Malice is an extremely satisfying twist on the classic fairytale stories. This was a wonderful blending of multiple tales—Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella in particular. Alyce is part Vila, a magic-wielding race that has been nearly exterminated. Due to her lineage, she is treated with fear and revulsion by nearly everyone she meets. Alyce serves in the Lavender House, providing curses to the denizens of the city as the Dark Grace. Aurora, on the other hand, is the last remaining princess in a line of cursed daughters, all doomed to die if they do not kiss their true love before they turn 21.

The worldbuilding in this story was fantastic and I greatly enjoyed reading every new detail about the world at large. The story is well-written and the pacing was good. I’m a big fan of slow-burn, queer romance stories and Malice definitely delivered on this front. I’d definitely recommend this for anyone who is a fan of fairytale retellings who’d like a queer twist on the genre. Without giving any spoilers, the only aspect I wasn’t a huge fan of was how the book ended. I’m really hoping the author intends to continue Alyce and Aurora’s story.

This Sleeping Beauty retelling where the princess and the "evil" sorceress was wonderful. I couldn't stop reading it. Dark and beautiful, this book tackles the concepts of being an outcast, conforming to society, following your heart, being true to yourself, and standing by your principals. The writing was vivid and lyrical and I've already recommended this book to multiple friends.

I truly enjoyed this very different take on a classic fairy tale. Right from the outset it was easy to tell that Alyce was not going to be the stereotypical fairy tale character. I loved how the author upended a lot of long-standing fairy tale conventions in this book. I definitely didn’t think Sleeping Beauty could be told in this way and have it be enjoyable but it was a great new spin on an age old story. I loved how complex the characters were and it was easy to see why Alyce for example made some decisions that made her the villain. I also enjoyed that there was lgbtq romance as a central part of the plot. I can’t wait to read the sequel to this series. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to provide my honest feedback.

First, thanks to Random House and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I so desperately wanted to love this. Sleeping Beauty is my absolute favorite fairy tale, I love retellings, and I was a big fan of Maleficent. The first half of the book was pretty detailed in the world-building, but it was soooooo slooooooow. It started to pick up in the second half before barreling towards the ending around 80% in. I was rooting for Alyce and feeling so much of her pain, but her actions at the end seem a bit out of character in a way. I hated how much agency was taken away, not just from Alyce, but also Aurora (and I know that’s kind of the point, but I still hated it). It’s clearly set up for a sequel, and I’ll see how that goes. But I also wonder if the story couldn’t have been tightened up to fit within one book.
On the surface, I should have loved this, but the execution fell short for me.

3.25 stars

Thank you so much to the publisher, Del Ray, for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the best books that I have read all year and is likely a new favorite of all time as well!

I devoured this story as quickly as I could. Not that I wanted it to be over with but because I was so invested in the story and needed to know what was going to happen next. The writing style in this book is INCREDIBLE and lovely to read. It is the perfect blend of flowery and direct which works so well for me.

I love our morally gray main character, Alyce. She is so easy to root for, even as she makes questionable decisions. I adore morally gray characters and this book did a great job of that! The romance in this book is SO slow burn, I adore it! It felt natural and the chemistry between Alyce and Aurora is so electrifying, I adore it.

I have nothing bad to say about this book. It is absolute perfection to me and I am desperate for more people to read this book when it comes out. I for sure need my own physical copy now and translate all of my highlighted notes from my eARC copy to the finished copy! I think this is the most I have ever annotated an eARC before, that's how much I loved it. Overall, if my review hasn't convinced you enough, PLEASE GO READ THIS BOOK. It is magical, dark, lush, beautifully written, riddled with plot twists that you don't see coming, a slow burn F/F romance and so so much more. I highly recommend this book and am desperate for more from this author!

"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."

I might be a tad Sleeping Beauty obsessed and I just love that we're getting such a unique new spin on it!

I love a fairy tale retelling, and this is an interpretation of Sleeping Beauty unlike any other I've read. I enjoyed it tremendously, and thought the queer spin on it was an excellent feature. The characters are vividly colored and unexpectedly layered and complex. Loved it!

(3.5 rounded up)

I received this book as an advanced readers copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the world-building and magic system. The author did well in explaining it and helping the reader understand the main character’s circumstance.

I was absolutely in love with this story, but the end left me disappointed. While I’m aware this is the first book in the series and loose ends are expected, I felt like the ending just didn’t make sense, thee plot became messy and disorganized.

Additionally, I felt like Alyce’s actions towards the end were extremely out of character (while I recognize the reason for this, it will be omitted for the sake of spoilers) and I felt like her reason why was an unnecessary addition to an already over complicated conclusion.

Hopefully the author manages to solve these issues later in the series, I am looking forward to it.

What a fresh and different take on the Sleeping Beauty tale! I'm so excited to see a F/F retelling of this story, especially one that explores the infinite shades of gray between good and evil. I was so drawn into Alyce's story and felt so much empathy for her, so much so that the ending and her final choices made perfect sense to me. And, oh my word, THIS AUTHOR'S WRITING. The turns of phrase are just beautiful, poetic in their perfection, and I found myself constantly highlighting sentences for no other reason than I wanted to be able to read over them later and savor the loveliness of the way the words fell together.

A treat from beginning to end from this wonderful new debut author!

I have always enjoyed fairy tales. A flipped retale is always a nice change. Malice is a different tale. I enjoyed the characters and story line. Alyce is a dark power compared to the Grace powers. She is always picked on and hated. Aurora, the princess is cursed and needs to find true love. From here the tale changes and changes. There is mating so this is not for a younger audience.i was surprised by the ending, so worth the read.

I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this amazing fairy tale retelling!

I love fairy tale retellings, and there have been so many incredibly great ones lately, especially in the realm of YA, but I think Malice is my favorite so far of the past few years. I absolutely love retellings from the perspective of the villain, and Malice absolutely does the villain perspective justice. The protagonist is Alyce, who is half Vila, a race of reviled creatures who have been almost entirely eradicated and who, many many years ago, put a curse on the royal family of Briar. Alyce is hated and ostracized but also used for her dark magic. She meets the princess Aurora, who is the first person who doesn't hate and fear Alyce's very being, and Alyce is able to finally start to become comfortable with herself as well. The relationship between Alyce and Aurora is incredibly poignant and I really enjoyed watching it develop throughout the book. Alyce makes an incredibly sympathetic villain, and the way she is used and manipulated throughout the story is heart-wrenching. Everyone in Briar is trapped in their roles, and I really loved that so much of the plot was driven by various characters trying to break free of those roles. This book takes standard fairy-tale tropes and turns them on their heads, and the end result is both incredibly dark and incredibly satisfying.

Highly highly recommend!

I love retellings so if that’s something you like, I bet you’ll enjoy this. I’m starting to see more love for “morally grey” characters, especially if they are villains. But I do believe it gives a different perspective and take on the antagonist on every plot and storyline.

Alyce is a Dark Grace, “gifted” by the Fae a special ability a portion of their blood in which allows her to create magical and dark elixirs. Except her elixirs aren’t like the other Grace’s elixirs full of beauty and light. Her elixirs are sinister and maleficent and full of ill intent. These differences cast her in a shameful light in the Caste system within Briar. The people there are scared of her and are only willing to approach her when they need a dark elixir.

But is she really any different than any of the other Grace’s? They’re held captive and bound by the same laws that she is. They have to use their blood to create elixirs for the people of Briar as well. Cursed to use their magic until it fades away?

Alyce thought her life would be nothing more than her dingy lair and creating elixirs for people who were scared of her until one night she was invited to a masquerade ball in the castle and had a surprising run in with princess Aurora.

Now, nothing is as it seems. Princess Aurora doesn’t shy away from Alyce like all of the others.


This novel was good. It had a great LGBQT moment in there that I was excited to see! I was also excited about the characters of the classic fairytales being spun in such different story. I enjoyed reading all of the novel and devoured it all in less than 24 hours.

What I didn’t like about the novel was the amount of back story we got. There was way too much of it and I felt like the plot was lost at times due to the amount of backstory given. In fact, you can skip entire pages due to backstory and you’ll not have missed anything needed for the storyline. Due to this, some of the reading felt stalled. That being said, with all of the elements in the novel present, i sallied forth and enjoyed the novel with all of the backstory.

I received an ARC from NetGallery for review.

A reimagining of Sleepy Beauty, but not exactly what one would expect. Graces are magical women that can create potions and magic that help singing voices croon, blemishes vanish, and dispense wisdom. Not Alyce. Alyce is the Dark Grace, abhorred by upper society, but still requested to wreak havoc on fellow folk. Her magic is dark and twisted and can only bring forth boils and suffering...which of course, people will pay top dollar for. Alyce hates it. Until one day she meets her royal highness, Aurora...who sees past

Absoluuuuutely LOVED this book! Great romance, great storytelling, fascinating magic! I literally don't have any problems with it, it hit all the marks right. I guess the only thing is the language is kinda flowery but, really, it makes sense within the story.

Alyce is a fascinating protagonist that doesn't follow typical protagonist rules, she's belittled and spat at, but instead of "being better than them" she gives into mischief at times for her minor revenge. Which is entertaining to read!

Aurora was really sweet as well, their relationship felt fleshed out and believable. Poor Alyce though, life loves throwing hardballs at her. Can't wait for the sequel! :)

Over the past couple of years, I have learned that I don't really like fairytale retellings; especially the retelling that come almost directly from the source material. It feels like "been there, done that." But this book was completely different. Not only did we get the point of view from the so-called villain, but we got a romance that was new and exciting. I'm glad I gave this retelling a chance!

Malice was AMAZING! I could not put the book down and stayed up late/woke up early to devour this book in two days. Villain origin stories are my favorite, and this one is sapphic? Sign me up, take all my money, whatever you need! I will be posting a full review on my Instagram account (@thebookadvocate) within the next two weeks.

Malice was a truly interesting read. I’d actually say that the plot felt like a combined retelling of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. I adored a lot of aspects from it, but also i did not enjoy other aspects.
I think the author did a great job in character work. Alyce had so much depth and it was so easy to be emotionally attached to her. We got to see her thought process, the way its been sculpted and how its beginning to evolve and that was such an interesting way to read because we as readers know where her character is leading towards so the process of getting there had to be executed well and i think the author did a great job with it. And not only alyce, bust t side characters while not flushed out, had distinct personalities and characterization and I appreciate that a lot. One other thing is the world building is done exceptionally well here, we got to know a lot about the different factions and their histories!!! Undoubtedly the best part was the romance!!! AAAH AURORA AND MALYCE!!!
The nitpicks i had were mostly with the writing style. I wasn’t able to get into it and it felt a bit boring through the middle. This may have been due to the extensive info dumps that happened actually throughout the book so I didn’t exactly love that aspect. 
All in all this was a good book!!! Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley

Walter is able to craft a lush and detailed world reminiscient of the simple Sleeping Beauty tale with a villain and sapphic twist. Alyce was able to truly touch upon the balance between good and evil and where she lies upon the aforementioned scale. Malice is dark and beguiling filled with YA tropes in a more adult fairytale retelling giving it a more youthful feel and exuberance. The slow burn wlw romance was beautiful in essence as it challenged the original story. This story is also very character driven which I find more personally easier to read and it allows the readers to gain further depths into the characters until the action begins to kick off in the last 25% of the book
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3769796727

Where do I even start with this book. I love a retelling, especially a retelling from the "villain's" perspective. But Alyce isn't a villain. She's been beaten down time and time again and she finally finds something good to hold onto. It's a beautiful story. Not to mention the world-building? Amazing. The world is rich and full of history and there's no huge chunks of exposition that leave you dying for anything else to be happening.

Also, I am crying in the club tonight over these lesbians.