Malice follows Alice who is just living her life of holding her family together. She makes sure her prodigy smart brother, Archie, eats his meals and is still dealing with the grief of her mother walking out on their family under suspicious circumstances. Her father hasn't talked to her or even looked at her in years so it's up to Alice to take care of everything in her and Archie's lives. An ordinary girl who has a food instagram even though she can't cook and an inspiring photographer that wants to travel the world. Then one day it all goes to hell in a handbasket basket when a voice suddenly arrives in her head, bringing a crap ton of pain and threatening her life unless she tells popular boy Bandit that she loves him. There's something more going on though and the voice, which turns out to be a future version of herself, refuses to tell her anything beyond someone in her class will create a disease that wipes out a significant portion of the world population unless Alice steps up and does exactly what future her tells present her to. Easy right? Plus in a school full of geniuses how hard could it be to figure out who is behind such malice?

Alice was such a bada**. She strode up to Bandit, told him that she loved him and then peaced out. That first task would have done me in. She was a brave girl who started out doing what she was told, but then started questioning everything. There are a few betrayals along the way but she stays strong and sticks to her guns. Alice starts out as this quiet and under appreciated sister of her smart brother, but really grows up and takes control of this bizarre position she's been put in.

Romance. Bandit was so sweet, cute and extremely frustrating. There was a bit of insta-love on Alices' part but who doesn't want a bad boy that's good only for you? I'm willing to slightly overlook it. I was constantly questioning if he was a different kind of bad though. Just like Alice though I tried really hard to overlook my doubts, no matter how guilty he seemed.

Solving the mystery behind the creator of the virus was full of twists, turns, and time travel that I was just not expecting. We get to dive into time travel, but in a way that wasn't overtly simplistic or complicated. We really never get to know how exactly it all works and I liked that. I wanted to focus on the story more than the science behind it all. The story of Alice, her family, friends, and Bandit was a good one and I think trying to explain the science behind every little thing would have ruined it. What we do get though is the effects of time travel on past and future scenarios which was interesting.

It took me about halfway through the book to start making guesses on who could be behind the virus and even then I was still second guessing myself until the very end. I don't think I would have had this book on my radar if it weren't for The FFBC introducing it to me. It was a quick and fun read that kept my attention. It has everything you could want in a story; a mad scientist, a cute and maybe bad boy, time travel and friendship. If you are looking for a sci-fi that doesn't dive too far into the science behind everything and gives you a mystery, I highly suggest picking up Malice when it hits shelves on February 4th!

I want to preface this review by naming that sci-fi is a hard genre for me to enjoy. The blurb for this book seemed really interesting so I was eager to pick it up and get into this sci-fi mystery read. But the plot just really didn't seem to make sense. There didn't seem to be clear rules for the time travel (If you can call it that when they're just communicating via their brains?) and the interactions between the characters felt really awkward to read. I feel like people that can suspend belief easier may enjoy this book more than I did.

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-book in exchange for an honest review.**

Title Malice

Author Pintip Dunn

Release Date February 4, 2020

Description from Amazon

What I know: a boy in my class will one day wipe out two-thirds of the population with a virus.

What I don’t know: who he is.

In a race against the clock, I not only have to figure out his identity, but I’ll have to outwit a voice from the future telling me to kill him. Because I’m starting to realize no one is telling the truth. But how can I play chess with someone who already knows the outcome of my every move? Someone so filled with malice they’ve lost all hope in humanity? Well, I’ll just have to find a way—because now they’ve drawn a target on the only boy I’ve ever loved…

Initial Thoughts

I don’t read a ton of sci-fi but one of my resolutions for 2020 was to read more of the genres that I previously designated as “out of my comfort zone”. The concept of this book sounded interesting so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Some Things I Liked

Magic without including a fantasy element. I loved (pun intended) the role that love played in this story. There was something pseudo-magical about Alice’s relationships with her family and with Bandit. For a story centered around science, I really appreciated the elements of human emotion factored into the story.
Mystery/Thriller vibes. I really enjoyed being on the edge of my seat while reading this story. It’s not often that a book can keep me guessing for as long as Malice did, so major props to Pintip Dunn on that front.
One Thing I Didn’t Like

Sci-fi is always a tough genre for me. I spend way too much time thinking about the plausibility of the story and I find it difficult to suspend my disbelief. There were some moments in this book where I struggled to believe in the time travel elements. But, they were few and far between. My one, tiny, complaint about this book is that there were some small moments where the magic of the story fizzled for me and I got bogged down by my own overly-critical mind.

Series Value

While I did enjoy getting to know these characters, this story feels complete. If Pintip Dunn decides to revisit this world for more about Alice and company, I’d enjoy reading it, but, I am happy with the conclusion of Malice.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed this book. I read it all in one shot because I couldn’t put it down. I had some small issues with the continuity of the time travel elements (but this is the main reason I avoid sci-fi as a genre). Overall, this was an interesting read with enjoyable and emotionally gripping characters.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte – if you liked the race against the clock to prevent a terrible action element of Malice, try this standalone by Astrid Scholte.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman – if you enjoyed the more science fiction-y elements of this story, try the Arc of a Scythe series by Neal Shusterman.
Caraval by Stephane Garber – ok, this seems like a weird rec, but hear me out. If you liked the idea of someone attempting to prevent something in the future because they have knowledge of said future, try this series. Also, if you liked that concept but wanted a more fantasy setting, you will enjoy this series.

3.5 stars

MALICE is a highly engaging YA sci-fi read. Alice lives with her father, who spends all his time working, and brother, whom she takes care of. Her brother is a genious, who can't seem to remember the basic stuff like eating. She loves her family fiercely.

One day, she is confronted by a voice claiming to be herself from 10 years in the future, who tells her to approach a popular guy and tell him she loves him. Alice does, but the requests get worse from there, including that there is someone at her school will create a virus that wipes out most of humanity and forces the rest underground. Alice must kill this person, but first, she must find out who will do this terrible thing.

The book is paced well, but I am left with so many questions about time travel (which does not seem to have clear rules, so this raises a lot of questions about why they didn't go certain ways vs. the ones they chose). I felt like some of these create some sizable plot holes that I would have selected to go without. For instance, people are approached at different times, and the future selves can come in any order, their time linear is not their past's time linear, so why not go before this person was born and prevent that? That's one of many questions I have. On the flip side, I was interested enough to buy into it as-is.

The person who creates the virus is incredibly clear right from the start. I felt like Alice was intentionally obtuse, and it was made to be a big reveal (which felt a little disappointing, because I was hoping to be surprised).

The romance in this book was really well done though, and I loved the couple, the way they connected, and their chemistry. From that point-of-view, this was a really excellent book. Thus, I would recommend for people who like YA romance with a sci-fi element.

Overall, this was an engaging read with a great couple and an intriguing premise. I would recommend for fans of YA romance with some sci-fi.

Please note that I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Malice was a nice surprise, I didn’t know much about the storyline which made all the better. There was so many twists and turns, I was continuously waiting with anticipation for what was to happen next throughout the book, it kept me on my toes thats for sure.

The story itself was quite fascinating, I thought the way time travel was included in the story was done quite well.
I do believe this is the first book in a new series, which I want to read now, I’m not ready to leave this story yet.