Blog Tour: Malice

“Once upon a time, there was a villain” is frankly the only kind of a fairy tale opening I want to read from now on. But only if the fairy tale in question is as good as what Malice offers. Because it truly has it all: great characters, magic, betrayals, and a lesbian romance. I assure you, it is the fairy tale retelling of your dreams.

So yes, we’re very excited that we’re part of the blog tour that Del Rey runs for Malice! And hey, you can actually grab yourself a signed copy of Malice right here!

Also follow Heather Walter on twitter!

Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who cursed a line of princesses to die, and 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 actually cares about what happens to our princesses. I thought I didn’t care, either. Until I met her.

Princess Aurora. The last heir to the throne. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. 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.

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.

Malice

Heather Walter

Goodreads

Rep: lesbian mcs
CWs: past torture, lesbophobia, past suicides, blood, drug use
Release: 13th April 2021

Charlotte’s Review

On some level, I’m sure we’re all the same in wanting more books with sapphic monster women. Or sapphic women who go on to become monsters, to be more specific to Malice. So Heather Walter has clearly done us all a great favour here by writing this book.

And it’s a great one. Atmospheric and dark, the book is an origin story for the evil witch of Sleeping Beauty tales. From page one, you’re rooting for Alyce (and, I might add, waiting impatiently for her to just stop being so patient and start taking revenge. I mean. That’s what we’re all here for isn’t it).

Her romance with Aurora is really what holds the book together best: it’s intense and very very gay in a way you don’t often see with sapphic couples. Yes, there’s that softness there too, but they’re also viscerally attracted to one another.

The whole book is a slow descent into Alyce’s monstrousness, which means that the ending is an absolute ride. You know it’s coming, sure, but it still leaves you breathless and desperately wanting the sequel (I mean. There is a sequel, right? There has to be a sequel after that). It’s the perfect conclusion to the book.

All of which to say, if you hadn’t thought about picking this book up before now (a shameful oversight on your part, I’m afraid to say), then there’s still time to get a preorder in. I’m just saying.

Anna’s Review

There’s something truly magical about taking fairy tales and reshaping them so that all the questions about the main character’s choices could be pretty much answered with: it’s because they’re gay. There are of course other factors at play here, but this is basically what Malice offers.

What would happen if Maleficent was a lesbian in love with princess Aurora?

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.

There’s also the very ending, though, which is almost impossible to talk about without major spoilers. Suffice to say, the Alyce that you see at the beginning of the novel doesn’t hold a candle to the Alyce you will be lucky to experience in the last chapters. This truly is Alyce’s villain origin story.

It’s easy to say that the lesbian romance is a heart of this book. Even if there were other reasons for Alyce to grow more and more bitter, for the peace in the queendom to become at risk, the ending would simply never happen if Alyce wasn’t in love with Aurora. And the book is very clear about that.

What’s even more groundbreaking, is how intense that relationship is allowed to be. We often talk about how f/f relationships never get to be as real, as troubled, as ship-worthy as m/m ones. There’s always high-stake drama with m/m stories and that emotional drama is what makes them so exciting for the reader. What makes them choose m/m ships as their favourite ones. But Alyce and Aurora? No one is doing it like those two.

So yes, if you want a reasonable explanation as to why the Dark Grace was dark enough to hide princess Aurora in a castle covered in thorns, read Malice. If you want girls taking their destiny into their own hands, read Malice. If you want a lesbian love story that makes the very sky roar, read Malice.

So, have we convinced you that you want to read this book?

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