rarely loved a cast of characters so much. They felt alive in a way I’ve not experienced in a long while. They made mistakes and they struggled and they drove me crazy but that’s all because they’re so well written.
Overall I thoroughly loved every second of this
When I read Malice I thought it had its length but loved the overall world building.
Misrule continues with that world building and adds so many incredibly multilayered characters!
I have rarely loved a cast of characters so much. They felt alive in a way I’ve not experienced in a long while. They made mistakes and they struggled and they drove me crazy but that’s all because they’re so well written.
Overall I thoroughly loved every second of this
Pacing was uneven - slow for the first third when most readers would be anxious for Aurora to wake up. And when she did, well, let's just say the trajectory of the story will not suit everyone. I can understand why certain plot points had to be made but it did lessen my enjoyment and satisfaction for the ending.
Overall, this was a really good feminist fantasy series.
Overall, this was a really good feminist fantasy series.