Malice

A Novel

De: Heather Walter

Narrado por: Ann Marie Gideon

A princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this “bewitching and fascinating” (Tamora Pierce) retelling of “Sleeping Beauty”, true love is more than a simple fairy tale.

“Walter’s spellbinding debut is for all the queer girls and women who’ve been told to keep their gifts hidden and for those yearning to defy gravity.” (O: The Oprah Magazine)

Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.

You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily ever after.

Utter nonsense.

Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either.

Until I met her.

Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she...cares for me. Even though a power like mine was responsible for her curse.

But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating - and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps together we could forge a new world.

Nonsense again. Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I -

I am the villain.

Book one of the Malice Duology

©2021 Heather Walter (P)2021 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“The villain takes center stage in Walter’s superlative debut, a refreshing spin on Sleeping Beauty.... Fairy tale lovers of all ages will be thrilled.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

“A truly original and clever retelling of a classic that had me racing to the end - you’ll never look at ‘Sleeping Beauty’ the same way again.” (S. A. Chakraborty, author of the best-selling Daevabad trilogy)

“Absolutely dazzling! Full of love, power, and betrayal, Malice is as compelling as a spell, as captivating as an enchantment, and as fascinating and delicious as a fairy-tale curse. I loved it!” (Sarah Beth Durst, award-winning author of the Queens of Renthia series)

Don’t listen while driving

I don’t even know where to begin with this review. First let me start with, yes I can’t wait for the next book. This is a very complex and emotionally challenging book. I almost feel like I’m in an abusive relationship with it. One moment we’re going through the “nice to meet you and learn more about you” phase and you sound a little beaten down and here let me help you carry your baggage to the “meet and greet the friends and family” and now I know why you’re so messed up but you still have that je ne sais quois about you. Then the abuse begins and you’re starting to piss me off. Next is the drowning. There are moments of reprieve but those are far and few between. By the end I’m so immersed I stop breathing until I realize there’s a second book on the horizon. The water recedes, my hope is back and I think maybe 🤔 we can make it.
Honestly the author did such a fabulous job of “authoring” and the narrator did a wonderful job of helping her flesh out the characters that half the time I wanted to pull the protagonist turned antagonist straight from the proverbial pages and slam her on the table! Okay it was all the characters at one time or another. I was so angry through most of this book that it’s good I wasn’t driving or I’m sure there would have been serious road rage on my part. I’m a huge fan of HEAs and hate cliffhangers but here we are. One cliffhanger (check), HEA (?) who knows but as I stated earlier I’m hopeful.

I'll never forget this story.

I always love it when characters stop holding back, and that ending was absolutely attention grabbing. So much so that I'm kind of sad about having to wait until next year to hear the next audiobook.

Wonderful

Get it! You won’t be sorry. The only thing I’m upset about is there isn’t a second book yet.

New Top 5 Favorite

Stunning and addictive.

I typically struggle with fairytale re-writes because they feel like a knock-off of a movie I’ve already seen and really liked. “Malice” was amazing from the very beginning, and then I couldn’t stop reading, sneakily trying to read it on my phone while at work, then staying up late to finish it. I immediately wanted to snatch up the second book and start reading so I could find out what happens. This book is a roller coaster, and the second half is just non-stop nail-biting, anxiety causing action and drama.

I adored Alyce and Aurora, and I am so utterly invested in their story and the fate of Briar.

This story is more than a love story, more than a fairytale. It’s about racism, slavery, corruption, greed, betrayal, and the very human breaking point inside all of us. It’s about how monsters aren’t born, they’re made.

Alyce is called the Dark Grace, while not being a Grace, at all. Graces are created when human parents are blessed by a fae, and then they’re required by law to, literally, bleed themselves dry for the sake of the wealthy. Alyce is called the Dark Grace because she’s park Vila— a type of dark faerie. And her powers are much the opposite of the other Graces, which people publicly revile her for while secretly patroning her for the very curses they hate her for being able to make. It’s very much a Cinderella in an abusive household story, but without the happy childhood prior. Alyce’s childhood was filled with abuse and torture, trying to “cure” her of what she is.

“For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them.”— Sir Thomas More

Alyce has become a powder keg, created by the people who hate her for existing and her potential for evil, all while pious and blind to their own wickedness and evil. Beautiful on the outside, but black ichor within.

So, when Alyce meets Aurora and Kal, you begin to see how desperate and starved for human kindness she is, how finally getting something she’s never had and the potential risk of losing that could turn cataclysmic.

There are so many pieces at odds with each other, it’s like a warehouse of powder kegs waiting to go off, and all it would take is a single spark to set off a bloody war or revolution.

And when the match is finally struck, the explosion is catastrophic. Like a train wreck you can only watch but not stop. Horrific and inevitable. You can only stare and wonder how, if it all, it can be salvaged and if anyone survived.

How I’m supposed to wait until next year to find out, I don’t know. I will ABSOLUTELY check out any other books penned by this author. This was exquisite.

Couldn’t stop listening

I don’t write reviews. It’s something I save myself from because I want everyone to have their own individual choice and experience. This book, however, is one of the best I’ve read. Granted I do not go about reading Tolstoy on the regular, I’m a normal everyday person. “Malice”, will set your soul afire! The author’s writing alone will make you feel every emotion that courses through it’s story. It’s wonderful, and the love story that blooms will make any one’s heart sing. The narrator is phenomenal, her voice captures the world and it’s characters with beautiful story telling. Don’t let this book pass you by, if you like “Once Upon A Times…” with twists this is the one for you.

A fun take on Sleeping Beauty

I enjoyed this plot very much. I love anything that presents fantasy in a way that inspires and “Malice” does the job.

The characters aren’t always believable and there are a few times the author has them think or say one thing only to immediately act out or say the opposite, which was a bit jarring, but the overall story is good enough to keep me reading.

The “steamy” scene was so vague that I did feel a bit disappointed, but since this isn’t classified as a romance novel, I’m okay with it. I also wasn’t reading for the romance, I was reading for the fresh plot and intriguing characters.

Worth the read if you like fairy tales and villains.

Blown Away

I'm blown away. This twisted Sleeping Beauty retelling was a wild ride and I loved it. I will say that it's fairly predictable in what it does. That is in part because it is following the standard Sleeping Beauty storyline. You could tell from the very beginning that Alys was going to be the one to break Aurora's curse and that somehow it was all going to go wrong. I do feel that it modernized the fairytale. I enjoyed the Sapphic romance subplot, instead of having the typical Prince Charming savior. The different facets morally grey and villainous characters, especially from Alys' point of view really added a level of believability to this retelling. Alys, herself, was very morally grey and to see her vacillate between doing bad things while justifying it, and wanting to be good and kind, was made all the more nuanced when she lost everything in the end. Her juxtaposition with Aurora’s innate goodness was a very interesting take. And he absolute unraveling in the end really spoke to how much heartbreak, betrayal and pain she'd endured up until that point.

The worldbuilding was top-notch. Especially when it came to the elaborate setting and the magic system. Honestly, the magic system and Briar's history were so much more complex than I expected. I love a fantasy book with beautiful world building. It could have leaned more into the darker side of things, but honestly, I'm happy it didn't go completely dark. It made it easier for me to read and enjoy. I'm very much looking forward to the second book.

Really great twist on a classic fairy tale!

I enjoyed this story so much! Definitely a must read! Ready for the sequel! The character development is great for the main characters. This is a good twist on an old fairytale. The ending was pretty cool.

Delightful

I really enjoyed this retelling of Sleeping Beauty. It had some delightful twists, and I loved that while Alice is a sympathetic character, she is still very much a “villain”. But in a weird the villain is right but maybe not like that kind of way.
The narration was good and helped bring the story to life without getting in the way.
All in all - very much looking forward to experiencing more from this pair.

Villian Origin Story, sign me up!

Who doesn't love a re-told fairy tale? If not a fairy tale, who doesn't love a villain origin story?
Yes, we've all seen the Angelina Joli, Maleficent, and it's great, so why on earth do we want to read Malice?

It's very different, you've got a young Maleficient, in this book known as Alyce (though when listening to it, I thought the spelling was Alice), figuring out her way in this very well built out world as a "Dark Grace". (Graces are the origin story of the fairy godmothers).

The time the author put into building out the world and the history is much appreciated, and the plot. Quite different than what I expected which was having Aurora trying to find her true love kiss. We're following Alyce's character development as she learns about herself, her power, and her history.

I'm intrigued enough to pick up the second and finish the duology.