Malice: Book One of the Malice Duology (Malice Duology Series, 1)

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talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it. Walter's spellbinding debut is for all the queer girls and women who have been told to keep their gifts hidden and for those yearning to defy gravity." - O: The Oprah Magazine With every turn, this story grows deliciously darker, and fairy tales of all ages are sure to be thrilled with this one. With “Malice”, Heather was hoping to create a cast of female characters that were not waiting around to be told what to do. Whether their actions are “bad” or “good”, these characters own them. Her message with the book is: not to wait. Take your own fate into your hands rather than just pin it onto somebody else. This is a clever and truly original retelling of a classic story which had some fans racing to the very end of the story, which is one that is sure to make you to never look at “Sleeping Beauty” the same way again. She’s turned this classic fairy tale inside out, revealing some hidden layers of emotion, history, and meaning.

Heather’s debut novel, called “Malice”, was released in the year 2021. Her work is from the fantasy genre.It’s a lot to explain. I thought the world-building was incorporated pretty smoothly into the narrative, but a lot of people have said that it was info-dumping for the first part of the book. I guess that makes sense, since a lot of the history was introduced in chunks and long stories, but I felt like they went along with the storyline pretty well. The romance was good for the most part. The whole true-love’s-curse thing brought a whole new level to the fangirl part of my brain that kept screaming “JUST KISS” at my tablet. I really really loved Malice! I thought that almost everything about it was perfect, so therefore I really looked forward to reading the sequel because book one ended on a huge cliffhanger and I was indeed very intrigued by it…

She is a native Southerner that hates the heat. She is a former English teacher and a librarian. Possibly it is because she is surrounded by all those stories all day long that she started to sit down and write them herself. She can be found plotting, at any given moment. But is she really the villanelle of this story? Because everyone in the Briar only cares about jewelries, glamorous parties they throw, charm-granting elixirs they use. They’re selfish, hedonistic, self centered people who never care about princess or future of Briar if she really dies! Princess Aurora saw through Alyce’s thorny facade, earning a love that promised the dawn of a new age. But it is a love that came with a heavy price: Aurora now sleeps under a curse that even Alyce’s vast power cannot seem to break. And the dream of the world they would have built together is nothing but ash.

The whole atmosphere in the novel is dark and gray, at least that is how I imagined it, and therefore it is perfect to read during winter. I mentioned in my review of Malice that one of the things that drew me into the world right away was Walter's world, and I love how that was expanded in this book bringing out so many new creatures and beings as well as showing us so much more about the Etherians. I'm still impressed at the worldbuilding and seeing more to it was a joy.

I really enjoyed this exploration of a morally grey character and what can push someone towards villainy. Alyce was such an easy character to sympathise with which just made the narrative Walter wove that much more interesting and effective. I really loved reading from her perspective and the development she went through in this book was so well done. Additionally, Alyce’s relationship with Aurora was one of my favourite parts of this book. I really loved the way that Aurora became a source of light and hope for Alyce, and watching their relationship develop as Alyce finally found someone who saw her for who she really is. Aurora herself was also incredible. She was given so much more depth and agency than typically associated with Sleeping Beauty and I really enjoyed reading about her and her idealism for the future of her queendom. Does true love break curses or begin them? The dark sorceress of “Sleeping Beauty” reclaims her story in this sequel to Malice.One thing that I felt shined in this book was the emphasis on identity, relationships, knowing who you are, and coming into your own. This book is marketed as a romance and it is - but for me it was more about self-realization and knowing your worth. That being unique is a gift and not a curse. Terrific themes. It is both a relief and a terror to be around someone who doesn’t consider me an abomination. Applauds my power instead of shrinking from it.” Remember what I said, Alyce. About monsters.” The words are low, spoken in a tone that wakes something deep in my core. “Take care you don’t become what they think you are.” A terrifying part of my soul whispers that I can do far more than spoil a jug of cream. That I want to.”