Erin's Reviews > Malice

Closer to 2.5 stars.

Malice feels almost nostalgic, not because it is a fairytale retelling, but because it feels very reminiscent of a 2010's YA novel in its prose. In fact, it feels strange to me that this is not a YA novel. I have a suspicion that the book was originally slated to be a YA novel, but the author wanted it to be an adult novel, so she included one vaguely described sex scene so that it would be forced to be marketed as an adult novel.

Otherwise, the characters fit pretty neatly into traditional YA archetypes - the girl who is "too plain," "too pale," "too thin." She's unique and chosen within her society. Her primary antagonists are insipid and vain and mean for no discernible reason. The love interest is the most desirable person in the school kingdom and is inexplicably into the main character. The main character's negative choices are justified by the narrative even if they do not really make sense. Additionally, (view spoiler)[her closest friend and confidant ends up betraying her in the end (hide spoiler)]. The first person narration lends itself to information dumps through the main character conveniently reminiscing on the history of her land and people at random times. Of course the narrative does not exactly adhere to these 2010's YA tropes, the similarities are there. In that way, it is nostalgic - I have a feeling that Walter and I grew up on the same novels.

Now there were some positive ways in which the novel deviates from 2010's tropes. The novel does not necessarily decenter men but speaks negatively about men in power while much of 2000-2010's YA centers on male validation. Alyce's character motivations were believable, especially towards the beginning of the narrative. Aurora and Alyce do not actually have that much chemistry in my opinion, which makes the romantic aspects of the novel weak, but it makes sense that Alyce is obsessed with Aurora, who was one of the few people who seemed to accept her. Alyce is willing to do anything to keep that relationship, even if it ends in her ruin.

However, the interesting characterization of Alyce does not overcome the significant problem with pacing. The last 50 pages are a whirlwind, which in a more character-driven novel could have been an excellent exploration of mania and panic but were instead confusing and desperate.

Overall, a nostalgic but not necessarily compelling read. I probably won't finish the duology.