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A review by bookandcoffeeaddict
Misrule by Heather Walter
4.0
Misrule is the second book in the Malice Duology, a morally grey Sleeping Beauty retelling, and takes place a hundred years after Princess Aurora was cursed into a deep sleep. Alyce, once the Dark Grace, is now Mistress of the Dark Court, a havenfor dark magic kind, and a new Fae war is in full swing.
The Dark Court, built on the broken smoldering bones of what used to be Briar, is a thing of macabre beauty: rust-coated opulent chandeliers, the heads of enemies mounted on walls, and gowns made of black and red feathers, cobweb lace, and silver branch collars. The members of the court themselves are just as fascinating: demons, vila, goblins, shifters, and imps (I was especially fond of the imps, they were like deadly mischievous toddlers that can make the most extraordinary gowns and delicate pastries out of almost nothing… and also kill you).
Someone who I wasn’t especially fond of was Aurora.
I tried to be sympathetic to her, I promise I did. After all, she did wake up after a hundred years to discover that almost everyone she knew was dead and her lover had pretty much reduced her kingdom to rubble. But it was like the things that mildly annoyed me about her in the first book – her stubbornness, inability to compromise, and firm belief that she knows best – were dialed up to a 10. She also comes across as just a little too perfect. Beyond her perfect beauty (which isn’t her fault, she was force-fed magic beauty elixirs her whole life), she is loved by almost all, with minimal effort on her part, and she always comes out on top. And honestly, Regan (Alyce’s most loyal companion and the first vila to stand by her side) has a point when she says that Alyce is blinded by Aurora to the detriment of all else.
I’m kind of team Regan tbh.
Alyce grew on me in this. She really does have good intentions and she’s hit with pangs of remorse for what she has done to the humans in Briar in search of her own vengeance, no better than how the Fae have treated the Vila. Who defines what makes an intention “good” anyway? Ultimately, for Alyce, it’s Aurora. Alyce does not trust her own moral compass, and so she looks to Aurora. The problem is, while Alyce may always make the choices that do right by Aurora, Aurora does not feel the same compulsion towards Alyce.
It makes for a complicated dynamic, to say the least. But it’s a dynamic that keeps you turning pages to see where this relationship is going. Friends to lovers to frenemies to allies to enemies to friends to lovers? Is Aurora ever going to forgive Alyce, or just string her along when convenient? Is Alyce ever going to set boundaries, or just go full doormat?
Throw in Derek, who is set up as a somewhat rival of Alyce’s, and “
The Dark Court, built on the broken smoldering bones of what used to be Briar, is a thing of macabre beauty: rust-coated opulent chandeliers, the heads of enemies mounted on walls, and gowns made of black and red feathers, cobweb lace, and silver branch collars. The members of the court themselves are just as fascinating: demons, vila, goblins, shifters, and imps (I was especially fond of the imps, they were like deadly mischievous toddlers that can make the most extraordinary gowns and delicate pastries out of almost nothing… and also kill you).
Someone who I wasn’t especially fond of was Aurora.
I tried to be sympathetic to her, I promise I did. After all, she did wake up after a hundred years to discover that almost everyone she knew was dead and her lover had pretty much reduced her kingdom to rubble. But it was like the things that mildly annoyed me about her in the first book – her stubbornness, inability to compromise, and firm belief that she knows best – were dialed up to a 10. She also comes across as just a little too perfect. Beyond her perfect beauty (which isn’t her fault, she was force-fed magic beauty elixirs her whole life), she is loved by almost all, with minimal effort on her part, and she always comes out on top. And honestly, Regan (Alyce’s most loyal companion and the first vila to stand by her side) has a point when she says that Alyce is blinded by Aurora to the detriment of all else.
I’m kind of team Regan tbh.
Alyce grew on me in this. She really does have good intentions and she’s hit with pangs of remorse for what she has done to the humans in Briar in search of her own vengeance, no better than how the Fae have treated the Vila. Who defines what makes an intention “good” anyway? Ultimately, for Alyce, it’s Aurora. Alyce does not trust her own moral compass, and so she looks to Aurora. The problem is, while Alyce may always make the choices that do right by Aurora, Aurora does not feel the same compulsion towards Alyce.
It makes for a complicated dynamic, to say the least. But it’s a dynamic that keeps you turning pages to see where this relationship is going. Friends to lovers to frenemies to allies to enemies to friends to lovers? Is Aurora ever going to forgive Alyce, or just string her along when convenient? Is Alyce ever going to set boundaries, or just go full doormat?
Throw in Derek, who is set up as a somewhat rival of Alyce’s, and “