Reviews with content warning for Death - Malice

This was such a good read. The added depth and history of this classic tale was fantastic. The pain and rage of the main character is so relatable it make you want to be a villian too.

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venti's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

feels like a set up for the next book — which i’m not complaining about because i’m sure it will be great, but would have been cooler maybe in one big volume like priory? idk 🤷 i liked alyce and aurora, but was so annoyed the whole book when alyce was constantly getting shit on. hope she kills them all in the next book! 😜

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im_bruns's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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booksandstardust's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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libby_i_guess's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I genuinely can’t put my finger on it, but something about the writing feels very much like a book for teens. My best guess is the first-person POV, but i don’t think that’s all of it. I was mostly pushing through this book because I was curious, but the last third of it I actually enjoyed. Somehow, the story came alive and kept me interested. I still can’t say I loved it or anything, but I will read the next one.

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caitlin_cain's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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yofrere's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Highly anticipated read that did alright. A sapphic, corruption arc fairytale retelling with intermediate world building? Whoa. Pick a struggle. I didn’t realize immediately that this was part of a duology so keep that in mind if you’re thinking about reading. The pacing was… weird? And some plot points only felt relevant in the second book.

But I was rooting for Alyce on the edge of my seat. I wanted her to get everything she wanted though I don’t know how I felt about what she did to go after it. The climax felt steep, for better or for worse. I immediately started reading the sequel because I had to know what could possibly follow that weird cliffhanger for an entire book.

Vengeful and mysterious and a little convoluted.

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cammiico's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

When I started the book I really thought this was going to be my next all time favorite book. It was written in a style I don't typically like, short and not very descriptive. I tend to enjoy a lot of inner thoughts and descriptors when reading first person, but Heather Walter's does a very great job at painting a picture with very little. However that I'd also part of this books downfall near the end.

The retelling is great, I loved reading about Alyce and the lore Heather created around the fairies in the original was a very unique spin. Though it took me some time to understand what was the name of a person, place, or title.

SPOLIERS BELOW

I might be a bit nit picky but my biggest issue is that the true love aspect in my opinion isn't shown very well. To me Alyce sounds more infatuated. She is introduced as admiring Leythana and when she sees that same drive and desire to rule kindly in Aurora she latches on to it. To me it felt like Alyce was more in love with the idea of Aurora and how she perceived her than with Aurora herself.

I also didn't see that love reciprocated by Aurora. I get this is written in first person but there's ways to write characters motivations or expressions so the reader can get the idea or infer from context clue. Alyce is written admiring Aurora's beauty and her desire to change the Grace Laws that we never actually see Aurora's expressions very much. Only when Alyce lashes out do we get to see Aurora's features reflecting any kind of emotion.

I just found myself wishing that there was a little bit more with each chapter. It's a great retelling, I did enjoy it for the most part but I just wish that we got to see the two come together a bit more naturally. It felt oddly rushed despite happening only at the last handful of chapters. I also HATE when we get that "finally" moment and it's immediately taken away. Let readers enjoy it for longer than one chapter. Especially when that chapter is only a few short pages.

Overall I did enjoy the book. It was imaginative and a very inspired way if creating lore. But ultimately I found myself wanting just a little bit more from the scenery and the interactions. I shouldn't be able to understand and see clearly the tension and pull between Alyice and her main tormentor Rose MORE than Alyce and her main love interest.

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