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.

I am a big sucker for retellings plus the fact the author incorporated LGBT characters into the story??? Absolutely immaculate, hands down amazing.

This was a fascinating new book! I really enjoyed the characters of Aurora and Alyce. I'm already counting down until the second book comes out.

Wow!!! I do retells but this one definitely blows my mind. I love how the author made her retell her own - queer ladies rejoice! This story is haunting beauty about personal struggles and accepting the beauty of friendship and love. Thank you publisher and Netgalley for my e copy - this honest review is my own.

I'm not normally a fan of re-telling books but this was a huge exception for me. The writing is beautiful and the world building was fantastic. This felt like a well created fantasy book far more than a fairy tale spin off. The characters all felt very real, no one is a total background character here everyone is a full conceived person and even if you hated them you, could also sort of see where they are coming from. And of course the love between two women being a key part of the story is going to be so important for so many readers!

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/ Del Rey for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The first thing I fell in love with is the cover! I read the E-book of this but I'll need the physical book on my book shelf. This is such a great retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The beginning was a little hard to get into but once I got through the slowness it really picked up and I couldn't put it down.

Alyce a Dark Grace is treated pretty poorly by everyone. She is wanted for her dark magic and the curses she can put on the townspeople for a price but then feared and ostracized at the same time. She is sought out by Princess Aurora who has merely months to live unless she finds her true loves kiss. Who knew that Aurora's true loves kiss was in reach of her all along.

The ending was WOW!!! Actually, I think (hope) there will be a book two because that was some ending and I need answers! All I know is that Malice has that name for a reason and the townspeople created a monster and now has to pay for that. If you are a fan of fairy tale retells, fantasy, dark magic, and romance then I would suggest picking it up.

3.5 Stars

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”—Edgar Allan Poe

Alyce barters her potions and magical abilities to various patrons in Briar. Although she is considered a monster and a mongrel by all those around her, there is one that sees past all those perceptions and falls for the bright soul buried within…the Princess Aurora. But the kind and beautiful princess is cursed to perish unless Alyce can find a way to save her…with true loves kiss…

Malice is an enjoyable reimagining of the fairy tale most commonly known as Sleeping Beauty—but what if the beautiful princess fell for the “villain” rather than the handsome prince! The beginning was a little slow, but it did pick up in the second half, and there is a slight cliffhanger (sorry). I don’t want to give too much away in a review and spoil the world building the author painstakingly created between Aurora and Alyce, so if the blurb caught your attention, I’d recommend giving this a read!



**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **

Malice is a dark retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story. I know the market is full of fairytale retellings, but Malice did a fantastic job of altering this classic in a new and engaging way.

This story is told from the perspective of Alyce. Though she lives with the Graces, who sell potions to enhance human virtue that are powered by their half-Fae blood, Alyce is not a Grace. She is the Dark Grace. Half Vila, her magic brings only destruction and harm, and she makes a living selling petty curses to pettier nobles. It's an unhappy life, but largely uneventful, until Alyce accidentally meets Princess Aurora.

Last heir to the Briar throne, Princess Aurora (like all the heirs before her) must break her curse by finding true love's kiss before her 21st birthday or else she will die. And her parents are constantly bombarding her with suitors. With only one year left, Aurora would prefer to break the curse on her own. And if Vila magic originally cursed her family, maybe a Vila like Alyce could save her.

Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my least watched Disney films. I didn't dislike it, but the princess is asleep for pretty much the whole thing, so we never got much personality. But Malice presents the princess as a full character. Aurora is witty and determined, and though she immediately takes a liking to Alyce, we get to see their relationship slowly build.

I also enjoyed how much Walter expanded on the world of the original story, with the Graces, the kingdom, and the various Fae.

I am one for happy endings, which aren't guaranteed in dark retellings, but I enjoyed this take on a classic tale and I hope there's a sequel.

~I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.~

Where to start? Not a traditional fairy tale, but oh so real. Walter weaves a story of finding one's true love after such sadness and loneliness. What lengths will Alyce go to, to protect the only person who truly sees her?

Malice by Heather Walters is a wonderfully unique retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I simply adore a villain origin story, and this book did not disappoint. The magic system is pretty unique, as is the political set up of the world. I think Heather Walter could do a lot with this world by including multiple faerie tales later on if she wants. It is made very clear that this story takes place in a small country and there is much more world that could be discovered outside of it.

I love seeing this typical storybook tales being modified to include more representation. This is a beautifully-told sapphic take on a well-known story. I love the character evolution of Alyce, or Malyce, and her story is one that is both tragic and inspiring.

There are a few things in the book that I think should have been flushed out more, along with a few minor plot holes, but I found the book very entertaining. I cannot wait to see what Walter comes out with next!

(This review will be published on Goodreads within the two week marker before the release, and retailer sites once the book is published, as this is what most retailers allow.)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alyce is a Dark Grace who serves Briar by concocting elixirs that are of a more unpleasant nature. Have a rival who could use a face full of worts? Alyce is your go to Vila. A half-breed who can only curse living amongst the other Graces who provide beauty, pleasure, and healing. Until she catches the Princess Aurora’s eye, Alyce is nothing more than a mongrel, caged to do the empire’s building because of a treaty between humans and fae.

Part love story, part twisted fairy tale. This wonderful retelling of Sleeping Beauty will leave readers guessing until the end. A wonderful LGBTQ reimagining that will delight all fans of dark fantasy and those who identify more with the villains in stories than the helpless princess.

I really liked this book!

In short, it is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the dark fairy who cursed the princess with a sleeping sickness. While the book does hit specific plot points expected with the fairy tale, it is its own story and almost more like a prequel. One could draw some similarities to Disney's live action film "Malificent." (While I think it will appeal to fans of that film, I am not saying that they are the same, though.)

This book had a number of twists, more than I was expecting, and that's a good thing. I felt this served both to build sympathy for the main character, Alyce, and keep the reader engaged.

A Sleeping Beauty retelling told from the point of view of the "dark fairy" (in this book: the Dark Grace) - yes, the one with the spindle... and she falls in love with Aurora. The magic system is complex and variegated, the world building a delightful labyrinth of promises and betrayals. The romance might have taken a little bit to come, but it was well worth the wait and made my heart melt and explode and shatter and collapse in on itself like a dying star. The morally gray narration was simply wonderful - a "monster" who doesn't want to be a monster but is pushed further and further into that monster role until it becomes difficult to separate perception from internal desire.

I finished this last night and... I can't even. Incoming book hangover.

It seems like fairy tale retellings are all the rage right now, so a book needs to bring something new to the table to stand out - and Malice by Heather Walter absolutely does this. While the movie Maleficent introduced us to love between the princess and the evil sorceress, Malice takes that to another level and creates a romantic love story. Part of the experience of reading this book is following the love story while knowing how the original Sleeping Beauty ends. How much of that original endings remains? That tension is part of what kept me invested and turning the pages.

Another part of what kept me reading was Alyce herself. She is a compelling and sympathetic protagonist, relatable even while doing unrelatable things. I fast found myself rooting for her, hating the torment she had to endure, and hoping for her happy ending. In addition, Ms. Walter invented a type of magic system I haven't seen before and wove it into the civilization and social structure of the world she created, which made the read interesting.

There were a couple things that didn't make much sense to me and some pieces of information that were only revealed to the reader at the exact time they were relevant (for example, there was a point where Alyce figured something out because of what happened in her past, but that was the first time the reader was told about it). However, these are minor issues and didn't detract from my enjoyment. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

What if the princess wasn’t helpless and awaiting her Prince? What if her Prince was really the evil sorceress in the realm? Malice, by Heather Walter, manages to create a beautiful retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Her novel feels familiar, yet fresh enough to warrant revisiting this classic tale. I will always be intrigued by the villain’s backstory, and that is one of the best things this novel has to offer. Alyce, the Dark Grace, evolves through this book so profoundly that in the beginning it is difficult to see how Alyce would be viewed as evil.

Alyce is an incredible character and a great example of how villains are generally made, rather than born. By being the only Dark Grace in the realm she is treated poorly and really her evolution into the evil sorceress is entirely the doing of the people around her. Alyce begins as a depressed lonely girl, shifts into a morally ambiguous woman and finally makes the final step into villain hood, but honestly I found her lovable every step of the way. Walters does a great job of humanizing characters that you think you couldn’t empathize with.

Walters’ background as an English teacher is entirely expected because aside from characterization, the world building she achieves in one book is remarkable. She creates the tension and history between the realm of fairy, the human world, and the realm of the Vila in such a way that you feel as though this mythology cannot possibly be the work of one writer. The world is rich and organic and entirely believable. This realm of faerie feels incredibly real.

Aurora isn’t fragile but strong and a visionary. Walter makes the reader question how a princess becomes a queen and what internal changes must occur for this to happen. This Sapphic love story manages to hit all of the points of the original while twisting the love interest, but this novel is about so much more than that. It begs such questions as, “are villains made or born?”, “is violence and hatred ever justified?”.

Malice was an incredible read and I am eagerly looking forward to the sequel. Thank you Net Galley for giving me this arc to read. If you like dark fantasy, fairy tales, LGBTQIA romance stories or just really gritty fiction, Malice will not disappoint.

CW: abuse, violence, blood and gore.

I adored this book! Though the setting with royals, fae and magic may be familiar, Walter takes the fantasy genre to new heights with exquisite world building and characters of depth. The beginning is a bit of a slow start but you'll soon be swept into the world of Briar and it's good vs evil. For those interested in the Sapphic side, you will have to be patient and don't expect anything R rated. Instead enjoy an angsty, sweet romance that will make your heart swell. I did find the very ending somewhat unsatisfying as it seemed so abrupt. I am thinking, however, that there may be a sequel...I can only hope because I'm ready for more! #NetGalley