First of all, bless Heather Walter. She took Sleeping beauty and turned it on its head in the BEST possible way. Not in the fluffy fairytale way but in the grimdark way where we get slow burn, sapphic romance, high fantasy, bloodshed and disaster. I cannot stress this enough: this book will wring your emotions allll the way out.

Alyce is an orphan, abandoned and unloved. She descends from a long line of powerful beings called the Vila who once rivaled the high Fae in magic but were tragically wiped from the earth when humans and Fae alike joined forces to destroy them. Alyce is hated, reviled, shunned and abused all of her life but she is kept alive because her powerful blood is coveted by those who wish to harm their rivals. Teased by her beautiful and spoiled housemates, called “Malyce” and constantly harassed you can’t help but want to wrap yourself around the animal loving Alyce as she endured the worst kind of life.

Then she meets Aurora.

When Alyce agrees to try to help lift the curse on Aurora that will kill her within a year, Alyce finds her first taste of friendship and the feeling that maybe there is a place for her in the world made to despise her.

Yeah, well no one lets her enjoy any of that. Alyce’s character development in this book is insane and enjoyable to read. The world building is very detailed and the magic system is well explained. There are many shocking developments throughout that keep you reeling. Let’s just say, the ending is a cliffhanger but sooo satisfying at the same time. This is a MUST READ for anyone who loves fantasy and gritty, dark underdog stories.

DNF @ 41%

This is definitely a book I’ll be coming back to but for now I’m setting it aside purely because when I try to read it, it feels like a drag. This premise is everything and the world is fascinating and I’m definitely going to be recommending it for fairytale lovers! Right now it just feels too heavy and dense to enjoy completely.

I want to thank Del Rey and Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and give an honest review. There may be a few spoilers ahead, so reader beware!
I was very excited to have a chance to read this book. I love all kinds of fairytale retellings. And in all honesty, I am not as familiar with Sleeping Beauty as I am with other tales. So this was a nice little jump into that story line for me.
I truly enjoyed Alyce. She was definitely a dark character who carried a lot of baggage and had very low self esteem. I can totally understand how turning dark would be where she might go. Needless to say, the devolvement of her character was anticipated and not unexpected. I was hoping she might hit a low point and then turn it around. Sadly, that was not the case. This was a bit of a disappointment for me. But I can see how this book might have a sequel so I'm hopeful for something there if it comes. And I'm not sure she's truly the villain of this story if you think about the society in which she lives where jewels and baubles and looks are all that truly matters.
As for the storyline, It was totally intriguing. The writer truly developed all her characters and you saw how each one played a roll in Alyce's overall personality: the monster, the outcast, the thing. And her writing drew me in from the first few pages. Though there were some slower dips in the story and places where the author seemed to spend more time than necessary, overall it flowed well. There was some repetitiveness I would have liked not to see, though.
I did enjoy the romance but I needed more development there. Aurora was too quick to fall in love with Alyce. I would have liked to see more of a connection between the two.
The author toes the line in this book between what is good and evil. And what is good and evil will play out much differently than anyone would usually guess.
If you're looking for a fairytale retelling with a twisted ending that leaves you wondering just what happened and what could possibly happen in the future, this is the one to read.

This starts with the basic Sleeping Beauty formula--a curse that can only be broken by true love's kiss, a beautiful girl, and powerful magic--and turns it on its head, adding dark, queer, complex elements to give depth to the story.

Of course, it's not a totally faithful retelling, which is for the better; instead we get a more fleshed-out origin story for Alyce (aka, Disney's Maleficent) that paints her as a well-intentioned, misunderstood Dark Grace who uses her magic to create potions that cause unfortunate effects (think hair falling out, skills being sapped, etc.) to its victims. When she meets Aurora is when the story starts to take off at a fast clip.

There are some plotholes that I take issue with (I won't share them here, as it would give away too much of the plot), but otherwise I was completely engaged throughout the story. I hope there's a sequel!

This was a fun debut!

As someone who just loves morally grey women Malice fits that bill so well. Knowing the tale of Sleeping Beauty you know that you're going to be setup for some pain when our main character is the villain.

Some things I really enjoyed about this book:
- the magic system and graces
- the slow unfurling of alyce wanting to subvert the expectations others have about her while also being to grasp the parts of her she was told were ugly/bad

Thank you to Del Rey for a copy for review.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the queer twist on the classic story, I also always enjoy when authors reimagine antagonists as misunderstood protagonists.

Included as a top pick in bimonthly April New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

I struggled with how to rate this one. For much of the book I was completely hooked and fascinated by the magic of the Graces and Alyce's goodness despite all she's been put through. But then... that ending. I feel like everything that had been built up was just thrown out for a shock ending. It didn't feel like Alyce at all. It was as if they threw out all of Alyce's character growth and convictions - it wasn't a believable character shift. And even though it ends on that shocking cliffhanger, I don't find myself interested in seeking out the sequel at all, which is a shame.

This book is sort of a mix of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella (especially at the beginning), and Maleficent (especially toward the end). Toward the end, the similarities begin to add up and are rather more pointed than subtle. It felt like a lot of the imagery from the ending was taken from the Disney movie, which was odd as the rest of the book had stayed rather far from the Disney movie.

The romance is only hinted at until near the end, and then suddenly they rush to sleeping with each other which... I don't know. It felt too sudden. The story dragged rather a lot in the middle and then rushed everything at the end, and I wish that had been smoothed out more.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing an e-arc for review.

Be prepared for Malice to hook you right from the start. The writing style is lovely and really pulls the reader into the story. I loved the fact that the story is written from the point of view of the villain, or at least who everyone sees as such. Also the magic style is different. I have never read a book where the magic comes from the witch's blood, and can fade over time. Overall a great read.

I love this story. Heather Walter's has built a very interesting world with intriguing characters. I loved Alyce's character and felt like I was walking right along side her. I can't wait for our library to get this book. I want to read it again.

Malice has all of the building blocks of a great read, but is let down by uneven pacing and character development. A Sapphic re-telling of Sleeping Beauty, Malice presents you with a colorful world that is so easy to dive into. Magic soaks into all aspects of the world-building, and I think that there’s huge potential for continued stories within the Briar-universe. Walter really goes above and beyond with crafting a detailed world, instead of relying solely on the Sleeping Beauty source material.
I think the book would have benefited from being shorter - the middle of the book drags and it took me easily twice as long to get through as the first and third acts.
One of my biggest issues is that Walter expends so much effort to get you to empathize with Alyce, and the last act just unravels everything. I kind of felt duped by the ending? However, this is a duology, so there is every chance that the second book redeems the ending of this one! Even though this wasn’t my absolute favorite, I do think that it’s worth picking up if you know you like fairy-tale retellings, or are just looking for a really solid escapism read.

This is an honest review via Netgalley who gave me an arc of this fantastic tale.

~~There will be some mild spoilers in my review. Just a warning.~~

Wow. Where to begin with this review? I just finished the book after reading and completing it in about half a day. I was simply blown away and still feel like I'm on cloud nine!

Malice is another modern take on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. I have, so far, enjoyed every adaptation that I have come across for this fairytale, but none hit me as hard as Malice. I still want so much more even now!

Alyce, the protagonist of the novel (seen as a villain by everyone else for simply existing), also known as Malyce, is considered one of the beings whose magical blood allows them to pour a bit of magic into elixirs that can usually bless others with temporary blessings, such as beautiful ruby colored eyes or a the singing voice of a nightingale for a few hours. Alyce, however, is not like the other Graces. Whereas typical Graces have golden blood and are favored, she's hated and known as the Dark Grace due to her green blood of her Vila ancestry and any elixirs she can produce causes more harm than good (There were some amusing moments with her elixirs in the story that were justly deserved). And being a descendant of a race feared by everyone she's every known doesn't help her plight in life. She is reminded of daily of what she is as she fights to survive in a system that willingly uses her twisted powers but refuses to acknowledge her as a one of their own. In the end, Alyce just wants someone who can truly love and accept her as she is, without fearing her and the Darkness within her.

Aurora, the princess of the story, comes from a line of Briar royal women cursed by a Vila during an ancient war between the Fae and Vila. This curse was slightly altered by the assistance of the nearby Fae kingdom of Etheria, who blessed the humans with Graces in exchange for the human's aide in the Fae/Vila war. The old ploy of 'true's love kiss' breaking the curse is exaggerated enough that one can feel much pity for the women who have suffered of it. Every female descendant gets this curse. If they don't get this curse broken by their 21st birthday, they die. So they have to kiss thousands of people before then to attempt to break the curse and continue the family legacy and alliance made with the Fae. It is a fate Aurora fights throughout the novel and engages with Alyce to assist her in breaking it. Alyce is not afraid of death, or anything it seems, but in the end she is simply a young woman who wants to be free to become the person she wishes to be and bring peace and prosperity to her land. She hates that her kingdom has become weak and cursed with its twisted reverence and desire to obtain all that is magical, with the Grace people being the most coveted. She yearns to become a strong queen like her ancestors who used the Fae blessings to better their world and make changes, starting with Alyce. But Alyce has ideas of her own and throughout the novel, we see how these two young women come together and experience a myriad of emotions through their bond, from curiosity to fear to love to pain. Aurora is definitely a woman who makes changes whether anyone approves or not.

Alyce's (and other characters) moral standing in the book comes into question again and again as the reader learns about the world she lives in and how much she struggles to grasp her powers and accept who she is and who she wants to be as a person. We see that she is as human as the rest of the people in her world. She hurts, she bleeds, she cries, and most of all, she can love as anyone else. Wants friends just like anyone else. But for her world, that's not good enough. Fear ultimately drives so many characters in this book into action or inaction, and trust is so easily broken. Alyce, for all her hope that one day she could obtain a happiness of her own and not live in fear, is thrown into situations that ultimately forces her hand and drives her down the very path she had struggled to avoid her whole life. The Graces, the kingdom of Briar, the Fae of Etheria, all view her as a blight upon the world. No one, aside from Aurora, ever really tries to connect with her positively, and as a character in the book stated, at some point you have to pick a side, white or black, and Alyce chooses the side everyone forced upon her; the villain side. I feel that her picking this side was the last bit of freedom she had, as sad as it is, but considering all the trials and pain she endured and will face in the future, it is only fitting. Even the bravest of people, and Alyce truly was and is a brave person, has a weakness that will cause them to break, and for Alyce, that was Aurora, the only person who truly loved her as she was and is, consequences and all.

Overall, the book is a wonderful and enriching read, and I am sad that I have to wait until book 2 to continue reading how Alyce will play her role as a villain. As a reader, I know she is not one deep down; she never wanted to truly destroy or murder others, she just wanted to live and be accepted by someone as who she was as a person. But all the pain and suffering she has endured so far has made her into an unpredictable, angry and desolate person more than ever, and it is that type of character that I feel attracts readers into wanting to know more and hope for the best for her. Even if Alyce is considered a villain, I will be on her side and cheering for her in the next book as I did during this one. It surprises me to say this but for once, I favor the villainess.

First off, this is not a book for fairytale fans. This book is pure fantasy so fairytale fans, you will not be pleased if you’re not also a fan of high fantasy. Also, Sleeping Beauty fans should know that this is VERY LOOSELY based on the original. If you are a Disney fan expecting something similar to the original, you will not like this book. If you are a fairytales lover looking for a fairytale novel, you will not like this book. I’ll say it right now: if you do not like high fantasy, you most likely will not like this book.

This is nothing personal; I just do not like books with this much fantasy and I think that the marketing is misleading. I did not anticipate a high fantasy book based on the synopsis! I personally find high fantasy so confusing that it sucks the enjoyment out of reading, trying to keep up with all the magic systems and whatnot (also I really just don’t CARE). It took just a couple chapters to figure out this was one of those confusing, overly saturated with magic, fun suckers. I can generally pick out what books are obviously high fantasy from the synopsis (as in, usually I read the plot summary and it makes absolutely zero sense) yet I did not see it coming with this one. The Disney fan in me thought that I would enjoy this but this book is really only geared towards fans of fantasy. Misleading marketing maybe?

My recommendation? If you, like myself, are a fan of princesses/Disney/fairytales, despite this being a (VERY LOOSE) sleeping beauty retelling, this book is not for you. If you are a fan of high fantasy, you will likely enjoy this book. I most definitely am not in the latter.

I was so positive this would be a two star read but in the end, I decided to give it three stars ONLY because I did quite like the ending, actually. The ending was this book’s redemption. Also, even though this sort of over the top, confusing, magic saturated book is not my preference, I do acknowledge and respect the author’s hard work because I can tell she did put a lot of work and thought into this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

I really really enjoyed this book! I always love a fairytale retelling and having queer main characters on top? Immediately sold. The plot was similar enough to Sleeping Beauty to keep up nostalgia while still having new twists and turns that kept me riveted. I can't wait for the second book to come out!

This was an incredibly fresh retelling that I couldn't put down from start to finish.

The world building is so detailed in its magic systems, cultures, government, spirituality references, and overall environment that made picturing the spaces simple. I appreciated the pacing of it, also, although I know not everyone will enjoy that aspect.

There are bursts of life and new information followed by our main protagonist having to take the time to slowly process the information or moment experienced, which I felt gave me time to breathe and process with her. We weren't given pages of info dumping at the beginning of the book- we were dropped in the middle of Alyce's new beginning and learned bits and pieces about the world and its characters as the pages progressed.

I deeply appreciate a female protagonist who doesn't shy away from revenge and the slow burn romance was lovely and filled with mutual fascination.

I look forward to this author's next book.

This sapphic YA fantasy takes the classic Sleeping Beauty tale and flips it on its head. The story follows Alyce (Maleficent) who has been an outcast her entire life until she meets Princess Aurora. The two form an unlikely friendship which blooms into a romantic relationship. Naturally, everyone tries to tear them apart just as Alyce becomes acquainted with her true power. This is the first novel in the Malice Duology and boy, does it leave you wanting more! Walter has crafted a dark and twisted retelling full of painstaking detail. The LGBTQ representation and inclusiveness written into the story is phenomenal. Alyce is the most lovable “villain” and you can’t help but root for her. It’s an exhilarating tale with meticulous world-building and shocking plot twists. Epic and queer AF!

I was really excited for this when I requested it but found that I really struggled to get into it till roughly 20% into the book. Maybe it was just me but I felt like there were a lot of details given that were unnecessary and ultimately just made the first quarter of the book drag for me. However, once Alice meets Aurora, the story really started to take off for me. The secondary characters were very fleshed out and I definitely had pretty concrete feelings about each of them, both good and bad. Ultimately going into this story, you know it is going to have a Sleeping Beauty bent but as you read, you’re really trying to figure out how this is going to tie into that old classic fairy tale because it just isn’t obvious. And then BOOM! That ending! One of the best endings to a story I’ve ever freaking read! The way the last 30% of the story progressed really pushed this book from a 3-star story for me to an almost solid 5 stars. The only thing that really kept it from the full 5-stars was that I found the first part of the book to be so completely boring. Also, there are so many bookshelves I want to tag for this, but I feel like some of them would just be too spoilery so I’m keeping the bookshelves tags simple.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone that enjoys fairy tale retellings with an LGBTQ bent and to those that don’t require a standard chick-lit romance with a pretty bow ending.

Releases April 13, 2021

ARC from Del Rey via Netgalley

You know the story. Or, at least, you think you do. The beautiful princess, cursed at birth by a wicked fairy. The spinning wheel. A death-like sleep that can only be broken by true love's kiss.

This both is and isn't that story.

Alyce is known as the Dark Grace and reviled for it. While other Graces bleed gold, Alyce bleeds green. While other Graces make elixirs of beauty and wisdom and creativity, Alyce's patrons seek curses. Try as she might, Alyce's magic cannot be used for good, earning her the nickname of Malyce. Yet, that does not stop people from lining up at her door, eager to spend gold to cause misfortune on their rivals. Alyce is bound by law to give her patrons what they want, trapped within the gilded cage of the Graces that hates her for being part Vila, the same race that cursed the Princesses of Briar many years before.

Alyce knows that if anyone should hate her the most--and be vindicated in their hatred--it is Princess Aurora, who is now the last of the heirs to the Briar throne. If she does not kiss her true love by her twenty-first birthday, she will die, throwing the country into turmoil. Yet, Alyce is surprised and suspicious when Aurora takes an interest in her. What could this beautiful, whip-smart princess want with the Dark Grace? Why would she want to be Alyce's friend? Alyce's magic can only create curses, not break them. Yet, with a looming deadline and Aurora's determination, as well as having learned more about her own strength, Alyce is willing to try.

But will she risk her own heart in the process?

Walter's debut is a fantastic gothic retelling of a familiar fairy tale, breathing new life into "Sleeping Beauty". I loved all the nods to the original versions of the story, as well as the classic animated Disney version, while presenting a unique world, magic system, plot, and characterization. Walter's character of Alyce, the 'dark fairy', and how she came to be cast as the villain is brilliant and beautiful. Although "Malice" conjures many dark and dreary mental imagery--ruined castles, dungeons, witch's brews, stormy skies and more--the story certainly dazzles, a bright star in fantasy and the realm of retold fairy tales.

3 stars-- I liked it.

I haven't seen Maleficent, and I think this book may rely pretty heavily on references to the film that I didn't get. My rating reflects that-- YMMV.

Alyce is the Dark Grace, her green Vila blood and ugly appearance separate her from the Graces, who use their golden blood to make people more beautiful. The kingdom of Briar was founded by a warrior queen, but now languishes in the care of a weakened queen and corrupt king whose family is victim of an ancient Vila curse: daughters who do not kiss their true love by their 21st birthday will die. Aurora is the third and only living daughter and heir to the crown. She finds Alyce interesting, despite the fact that she is of the same race as the curse-maker.

The pacing was good, we learn the world of the Graces and the royals and the black tower for a while, the BAM at 80% things really happen fast. I enjoyed that crescendo. I found the worldbuilding confusing and the book lacked a central theme. Alyce is maligned for her identity, but she seems to trust easily and make decisions without thought. It felt like the author was trying to do too many things-- echo Maleficent, incorporate original fairy tales, and maybe work on too many themes-- revenge, trust, conflicts among races, beauty standards, family, betrayal, morality, class. Those are all things that interest me but Alyce is kind of all over the place with her relationships with people, and the national conflicts are a little confusing.

I do hope that the second in the duology will add some clarity, and I'm hoping some themes emerge that unite the narrative.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC. My opinions are my own.

I so wanted to like this book, but alas it was not for me. Sleeping Beauty but make it sapphic and villainous? It rang every one of my bells, however I found myself skimming, especially with the heavy world-building early on, and setting it aside. I think fans of retellings and fae who've been asking for queer books will love this, but not this reader.