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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Sexual content
(2.5 ⭐️) This really did not hit for me, despite the book being adult fantasy it read much more YA. My main gripe is that I always wanted more- more depth into each characters motivations and more world building. I enjoyed the premise and the overall story, I guess I’m just used to different fantasy books.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was pretty good! It's a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, from the evil witch's perspective, although it took me far too long to actually make the connection.
The author crafted an interesting magical system contained within a fairytale world, but at its core, it's a tale of a young girl who doesn't fit in getting relentlessly bullied by her peers and society. Throw in a pair of sapphic star crossed lovers with strong chemistry and you have a pretty decent romantasy on your hands.
My main complaint is that prose felt a little basic at times but I enjoyed it overall.
The author crafted an interesting magical system contained within a fairytale world, but at its core, it's a tale of a young girl who doesn't fit in getting relentlessly bullied by her peers and society. Throw in a pair of sapphic star crossed lovers with strong chemistry and you have a pretty decent romantasy on your hands.
My main complaint is that prose felt a little basic at times but I enjoyed it overall.
So Malice is a pretty dark, twisted retelling of Sleeping Beauty and I was pleased to find that I actually really liked it. I don't normally like Sleeping Beauty stories but this one is something quite special!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
Love love love forever!
im not a huge fan of the pacing of the book or how aylce went all corrupt at the end. as much as feminine rage is fun it kinda loses weight when innocent people are hurt and theres like no way of forgiveness. curious to see what happens in the next book though
I am here for this story and already mourning it's end. Man what a wild ride and just exciting.
3.5 Briar Rose Stars
I had a lot of fun reading this book. I love when retellings get really creative and change a lot of things, because reading the exact same story can be so boring. It was a great book to binge and was interesting and creative, but I could definitely tell that it was a debut novel.
There were moments where I had to pause and think, "did I really just read about a heart beat so loud that people can probably hear it....again?" There were also some moments that definitely could have been shorter. There was a lot of internal dialogue that I felt didn't need to be explained in the way that it did. It just felt longer than it needed to be.
Despite the repetition and the sporadic drawn out pieces, I did enjoy the world building, and all the background of Briar. There weren't elements that I disliked enough to take out, it just felt like there was ... kind of a lot of stuff happening.
I almost was willing to give this four stars, almost. I think for how drawn out some of it was, and how many things were happening all at once, that the ending was rushed. It felt a little, ahem, in the end. Most of you know the feeling.
Big Takeaway:
Definitely a fun debut novel, with a fun twist on Sleeping Beauty, but perhaps missing that element of literary magic to all come together better. BUT I'm very excited for more books by Heather Walter. I can feel that she will grow as an author and she can blow us all away one day.
*I was given a review copy of this book & am leaving a review voluntarily
I had a lot of fun reading this book. I love when retellings get really creative and change a lot of things, because reading the exact same story can be so boring. It was a great book to binge and was interesting and creative, but I could definitely tell that it was a debut novel.
There were moments where I had to pause and think, "did I really just read about a heart beat so loud that people can probably hear it....again?" There were also some moments that definitely could have been shorter. There was a lot of internal dialogue that I felt didn't need to be explained in the way that it did. It just felt longer than it needed to be.
Despite the repetition and the sporadic drawn out pieces, I did enjoy the world building, and all the background of Briar. There weren't elements that I disliked enough to take out, it just felt like there was ... kind of a lot of stuff happening.
I almost was willing to give this four stars, almost. I think for how drawn out some of it was, and how many things were happening all at once, that the ending was rushed. It felt a little, ahem,
Spoiler
like Game of ThronesBig Takeaway:
Definitely a fun debut novel, with a fun twist on Sleeping Beauty, but perhaps missing that element of literary magic to all come together better. BUT I'm very excited for more books by Heather Walter. I can feel that she will grow as an author and she can blow us all away one day.
*I was given a review copy of this book & am leaving a review voluntarily