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jaironside 's review for:
Malice
by Pintip Dunn
March 2020 pick for Dragons and Tea Book Club .
Perhaps the timing was a little unfortunate (or apt?) but this is about a global pandemic. The book club admins picked it long before the C19 outbreak - life does like to mimic art in return for art mimicking life it seems!
Anyway, this is from a different angle to The Stand, Earth Abides, This Mortal Coil, A Lovely Way to Burn and other pandemic apocalypse novels. Alice is a 17 yr old girl who is finishing up high school and dreaming about being a photographer for National Geographic. She does not expect to be contacted by someone from the future who convinces her that someone in her school is going to create a virus that wipes out humankind. Her mission? To find out who the culprit is and eliminate them. Unfortunately, evidence points to it being the boy she has just developed feelings for.
This was a lot of fun. Considering the subject matter, it's quite a light novel boasting engaging characters, a compelling style, a tight, fast paced plot and some sharp social commentary of taking care of each other. No spoilers but it did keep me guessing. There are some genuinely funny moments and some very poignant ones too. The romance felt natural and I liked Bandit - the love interest -from the start. In some ways, this is a little like Mark Lawrence's Impossible Times trilogy (but with much shakier science and a threadier time travel plot). However, this focuses more on social responsibility and what our choices mean for other people. A good read - recommended.
Perhaps the timing was a little unfortunate (or apt?) but this is about a global pandemic. The book club admins picked it long before the C19 outbreak - life does like to mimic art in return for art mimicking life it seems!
Anyway, this is from a different angle to The Stand, Earth Abides, This Mortal Coil, A Lovely Way to Burn and other pandemic apocalypse novels. Alice is a 17 yr old girl who is finishing up high school and dreaming about being a photographer for National Geographic. She does not expect to be contacted by someone from the future who convinces her that someone in her school is going to create a virus that wipes out humankind. Her mission? To find out who the culprit is and eliminate them. Unfortunately, evidence points to it being the boy she has just developed feelings for.
This was a lot of fun. Considering the subject matter, it's quite a light novel boasting engaging characters, a compelling style, a tight, fast paced plot and some sharp social commentary of taking care of each other. No spoilers but it did keep me guessing. There are some genuinely funny moments and some very poignant ones too. The romance felt natural and I liked Bandit - the love interest -from the start. In some ways, this is a little like Mark Lawrence's Impossible Times trilogy (but with much shakier science and a threadier time travel plot). However, this focuses more on social responsibility and what our choices mean for other people. A good read - recommended.