Cover Image: Malice

Malice

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

The story is intriguing from the beginning, keeps you wondering about the next scene every page. Alice is a strong character despite of being confused and in a dilemma, she's optimistic and has high morals. Despite being a 'normal' kid in a school of genius kids, Alice is very intelligent, emotionally too. She figures out things on her own.

The reason I gave this story a 4 stars is because of the weird explanation of time travel. I personally felt like it

I would recommend you to read this book of you're looking for a good science fiction read with a dash if romance, mystery, and slight thrill.
Thank you Entagled Teen for an eARC.

Was this review helpful?

Definitely an enjoyable read. This is my first Pintip Dunn book but I loved how she wrote her narrative! The virus definitely felt super real and the stakes were set right at the beginning. Overall, enjoyable!

Was this review helpful?

The concept of this book sounded a little off the rocker, but that was why I picked it up. Sometimes a little out there is what a person needs. This book kept me guessing the whole time. Just when I thought I had it pegged as to who was the Maker, I was totally wrong, or so I thought. I guessed the actual Maker, like three times, but then changed my mind in the next chapter. The writing was great and the characters were full of depth. A great thriller by Dunn.

Review will be live on the Book Confessions blog on 1-30-2020

Was this review helpful?

This is a quick read that ticks a lot of my boxes - YA, tick; time travel, tick; the end of the world being nigh, tick. Unfortunately I found this book difficult to get into and can only rate it 3 stars for that reason. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC egalley.

Was this review helpful?

“Sometimes, even soul mates won’t fit together if they meet at the wrong age.”

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC of Malice. And a HUGE thank you to Pintip Dunn for writing it!

I was not sure what to expect from this book going in. It is not a book I would normally go for, but this year is all about branching out of my comfort zone, much like the characters in this book. I can’t express enough how happy I am that I requested this book and was approved!

I completely lost myself in this book. I’m talking, staying up until almost 4am because I didn’t want to put it down! I laughed out loud, I cried, I cheered my fave characters on and hoped beyond hope that the villain wouldn’t ruin it all.

I honestly don’t think I could say one bad thing about this book. I was written to perfection imo.

The time travel was so fun and unique. It reminded me a lot of the 90’s movie Contact with Jodi Foster ( which happens to be one of my fave movies of its time).

I honestly loved every character. They all played their part perfectly and there was a reason for every one of them. Every person and interaction had a purpose in telling the story.

The romance, for me, was right on point. I cried happy tears and sad ones, and enjoyed every darn minute! It was not insta-lovey at all which made it all the more exciting. I will adore this story beyond time, in any timeline.

I want to just go on ranting about this absolutely enthralling story, but I don’t want to ruin any part of it for anyone. Just know, I flippin loved this book! It held my attention all the way though and I was happy with the ending.

Was this review helpful?

I received this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I LOVED this book. The plot was so good and I didn’t want to put it down! I have wanted to read this book since it came out and I was NOT disappointed! Recently, I haven’t been interested in sci-fi novels, but after reading this, I think i’ll have to check some of them out again! I love the idea of a future self being able to communicate with a past self. Such a cool idea!

Was this review helpful?

“Once upon a time stream, *BLANK* invents a virus that will wipe out two-thirds of humanity.”

Malice by Pintip Dunn is a story about one girls’ love for her family, her friends and doing what’s right, no matter the cost to herself. It is an engaging story with page-turning twists, turns, and just enough red-herrings to keep me turning pages. It has a captivating storyline and a strong science fiction element that I found fascinating.

Alice is a wonderful main character; she is extremely likeable and has a strong moral code. She’s taken care of her genius yet absent minded older brother, Archie, since their mother left, leaving them with an emotionally unavailable father. When a voice from the future claiming to be Alice 10 years from now hijacks her brain with the news that someone she loves will create a virus that will wipe out most of the population, it’s up to Alice to discover who stop them. Future Alice asks her to do certain things, the requests are at first benign, embarrassing but harmless but then the requests become increasingly more alarming and Alice must find out who the creator of the virus is.

I would recommend this to anyone who is a fond of the genre and this includes thrillers, suspense, and science fiction with a dash of romance on the side.

Was this review helpful?

Intense YA Sci-Fi Drama. Not my first Pintip Dunn read and anyone who has not given this author a try should treat yourself. Hard to put this one down with the very charismatic players and the future that holds such uncertain visions for them. Listening to the voices in your head might be a cry for help from your own individual future. Plot is a layered effect that is a challenge to follow but also keeps the suspense building. "A copy of this book was provided by Entangled via Netgalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion." NOT JUST A TEEN READ!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you Entangled Teen for the ARC of “Malice.” Although I did receive a free ARC, all opinions are my own.

I loved "Malice" so much. This is probably my favorite read of 2020 so far. Alice is a high school student, minding her own business when all of a sudden she receives a painful ZAP and a voice starts talking to her in her head. As the book goes on, Alice discovers this voice is herself 10 years in the future. Future Alice's name is Malice. Malice is traveling back in time through young Alice's consciousness to try and stop a deadly virus which makes people allergic to the sun. Throughout the book we are taken back and forth between current times and 10 years in the future. Imagine knowing what things would be like for yourself 10 years in the future! There are finally hover-boards!

Even though this book is YA fiction, I really think any adult could enjoy this book. It was a quick read for me because I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happens in the end. I do think there were some plots of the book that just kind of fizzled out without going anywhere. For example, Alice and Archie's mother, Alice dating Zeke, Charlie, etc. It's possible these will be followed up in further books.

One thing I thought was so creative was how Bandit's name kept changing in Alice's phone. IT started out as something negative but by the end of the book it was obvious Alice had strong, positive feelings regarding Bandit.

Was this review helpful?

This is my first Pintip Dunn book and I now consider myself a superfan! This isn't your typical angst-ridden teen book. The plot is fascinating and had me frantically reading as fast as possible to get to the dramatic conclusion. I don't want to give too much away but the underlying social issues of bullying, the emotional scars of childhood and their consequences could generate productive conversations with young adults. This book has it all an epic romance, science fiction, and a whodunit rolled into one perfect package. I highly recommend Malice for teens and their parents!

Was this review helpful?

I was given an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A quick and fun read. More enjoyable than expected. I'm not a big fan of science based reads or sci-fi in general, but this was fun. The characters are diverse and interesting. It addresses a serious issue faced by many teenagers and young people. The example is drastic, but effective to get the meaning across. From an educator standpoint, this book can lead to deep analysis and discussions between peers and self reflection.

Was this review helpful?

Pintip Dunn’s MALICE is a young adult time travel book that completely enthralled this reader with the many twists and turns and an eventual ending that left this reader positively spinning in her seat.

A voice who claims to be, and sounds like it could be, Alice, but a future Alice. She is so shocked that she does what the voice tells her do, humiliate herself by proclaiming her love to a boy she has secretly crushed on forever in front of the entire school. Then it wants her to kill him in order to save the world? If it wasn’t happening to her, Alice would have thought she lost her ever loving mind.

Boy oh boy was this book good. It starts out a touch slow and a little confusing. Yet, the characters are multidimensional and well fleshed out. Then after a five or six chapters, this reader thought she had it all figured out and the disappointment of a book failing to meet expectations started to set in. But this reader never puts a book down until it is finished, so I persevered. And that perseverance paid off in spades. When MALICE picks up the pace, the storyline absolutely takes off. It takes readers down one path only to switch to another and then another and then your mind simply reels. By the time the book ends, all readers can do is simply lean back with a very surprised WOW. This book was nothing like I thought it would be. And it teaches a lesson to boot.

This reader doesn’t have any idea where Pintip Dunn plans to take readers with the next book this author writes, but one thing this readers knows for certain, I will be there eagerly awaiting it. This was one really good book.

Was this review helpful?

#Malice #NetGalley

Malice is an extremely different and refreshing read. I really like how Dunn uses the character development in a way that come to a tipping point, everything that happens after they choose good or bad will happen at a landslide. There is no coming back once you make a decision like that. You can try to change your ways, but if you make the wrong decision, it will haunt you forever. Wonderfully written and executed, Dunn weaves a web that will make you wonder how it will play out until almost the very end of the book.

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and NetGalley for an advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

Malice by Pintip Dunn follows a girl named Alice who has to stop a deadly virus from being created. It's best to not know anything else but this going into the book.

I found this book very compelling and readable. The plot moved along without being boring, but the mystery and "twists" didn't captivate me.

The writing style is very reminiscent of what writing was ten years ago. I chose to take this as a choice the author made based on the contents of the book.

Overall, the book wasn't groundbreaking but it was a fun and entertaining book that I would recommend to young readers who want to get into light sci-fi.

3.5/5

Was this review helpful?

Really enjoyable book with interesting concept on time travel. I enjoyed the slow progression of finding out the main plot of "who done it" as well as the other fun twists and turns along the way. Fingers crossed for a sequel!

Was this review helpful?

Absolutely enthralled by this book from start to finish. I could not put it down. I don't say that often about a read, especially a young adult book, but this one hit the heart strings with a nonstop, exciting adventure. Is the premise of the novel (a race to find the bad guy based on information from the future) a unique idea? No. It's been done in countless Sci Fi stories and movies, but this author has woven a masterful, suspenseful tale with her rich, troubled characters. Layered upon this is the delight of adolescence and all its awkwardness and insecurity when slamming into new love.
Absolutely recommend. Read it.

Was this review helpful?

A fun read! I didn't know what to expect when I started this one, but I liked the cover, and the blurb sounded fun. I really enjoyed it, though, and am glad I got the chance to read it! I enjoyed the characters, and the story was well written!

Was this review helpful?

Here's the thing: I wanted so much to like this. I tried so hard to like the wildly unrealistic, sometimes downright outlandish plot. I hoped and I waited for the "timey wimey wibbly wobbly" of it all to ground itself in something more scientifically plausible, or at least in something with sensical rules that made it seem like time travel could exist in Alice's world. After all, it was buzz words like "voice from the future" and "stop a deadly virus" that attracted me to this book in the first place. It was the sci-fi impetus behind my initial interest.

I mean...I am all about traveling through fiction wormholes! Just shove me into one and color it with modulations that make it seem real.

Unfortunately for me, however, I found this story disintegrated into too much dramatic unbelievability for me to be able to buy into the whole Save the World emotion and conflict it attempted to elicit. It veered too much into close-your-eyes-snap-your-fingers-and-think magic instead of science.

"Malice" was just... too far-fetched for my liking. (Absolutely absurd in places.) Mind you, I did appreciate the Thai diversity shown here as well as Bandit and Alice's progression from strangers to friends to blue-stylin' lovers but I couldn't get past the hollow execution of the time/future element. The Maker reveal was anticlimatic, too, considering the culprit was easily deducible within the first couple of chapters.

All in all, it was a lackluster "okay" for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC!

Was this review helpful?

I would like to thank Pintip Dunn & Entangled Publishing for my copy of the ARC. Due to this kind gesture, I have decided to leave an honest review.

What if mankind was at stake? Could you sit back and wait for future doom to drop on you or would you fight to prevent this? Alice never thought her life would come to this. Attending a high school for the extremely gifted (that she only attends due to her genius of a brother), dreaming of when she will be finished and hopefully off on her travels to photograph the world. One day Alice is reached too from the future, explaining that a deadly virus will wipe out most the population and her help is needed to prevent this. She finally thinks she is losing the plot, going insane! Or is she? What will our little Malice do...

The book is so intriguing and extremely funny at points. The plot gripped me from the start but I did find myself getting a tad bored at parts, where there wasn't really any dialogue just wordy parts that could have been left out. Overall it was ejoyable and I read it in one sitting, extremely quickly!

I didn't expect it to turn out a YA sci-fi thriller kinda book but it had a good edge to it. I feel the romance was paced very well and you liked the characters, watching them stumble over into it. I do think it was clear from the start who created the virus but I didn't actually expect the ending which was good.

I did really like our leading lady Alice. She was witty and funny which completely matched our lovely male Bandit. His little jokes and one liners were funny and I can just remember guys at school like him. I love how we get to see this vulnerable part to him, it made him even more relatable to and I was really rooting for him.

Our other characters were atually likeable themselves. Archie, Alice's older brother. Zeke (I still don't understand his relationship if its friendly or purely using Archie for help with work). Lalana, Alice's amazing best friend. Cristela, who slips into a BFF role. They all had their little places and didn't find myself disliking any of them.

The book touches on family break-ups, struggles with identification, depression, teenage agnst, and I must admit it was done pretty well. So for that I give it 3 stars!

All in all, it was not a bad read. I would recommend it if you are looking for something quick and edgy.

"Because when I talk to you, sometimes you forget to blink. And so help me, that makes me feel like the most important person on the planet."

Was this review helpful?

Malice by Pintip Dunn, published by Entangled Publishing is a stand alone, YA sci-fi thriller.
Maat Alice. She's a junior at highschool, 17 years old. Her one year older brother is a prodigy, often lost in his own head. Lets just say he dances to his own song.
When a voice shows up in her head and warns and tasks her with resuing the future mankind, she has her work laid out.
Alice just wants to be a normal teenager with normal tennageer problems, but she has to shoulder a big rock.
Malice is a fst paced, highly entertaining, unputdownable read that had me captivated from start til the end. The story is well written with unexpected twists and turns that had me on the edge of my seat. The storyline is great with just the right amount of drama, suspense and danger to keep me reading. 5 Stars.

Was this review helpful?