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

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trigger and content warnings: a lot of blood imagery (human blood, animal blood, getting blood for spells), kidnapping, talk of child abandonment, talk of child experimentation in the past, loss of a loved one, anxiety depiction, captivity, mention of slavery, drug use, brief mention of suicide, torture, gore, violence, murder, death. (also themes of homophobia and misogyny - always in a negative light)

Besides the moping and tension, I did actually enjoy the book. Each twist was fun but easy to predict. I also just wished these characters communicated better instead of trying to do things on their own. SOOOOO, this book was might I say not as good as the first. There was action and stuff but I wasn't that...what's the word.....intrigued.This tale follows Alyce, a Dark Grace, who has lived in a house of Beauty Graces since she was just a young girl.

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 it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse. We all know I love morally grey and villainous characters and I thought Alys’ character had a lot of nuance and progression, both on her own and how her story intertwines with Aurora’s.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

I loved this. I gave Malice four stars because while I loved the world and characters it wasn't perfect, but I found this book just wonderful. 5/5 But there were characters that I loved. Derek was a new edition and he was just amazing. Kind and sweet. Also, Aurora was still as amazing as she was in the first book. I warmed up to Regan until she went AWOL and blew up a ship filled with innocent people. Princess Aurora was able to see right through Alyce’s thorny facade, and earning a love which promised the dawn of a new age. However this love came with a rather heavy price: Aurora sleeps under this curse which even Alyce’s own vast powers can’t seem to break through, and their dream of the world they would’ve built together is now nothing but a pile of ash. Walter’s spellbinding debut is for all the queer girls and women who’ve been told to keep their gifts hidden and for those yearning to defy gravity.”— O: The Oprah Magazine The biggest gift Walter offers us isn’t even that both Alyce and Aurora are lesbians, it’s that the love the Dark Grace feels for the princess doesn’t magically turn her into a good person. Yes, it changes her. Or, to be more accurate, it’s the biggest catalyst for the change she undergoes. But it never tries to “cure” her of her evilness. Aurora simply does not see Alyce in that way throughout the book.Walter’s spellbinding debut is for all the queer girls and women who’ve been told to keep their gifts hidden and for those yearning to defy gravity.” ( O: The Oprah Magazine ) In a tiny, wealthy fantasy kingdom, Alyce* is an outcast due to her descent from a fairy race carrying dark magical powers, and is required to spend her days generating mild curses for nobility with grudges. Alyce finds a mysterious teacher who helps her develop her true powers and falls for Princess Aurora, who like all the royal women is under a curse that will kill her unless she kisses her true love before turning 21.