Reviews with content warning for Torture - Malice

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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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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acidicgoddess's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

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

3.25

CW: grooming & manipulation

Ngl, this book would have worked wonderfully as a prequel.

The story was definitely intense. It also did a really good job at making you feel for those who tormented Alyce. It was the writing style that threw me off most of the time. Sometimes the lore would just be dumped into a single chapter and not integrated well AT ALL (which, unfortunately, meant that all of it went over my head to be ignored.)

The author tries to almost personify the atmosphere when Alyce talks to Kal, but it’s so out of place and obnoxiously interruptive that I found myself hating scenes where Kal was involved. She doesn’t do it with any other character and that’s probably why I found it interruptive.

As for the romance in the book… Well, it was a let down.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t a fan of Aurora at first. I felt like she only existed as a character to reflect Alyce’s wants and needs - and for most of the book she was - she lacked any personality outside of wanting what Alyce wants. But, by the end of the book, we really get to know her. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get a taste of it from the beginning of the book, it made the romance aspect feel bland.

This isn’t to say I’m a fan of her, however. Aurora is painfully ignorant to Alyce’s predicament with the public and doesn’t notice when she becomes uncomfortable. Their relationship feels very one sided. Even towards the end. Alyce is left anxious and Aurora can only take it as Alyce not being able to trust her.

Oh, and the one character I was actually finding enjoyable turned out to be one of the bad guys, too. Not a good move on the authors part considering none of the other characters were enjoyable.

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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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ninamanon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

What a great original take on the fairytale! I loved the world building and the magic system. Especially the first half of the book was thrilling and I couldn’t put it down.

The writing was a bit too obvious and over explaining to my taste, sometimes. Some things would’ve worked better if they were left for the reader to figure out and conclude.

The main twist could be spotted from a mile away. Maybe that was intentional! But it didn’t really work for me.

I also didn’t feel a lot of chemistry between the main couple. It felt a little forced. There was barely any buildup.

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f18's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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maladaptivedaydreamer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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frantically's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative 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

This turned so unexpectedly dark in the last third and I loved it so much! The retelling aspect worked so well — the ending relies on the original fairytale but in a way I didn't expect at all. I'm a bit unsure about how Alyce acted in the last chapters, it is all in line with her characters, I guess I'm just not as used to actual villains being the main character 😅 Interested to read the next one!

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